Car Review: New Kia Picanto
In a busy and ridiculously congested city (like Cape Town) there are a number of defining features to take into account when considering a new city car. Practicality, comfort, efficiency, and if you’re like me and in your 30s, perhaps something that looks and feels fun and quirky on the road is what you’re after. But it’s not always easy to find something that incorporates a touch of everything you’d hope for. Not when your budget is tight anyway.
Just when you think you’ve found a brand new car that suits all your needs and budget, there’s nearly always a catch and you find yourself compromising on things like safety or efficiency, for example.
Yesterday, (13 July 2017) I attended the launch of KIA’s third generation Picanto and KIA hopes that it’s going to bring a new, more youthful and energetic character to South Africa’s A-segment.
What’s new about the new Picanto?
A slightly more aggressive and bolder look is what you’ll find on the outside while inside provides more tech and added comfort to assist the modern and innovative driver. Kia says that the new Picanto is aimed at “the young, and young at heart” and I think that’s a pretty good line to support the general feel I got from it while driving out of Cape Town’s busy city centre. It’s got a lot of quirk about it and the extensive colour range includes eleven really striking and dynamic options to suit the Picanto’s personality.
On the outside
The new Picanto’s front face certainly looks confident and includes a new Tiger-nose grille, LED daytime running lights and straight horizontal lines which run above the lower grille. From the side, distinctive lines run along the side skirts, shoulders and around the wheel arches. Speaking of wheel arches, the wheel-base has been extended by 15 mm while the wheels have been pushed further out to the corners, making the Picanto look larger in size and nicely planted on the road.
Of KIA’s eleven colour options, the colour which really caught my eye was ‘Celestial Blue’, but the other ten colours to choose from (six of them are new to the range) are super fun and unique.
On the inside
Higher quality materials inside make the new Picanto’s cabin more modern and refined than its outgoing model. Extensive use of horizontal lines around the cabin make it feel more spacious and visually roomy inside. The base of the dashboard has shifted up a bit (by 15 mm), giving driver and passenger more legroom.
A feature I love about the new Picanto is a new central armrest that can slide backwards and forwards depending on where you want it positioned, and it’s got some space inside for storage.
The new 7 inch full-colour touchscreen infotainment system is reserved for the top-of-the-range model, but offers a Bluetooth connection to smartphones to play music on the go and supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto for full smartphone integration.
Kia notes that not only are these systems convenient, they’re also a significant safety benefit as they curb the growing hazard of distracted driving.
I have to point out the new Kia Picanto’s bootspace, because it’s not often that you find an affordable city car with enough of it. But the new Picanto’s bootspace has exploded to a capacity of 255-litres with the rear seats up and increases to over 1 000-litres with the seats folded down…that’s pretty big for a car this size!
Driving the new Kia Picanto
Before we got to test the new Picanto, Kia had the outgoing models available for us to drive for a bit, which was a great way to notice significant changes once stepping into the new one.
When it came time to test the new Picanto I hopped into the top-of-the-range (SMART) model, which features higher specifications like a rear-view parking assist system that includes a rear-view parking camera as well as electric folding and heated side door mirrors. A sunroof (R8, 500) is available as an option on these models.
Because Kia’s pushed the wheels further out to each end of the car, rider comfort is noticeable and I felt pretty settled when going over bumps and uneven road surfaces.
The new Picanto is available with a 1.0 or 1.25-litre naturally aspirated multi-point (MPI) petrol engine. Both engines are fitted with a five-speed manual transmission pushing power to the front wheels. Some models are available with an optional four-speed automatic transmission, however I haven’t yet tested that variant.
Kia claims that the 1.0-litre MPI engine is the most fuel-efficient engine available to Picanto buyers and provides the entry point into the Picanto range.
The first thing I noticed while driving the new Picanto was the amount of comfort I felt while trying to get out of Cape Town’s gridlocked CBD as quickly and efficiently as possible. This really is the kind of city car you want to be in while navigating your way around congested lanes, badly parked buses and frustrating detours. It’s punchy enough to quickly overtake and avoid getting stuck behind taxi drivers who randomly come to a complete stop in the middle of the road! And it’s comfortable enough to lower your levels of road rage…the arm rest makes a huge difference here.
Once out of the city and onto more open or twisty roads the Picanto still maintains its perkiness and impressive ride-quality. The three-cylinder engine produces 49 kW at 5 500 r/min and 96 N.m of torque while the four-cylinder 1.25-litre engine produces a peak power of 61 kW and 122 N.m of torque, so you can expect a degree of fuel efficiency to keep running costs low.
“The safest A-segment car KIA has ever made”
The new Picanto is filled with some clever safety features. KIA notes that it’s “the safest A-segment car Kia has ever made” featuring double the proportion of Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS) compared to the outgoing model and a selection of active safety technologies.
Also read: Car Review: New Kia Rio
“All models bar the entry-level models are equipped with an Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), as well as driver and passenger airbad. All models are fitted as standard with ISOFIX child seat anchors.”
Pricing
Yes, the new Kia Picanto is a cheap car, but when you take everything into consideration in terms of what it offers, even as standard, it certainly doesn’t look or feel like a cheap car…
What gave me that ‘value-for-money’ feeling? Its good looking and vibrant exterior, substantial safety features, its large bootspace (255-litres), and tech-savvy cabin make the new Picanto a great offering worth considering for a city car!
“Despite the all-new KIA Picanto representing a huge step forward for KIA in its quest to provide customers with a fun, funky, high-quality city car, KIA is launching the new Picanto range at price points that are virtually unchanged from the outgoing models.”
Picanto 1.0 START Manual R 134,995
Picanto 1.0 STREET Manual R 149,995
Picanto 1.0 STYLE Manual R 159,995
Picanto 1.0 STYLE Auto R 172,995
Picanto 1.0 SMART Manual R 179,995
Picanto 1.2 START Manual R 150,995
Picanto 1.2 START Auto R 163,995
Picanto 1.2 STREET Manual R 165,995
Picanto 1.2 STYLE Manual R 175,995
Picanto 1.2 STYLE Auto R 188,995
Picanto 1.2 SMART Manual R 195,995
“The obvious choice in the A-segment just became the only choice,” says Stephen Crosse, Sales Director, KIA Motors South Africa. “From START to SMART, there is a model for every pocket and every need, with enhanced value throughout the range.
“The START models, as an example, adds Bluetooth, an Aux and USB port and a factory-fitted radio to the mix when compared to the previous generation specification, and does so at almost the same price,” he adds. “Similarly, STREET models will be market winners with ABS and driver and passenger airbags. If you’re shopping in the sub-R150,000 segment, you need not look any further.”
Source: KIA Motors South Africa