Kia has comprehensively updated its baby Picanto city car with a fresh look and more tech. Our family of testers sample the $23,490 driveway GT-Line.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
IAIN: The Kia Picanto’s one of the best new cars on sale today.
JULES: Are you insane? It’s tiny, the cabin’s plasticky, the boot’s a shoebox and the engine’s from the dark ages.
IAIN: Whoa. Let me explain. We must judge a car on how fit-for-purpose it is, and how well that’s been executed.
JULES: Like price, target market and typical use?
IAIN: Exactly. Kia must keep the Picanto affordable, but safe and feature-packed.
JULES: What’s the budget?
IAIN: The cheapest model is a $20,690 drive-away Sport manual, while our fancier GT-Line’s $22,490 drive-away. It’s $1000 more with auto gearbox. These prices are about 10 per cent higher than before.
JULES: A few years ago you could drive away in a heap of cars for less than $20,000. Now not even a Picanto?
IAIN: Nope. Its sole remaining city car rival is the $10,000 pricier Fiat 500. And the new MG3 is much more expensive than the car it replaces.
JULES: The Picanto’s titchy, but looks modern, sharp and sporty on its 16-inch alloys.
IAIN: Importantly, it doesn’t look cheap. It’s chunky and I love its flat-sided rear with full-width LED lightbar.
THE LIVING SPACE
JULES: It feels cheap. There’s no smart key so the doors don’t unlock automatically and you need to put a metal key in the ignition.
IAIN: Old World charm? It’s supposed to be cheap and cheerful, but there are faux-leather seats, digital instruments and Kia’s excellent 8-inch infotainment screen with wireless CarPlay and Android Auto.
JULES: The tech and connectivity’s great – first car buyers will love that – but seats are too firm and the material doesn’t cool down well.
IAIN: I prefer them to cheap cloth. The Sport steering wheel feels good, but there’s hard plastic on the doors, dash top and centre console.
JULES: There are proper knobs for the aircon and a manual handbrake. Perhaps I’m nostalgic, but the simplicity of these is ideal for a cheap city car.
IAIN: The cabin’s mature and well designed. Storage is fine, there’s a proper armrest and rear space is just about tolerable for adults.
THE COMMUTE
JULES: I’ve come to rely on adaptive cruise control – it makes journeys far less stressful – but this Picanto does without. Boo.
IAIN: That’s a shame, but there are solid safety inclusions such as blind-spot and lane-keep assist.
JULES: I love this thing in town. It’s so tiny you zip between cars and it turns on a dime. A big digital speedo’s very handy too.
IAIN: But the engine’s a weak point. Other city cars use zesty three-cylinder turbos to get the job done, but Kia’s stuck with a non-turbo four-cylinder putting out just 62kW and 122Nm.
JULES: It’s fit for purpose, but damn noisy when you floor it.
IAIN: Ours has a four-speed auto, which feels a gear short. At 110km/h it sits at a noisy 3200rpm.
THE SHOPPING
JULES: I’ll be fair. The boot handled the weekly shop despite how small it is and as it’s deep so the groceries didn’t fall out when I lifted the tailgate.
IAIN: Its compact dimensions make it a treat to park. It feels half the size of utes dominating our car parks. But the rear camera’s terrible quality for a modern car.
SUNDAY RUN
JULES: I usually love city cars but the Picanto’s engine spoils the party.
IAIN: It’s a bit of a sloth, eh? The five-speed manual is a better option – engine performance is much easier to exploit when you’re in charge.
JULES: For such a tiddler, the overall ride’s comfortable and the steering light and easy.
IAIN: Plus it’s fun to throw around. At less than a tonne it changes direction sharply and sticks well in corners but it runs out of power quickly.
THE FAMILY
JULES: Our tweenagers grumble about tight rear space, but the Picanto offers just enough. There are no air vents, though, just a USB-C port.
IAIN: I reckon it’s well packaged for a city car. The rear seats and boot are perfectly usable, and with seats folded my bike squeezed in.
JULES: I’m bothered there’s no ANCAP rating but it has auto emergency braking and rear cross-traffic alert, which are reassuring.
IAIN: The antique engine and gearbox mean a 6L/100km return, which we just bettered on test. The manual version manages 5.4L/100km, while services are pricey at more than $2000 for the first five. Kia’s seven-year warranty’s a huge incentive, though.
THE VERDICT
JULES: If you’d handed me this Picanto as a P-plater I’d have fallen in love. It looks cool, has the required tech and feels solid and safe. But it’s dwarfed by all else on the road. I need something bigger.
IAIN: I disagree. We need more Australians to wake up and realise Picanto-sized cars are perfectly suitable for many. And this Kia’s a winner on price, features and experience.
KIA PICANTO GT-LINE
PRICE: From $22,490 drive-away (good value)
WARRANTY AND SERVICING: 7 years/unlimited km warranty (excellent), $2069 for 5 years/75,000km (pricey)
ENGINE: 1.2-litre 4-cyl petrol, 62kW/122Nm (a bit weak)
SAFETY: Six airbags, auto emergency braking, rear cross-traffic assist, lane follow and keep assist, blind-spot assist (good)
THIRST: 6.0L/100km (OK)
SPARE: Space saver (not ideal)
BOOT: 255 litres (tiny)
