Actually, the entire car is good looking, no matter which angle it gets viewed by. I have  a few favourite aspects, mind you, the sculpted flanks

One of my favourite aspects, the sculpted flanks of the five-door's rear quarters taking the nod, especially how the taillight lenses wrap around and overtop the rearmost tips of the fenders. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

of the five-door's rear quarters taking the nod, especially how the taillight lenses wrap around and overtop the rearmost tips of the fenders, their smoked white turn signal lenses designed to flow upward and integrate seamlessly into the shoulder line. It's a superb design detail that has rarely been executed as well.

Of course, I like how the rest of the car looks too, and for that matter, the four-door as well. Its stylish front end, like its profile, appears larger and more substantial than it really is. Sure, it's grown in size somewhat from the original Rio that helped launch Kia throughout Canada in 1999, but there's more to it than that. It has not only grown dimensionally, but it seems to have matured as well. Yes, this little pup is all grown up.

After taking in the most obvious visual cues to this new reality, there's nowhere that its maturity is more apparent than when on the open road. I took to the wheel soon after the plane landed in Quebec City, a route

I took to the wheel soon after the plane landed in Quebec City, a route guide to my right, the adventure began. (Photo: Trevor Hofmann, Canadian Auto Press)

guide to my right, map, annoying teeny-bop CD (other than a few tracks from Coldplay and Joss Stone) already installed in the changer, the adventure began.

As I soon found out, that CD would help keep me awake during what shortly became an unnerving drive. Normally at press events, I get picked up from the airport in a shuttle and transferred to the hotel, often thinking along the way that the time spent in a limo or van is wasted... that I should be driving the car they sent me here to test. After a two legged flight, taking about eight hours including the stopover, and then getting into the little Rio sedan at my disposal, rain pouring down in sheets and pitch blackness surrounding, no navigator at my side and two hours of night driving through unknown highways and byways in front of me, I was questioning why I ever wanted anything but the warm comfort of a back seat and a knowledgeable driver at the helm.