The Honda Brio was one of the coolest-looking small hatchbacks when it was launched a few years back — and this year, Honda has extended its appeal and then added some.

Before I hop onto the Brio RS, I give the exteriors a once over. It’s been a year, I say to myself, as I try to keep my excitement for the drive intact. I take its good looks from the outside.

And there it was, parked in my driveway, the all-new Honda Brio RS designed to turn heads with its signature RS look. From the side sills, to the sleek alloy wheels, the sharp accents and sporty details — the hatch has that polished, aerodynamic build and finish — sporty, but not masculine, cute — like a vehicle built for small and dainty drivers like me.

There is more, the new model is loaded with a new set of front bumpers, trims, kits, lips and skirts. The grille is the most striking change — even cooler.

I take a look inside, through rolled down left front window and I smile as I know that it is a looker I will be hopping onto the driver’s seat. As a bonus, I will have a cute doggo relaxing in the passenger seat — Boris, my faithful companion.

The Brio RS features a new color, Electric Lime Metallic, although for this test drive I am a happy camper in my pristine white Brio RS. And the white, paired with the red RS trimmings presents a very eye-catching look, especially with a Honda’s other exterior enhancements.

The most major update are the headlights and the foglamps finished with LEDs. The RS trim still gets most of the goodies from the pre-facelift, but the headlights really amp up the model’s premium-ness, and it’s also a bright set of bulbs, even noticeable in the daytime.

Those looking to pick up the new Brio would be wise to consider the top-of-the-line RS trim, and you also get updated body kits to really set it apart from the pre-facelift model. Overall, a remarkable upgrade in terms of style and utility.

Get the motor running

The interior changes aren’t outstandingly bold. Still, I liked black colored trim matched with the red accents in two areas, there is no more RS logo in the gauge cluster, and the rest of the trim is finished in grey instead of an orange accent color.

It would have been a nice touch if Honda decided to color-match the interior trims to the body color of the car, but given the red accents of the RS brand, it still kinda matches, cool.

We’re also happy to report that the headliner of the RS is still clad in black, allowing the hatch to look very cohesive from a design standpoint, also, Honda made it a point to match the seats, with the upholstery now sporting red accents.

Honda made the right choice by dialing some of the accents back and making the cabin a little more mature while retaining some of the sporty RS color blocking that quite a number of buyers have come to love over the years.

The Honda Brio RS, as expected drives as nimble, peppy, and fun as always.

Other than that, we have a few more tech features to play with. A new Kenwood head unit comes in at seven inches, and it’s more capable than ever before. The USB port is located in the glove compartment, however, it allows users to plug in their smartphone and pair with the system for either Apple CarPlay or Android Auto. The system also allows users to further customize the sound profile and even the display colors of the head unit.

The RS variant comes with up to six speakers, and although I am a silent driver, I can say that Honda is still one of the brands to beat in terms capable audio quality. The Brio returns good bass for a two-way audio system, it returns good amounts of clarity in the mids and highs, and considering that this model is the entry-point in the lineup, is also just as impressive.

While we do get a pair of parking sensors at the rear, there is no reverse camera fitted for the small hatch. While the Brio is still one of the roomiest small hatchbacks with regard to rear passenger accommodations, the whole bench comes down as one unit to make room for more cargo space.

Loaded and ready to drive

The Honda Brio drives smoothly — just like I knew it would, and that is a good thing. The turning radius of the small hatch is still one of the tightest I’ve ever dealt with making it perfect for the streets in Makati that I traverse daily. While still not feather-light, the steering was nicely-weighted and added a bit of security to an otherwise small car. The chassis is still the same as before, so as always that Brio was comfortable and easy to handle on twisty roads.

Powering the Brio is the tried-and-tested 1.2-liter naturally-aspirated four-cylinder gasoline engine with i-VTEC that punches out 89 hp and 119 Nm of torque mated to a CVT in the RS and the V, and a five-speed manual transmission in the S trim. While not ground-breaking, we found the engine to be good for city drives, and just enough “drive” for stints on the highway.

The Honda Brio RS, as expected drives as nimble, peppy and fun as always. There is no first impression in the Brio RS — it has an impression that has stood the test of three generations — all reliable, safe to be at the wheel and lots of fun.

Drive on.