It's the updated Kia Rio

A slight revision to Kia's now familiar 'tiger-nose grille' and changes to the front and rear bumpers distinguish the new from the (slightly) older model. The fog light cluster on the outer lower sections of the bumper now features twin-chromed 'blades' with the tiniest little lamps sitting below them. A barely imperceptible change to the lower air dam and a nifty set of new alloy wheel designs round off the makeover.

In hatchback guise, the Kia Rio is undoubtedly one of, if not the best looking compact hatchbacks on sale. Couple to that top-notch build quality and standard choc-full specification list, the Rio has more than enough ammo to blow the competition away.

Speaking of competition...

It's hard to mention 'compact hatch' and not reference the Volkswagen Polo which outsells everything in the market. With its superior interior build quality, impressive engine line-up which includes frugal turbocharged petrol and diesel powerplants and solid dynamics, it remains the class champion. Subjective underwhelming looks aside.

The Rio has its work cut out for it then, and while it has to date played second fiddle to the Polo, the race to first place is neck and neck.

Styling wise, the Rio wins hands down, with a superb blend of stylish Kia DNA sophistication balanced with plenty of funky hatchback charm, it cuts a unique enough a profile on the road to stand out from the crowd.

The world agrees too, because already the Rio has won a coveted Red Dot Design award in Germany (take that Polo) and an IDEA Design award in the States.

How does the interior stack up?

If Kia's overall design is a winner (which I think it is) then their interiors should be marked as a runaway success. For a company trading blows at the bottom end of the market a few years ago, to competing towards the top end a few later, their massive leap forward in terms of overall interior build quality should be applauded.

From the Picanto to the Soul to the Sorento, and now the Rio, Kia continue to impress with quality interiors, that while might not ultimately match or surpass that of arch rival Volkswagen, surpass most of the competition. In the Rio, there's plenty of softish-to-the-touch materials and minimal use of offensive hard and rattily plastics as seen on cars in this segment.

A two-tier upper dash mixes gloss piano black and chrome finishes, the top housing radio and media controls and the lower accommodates the climate control functions with MINI-esque toggle-like switches. Each, I might add, is paired with a digital display.

The model I was lucky enough to drive for the week is the top of the range 1.4 Tech, which is a rather appropriate name because it comes with an impressive list of standard specification for a small car costing a fiver under R217k.

I'll do my best to mention the most notable, so here goes: electric windows all round, front and side airbags, height and reach adjustable steering column, projector headlights, park assist, LED daytime running lights and rear light combo, 17" alloy wheels with 205/40 rubber, radio/CD front loader with MP3/iPod/USB connectivity, Bluetooth, multi-function steering wheel, centre armrest, power folding side mirrors, rain-sensing wipers and automatic headlights. The only cost option you could select is a sunroof.

It almost goes without saying that leather seats, gear lever and similarly wrapped steering wheel are all present and accounted for too. And, if I were seriously nit-picking the only nice-to-have missing on the Rio is keyless entry and start, otherwise it's a full house.

What's it like to drive?

The Rio is available in 1.2 or 1.4-litre guise, the latter powering this top-spec Tech model. It's a plucky little four-cylinder making 79kW and 135Nm which is just enough to get by comfortably. I'd imagine the 1.2-litre might suffer a bit because even the 1.4-litre at times, feels a little underwhelming.

In this regard it loses out to the VW Polo's 1.2 TSi engine which although develops less power at 66kW, it's the extra torque (160Nm) which makes it more livable day-to-day. Saying that, living with the Rio is no hardship, it's more than up for bump 'n grind of stop and go traffic as it is for a motorway blast where it cruises well in sixth and re-tuned around 7l/100km fuel consumption over a week of mixed driving conditions.

The Rio is super comfortable and predictable to drive dealing well with our potholed and irregular road surfaces, even with the fairly low profile 17-inch rims. My only small criticism was its tendency to tramline on rutted roads which can be unsettling if your mind is elsewhere.

Let's wrap this up

The Rio is the better than the VW Polo in almost every conceivable way, only losing out slightly in terms of perceived (I think it's just as good) interior quality and engine performance. Factor in Kia's 5 year/100 000km warranty, 4 year/60 000km service and with a loaded specification sheet, the Rio deserves to outsell the Polo. It won't though, just yet, which goes someway to reveal the actual weight and value of having the Volkswagen emblem on your bonnet. Brand power!