Kia Picanto review

What is it? The Kia Picanto is the all-new third-generation version of the brand’s mass-selling city car. Key features: More space, more efficient, new tech. Our view: The Kia Picanto is improved in all areas and will remain a leading contender in the city car market. Type of review: First drive City cars are a declining sector of the UK market – the creators of the third-generation Kia Picanto admit such in the press pack introduction to the car. The crossover takeover has reached the traditional small car’s patch as more buyers abandon traditional small cars for chunky, boxy machines in which they can sit higher up. Read more Kia news, reviews and features at The Car Expert However, the market in which the Picanto competes is still huge business for Kia, its little car taking more than 60,000 of the one million annual A-segment sales. And nowhere is this more true than in the UK. British buyers, more than half of them women, account for almost a quarter of all European Picanto sales, the model regularly in the UK’s city car top five. So there is no doubting the importance of this launch to Kia, and the recipe appears to make no radical departures, but to improve the car in all areas. Next page: Exterior and interior design Exterior and interior. A-segment buyers, not surprisingly, do not want bigger cars, so the new Picanto boasts the same 3.6m length and 1.6m width as its predecessor. The height goes up a touch, by 5mm, and the wheelbase by 15mm, courtesy of the new platform the car is built on. This is not only significantly safer, with double the amount of high-strength steel in its construction, but allows more versatility in the cabin layout. Kia tells us that the car has a shorter front overhang, a longer rear, but it’s not exactly noticeable. Now offered like most of its rivals in five-door form only, the model presents visually very agreeable proportions, with a much more purposeful stance compared to the curvy, friendly look of the outgoing car. And that more grown-up look certainly suits the sporty-themed GT-Line models. Read more Kia news, reviews and features at The Car Expert Inside those changes are combined with a totally revised cabin, based around a slimmer dash, to free up more space all over. The seats sit lower and further back than in the old car, which adds head, leg and shoulder room up front while not compromising it in the rear. And the boot space goes up too, by some 55 litres to what Kia claims is a class-leading 255 litres. Drop the rear seats and there are 1,010 litres to fill. Certainly it feels as roomy, in front or back, as the best in the market, while the driver will have few complaints about the controls, which are elegantly simple and combined with effective yet distinctive graphics. Next page: Powertrains Powertrains. Initially, the new Picanto goes on sale with two of Kia’s ‘Kappa’ petrol engines carried over from the previous car, a 1-litre three-cylinder unit with 67hp, and the 1.25-litre four cylinder of 84hp. Kia says that both have been comprehensively re-engineered for their new application, with resultant fuel consumption and emissions gains. Standard transmission is a five-speed manual unit, but the larger engine is also offered with a four-speed auto. This does, however, come with significant efficiency drawbacks – it extends the 0-62mph time by over 1.5 seconds, while combined cycle fuel economy falls from 61.4 to 52.3mpg, with an extra 18g/km in emissions. Towards the end of 2017, Kia will be adding its latest three-cylinder 1.0 T-GDi (Turbocharged Gasoline Direct Injection) unit to the range, with 100hp and efficiency gains to boot. Next page: On the road On the road. The launch event saw us driving UK-specification cars, in Tuscany, which offers both twisting gradient-swapping routes to test the car’s dynamics and also road surfaces of pretty indifferent quality, particularly in towns, and pretty close to what UK owners will likely experience, in the south-east especially. We tried both engines, with manual transmissions, and were most impressed by the smaller 1-litre unit. Yes the figures don’t lie and it cannot match the 1.2 for pace, but it feels so much more eager and perky. Read more Kia news, reviews and features at The Car Expert This becomes particularly apparent under challenging cornering. The new Picanto combines the McPherson Strut front suspension of its predecessor with a new torsion beam layout, and this makes for assured turn-in and grip, while also serving to dial out most of the lumps and bumps of the indifferent road surfaces, though crashing over the biggest potholes does transmit into the cabin. There is nothing at all amiss with the 1.2 unit, it cruises in confidence and maintains its poise in the turns – it just doesn’t feel as much fun as its smaller sibling. Certainly, the 100hp 1-litre turbo Picantos coming in the year will be interesting to test and possibly more worthy of the sporty GT-Line trim levels that currently one can only have with the 1.2. Next page: Equipment levels Equipment. Picanto buyers have a choice of the familiar three trim levels of 1, 2 and 3, plus alternative GT-Line and GT-Line S trims. Grade 1 is only offered with the 67hp engine, Grade 3 and the two GT-Lines only come with the larger unit. Entry-level 1 cars cost £9,450 and equipment includes electric front windows, remote locking, AUX and USB sockets on the radio, tilt adjustment on the steering column, auto headlights, a vehicle stability management system alongside the electronic stability control and hill-start assist. Auto emergency braking is on the options list. Moving up to 2 trim adds £1,300 to the price but also much more equipment. Air conditioning, electric rear windows and heated door mirrors, Bluetooth with music streaming on the now four-speaker (instead of two) audio, leather trim on the steering wheel and gear lever and driver’s height adjustment are all on the list, as are alloy instead of steel wheels. This is also the first level one can choose the larger engine, for another £500. Read more Kia news, reviews and features at The Car Expert Grade 3, costing from £12,650, effectively opens the tech floodgates. Autonomous emergency braking is standard, as is auto air-con, cruise control, satellite navigation in a central unit that also displays a parking camera, DAB, voice recognition of the Bluetooth, plus detail enhancements including 15-inch alloy wheels. GT-Line is more about sporty looks, and includes the biggest alloy wheel option, 16 inches, as well as bespoke bumpers, side sills and faux leather seat trim in black and red. You’ll need to buy the most-expensive Picanto in the range, the £13,950 GT-Line S, to get all the equipment offered in the Picanto 3, plus a couple of bespoke extras such as an electric sunroof and wireless phone charger. Next page: Summary and specifications The Picanto GT-Line trim adds extra detailing for sporty look, and larger alloy wheels. Summary. The priority in creating a new Kia Picanto had to be to bring the model bang up to date without ruining a very successful recipe, and in this the brand has succeeded. The new car ticks all the boxes that A-segment buyers are likely to want. We would choose the 2 grade with the smaller engine, for the combination of frugality and fun, but many buyers will no doubt be tempted by the higher-spec versions, keeping the Picanto firmly in the front line of the small car battleground. Kia Picanto – key specifications. Models Tested: Kia Picanto 2 1.0 67hp 5-sp man, GT-Line 1.25 84hp 5-sp manual On Sale: May 2017 Range price:£9,450-£13,950 Insurance groups: TBA Engines: 1.0 petrol, 1.25 petrol. Power (hp): 67, 84 Torque (Nm):96, 122. 0-62mph (sec): 13.8, 11.6 (13.2 auto) Top speed (mph): 100, 107 (100) Fuel economy (combined, mpg): 64.2, 61.4 (52.3) CO2 emissions (g/km): 101, 106 (124) Key rivals: Hyundai i10, Volkswagen Up, Toyota Aygo Test Date: April 2017 Read more Kia news, reviews and features at The Car Expert

Design 9.0
Performance 8.0
Handling 8.0
Economy 8.0
Value 8.0

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Kia Picanto – key specifications

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