Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. For a start, they are not even classified under the same segment, with the KIA being a city car and the Hyundai representing small family car vehicle class.

The fact that the KIA got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, offers a slight advantage, as the 4-star rating is better than none. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. The second vehicle is a small family car and that gives it a marginal advantage over the city car competitor, at least that's what statistics show. On the other hand, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, Rio offers a marginal difference of 4% more metal.

Manufacturers have been building their reliability reputation for decades now and, generally speaking, it appears that Hyundai does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of KIA with an average rating of 4.6, and models under the Hyundai badge with 4.5 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Rio as average reliability-wise, and Accent is more or less at the same level.Above it all, drivers of cars with the same engine as these two vehicles rank it on average as 5.0 out of 5.

Both of the cars accelerate exactly the same, so we couldn't put one above the other. Car No. 2 is faster though, reaching top speed of 190 kilometers per hour, 2km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 6.5 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (44 mpg), in combined cycle.

Hyundai appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, Rio beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. When it comes to performance, both vehicles provide similar experience, so I wouldn't point any of them out. Accent still consumps less fuel, which needs to be taken into consideration. No mistake, whatever you decide here, but I'd still go for the KIA. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser™, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.