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Possible Kia Rio GT Hot Hatch Reveals Some Cool New Details

All the previous 2017 Kia Rio prototypes have looked differently to this one. That has led our spy photographers stationed in Southern Europe to suggest this might be the rumored Rio GT.
Possible Kia Rio GT Hot Hatch Reveals Some Cool New Details 9 photos
Photo: CarPix
Possible Kia Rio GT Hot Hatch Reveals Some Cool New DetailsPossible Kia Rio GT Hot Hatch Reveals Some Cool New DetailsPossible Kia Rio GT Hot Hatch Reveals Some Cool New DetailsPossible Kia Rio GT Hot Hatch Reveals Some Cool New DetailsPossible Kia Rio GT Hot Hatch Reveals Some Cool New DetailsPossible Kia Rio GT Hot Hatch Reveals Some Cool New DetailsPossible Kia Rio GT Hot Hatch Reveals Some Cool New DetailsPossible Kia Rio GT Hot Hatch Reveals Some Cool New Details
We're not so sure, but we consider ourselves lucky to see the whole front end of the next Kia Rio. It's got sharp creases, a prominent grille, and headlights that make the VW Polo seem very dull. What did you expect? This is a Kia.

The current Rio was also a handsome little car when it came out in 2011. But this one looks like a premium product in many ways. It features integrated turn signals, all-round parking sensors, and LED taillights.

Getting back to the issue of whether or not this is a GT model, our vote leans towards the "not" side. You see, the cee'd GT features twin exhaust pipes, while this car has one small pipe that's hidden away under the bumper.

Instead, we could be looking at the first Rio GT Line. It's something similar to the Skoda Fabia Monte Carlo and VW Polo R-Line, in that you get the body kit that makes the car look sharp in combination with a regular engine.

Which regular engine? Well, the Hyundai i20 just became available with two versions of the 1.0 T-GDi. As its name suggests, this is a turbocharged unit with gasoline direct injection. Despite going from the 1.4-liter 4-cylinder down to a 1-liter 3-cylinder, horsepower output will stay the same at 100 PS and torque will actually go up.

If Kia were to develop a Rio GT, it would need a heck of a lot more power, somewhere around 150 to 170 PS, based on the fact that its bigger brother has 204 PS. Such an output could easily be delivered from the 1.6 T-GDI, but it's never been used in the Rio.

A report from Autocar magazine stated that the Rio GT would arrive in 2018, packing 180 PS of Ford Fiesta ST combat power. Whether that's true or not could take several more years to be determined.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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