Kia Rio Versus Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Accent, Honda Fit & Toyota Yaris

Available as either a sporty 5-door hatchback (Rio5) or a four-door compact with coupe-like styling, the Kia Rio is stylish and packed with value. Competitors in it segment include the Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Accent, Honda Fit and Toyota Yaris. The question is, which vehicle shapes up as the best choice for life in Kamloops, BC?

Priorities for customers include fuel economy, space, performance and safety – all areas in which the Kia Rio excels. The Rio has also been recognized as one of the best-looking compacts on the market, listed as “Best Small Car Under $21,000) by Motoring 2012, a recipient of the Red Dot Design Award in 2012, and most recently won the best car in its category award from the 2016 L’Annuel de L’Automobile.

What about the competition? Find out how the Accent, Fiesta, Fit and Yaris stack up against the Kia Rio:

Kia Rio Versus the Competition Overview

With better, fuel economy, more horsepower and torque, and the benefit of a 6-speed manual transmission (compared to the 5-speed of the Fiesta and Yaris) the Rio is the intelligent choice.

Highlights:

• MRSP for the Kia Rio is $14,295 compared to $14,773 for the Fiesta.
• The Kia Rio has 137 horsepower and 123 lb-ft. of torque to the Toyota Yaris’s 106 hp and 103 lb-ft.
• More front and rear legroom for passengers.
• Rio has better fuel economy despite larger engine size (6.3 and 8.5 L/100 highway and city driving) compared to the Fit.
• The Rio’s sporty 6-speed manual transmission has one more gear than the Fiesta’s standard 5-speed for base models.

Kia Rio Versus Hyundai Accent

While sharing the virtually the same 1.6L engine as the Hyundai Accent, the Kia Rio can be packed with luxury features for less. The quality of the Kia Rio’s luxury SX trim can only be compared to the Acura ILX, which is over $9,000 more expensive, and even the highest trim of the Hyundai Accent doesn’t provide nearly the same options. The Kia Rio also offers more space on the interior than the four-door Accent with more headroom, legroom and trunk space in comparison.

Highlights:

• Rio has more interior space for cargo and passengers than the four-passenger Hyundai Accent.
• Sharing the same engine, the Rio and Accent have roughly equal fuel economy with the Rio edging out the Accent in the city.
• Both the Rio and the Accent offer a choice of transmissions including a 6-speed manual and automatic.

Kia Rio Versus Toyota Yaris

While the 2016 Toyota Yaris hatchback is more expensive than the 2016 Kia Rio, it’s difficult to see why. The Kia Rio boasts 31 more horsepower than the Yaris and has 20 lb-ft. of additional torque, while offering better fuel economy (6.3 L/100 highway driving for the 2016 Rio compared to 6.6L/100 km for the 2016 Yaris Hatchback).

The Yaris only offers a warranty of 3 years or 60,000 km, and also falls short on both interior passenger and cargo space. There’s no competition!

Highlights:

• The Kia Rio’s MSRP is lower than the Yaris.
• The Kia Rio offers more headroom, legroom, and cargo space than the Toyota Yaris.
• The Yaris offers comparable fuel economy to the Kia Rio, but with significantly less power.
• The Rio offers your choice of a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic transmission, while the Yaris has a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmission.

Kia Rio versus 2016 Ford Fiesta

While the competitively priced 2016 Ford Fiesta may have a slightly higher MSRP than the Kia Rio (by $478), it lacks the power, space or luxury options of the 2016 Rio. The base Ford Fiesta has 120 horsepower and 112 lb-ft. of torque compared to the Rio’s 137 hp and 123 lb.-ft. of torque. Surprisingly, the Rio offers a city fuel economy of 6.3 L/100km, which is actually superior to the smaller Fiesta’s 8.5L/100 km for city driving with a manual transmission and even better than the 6-speed automatic which takes 8.7L/100 km. If you’re looking for the best value, the Rio has the bases covered.

Highlights of the Kia Rio:

• 5 year/100,000 km warranty versus the Ford Fiesta’s basic warranty of 3 years/100,000 km
• Significantly more headroom, legroom and cargo space than the Ford Fiesta.
• More power and superior combined fuel economy than the base Ford Fiesta.