The Kia Picanto, a favourite best-selling small car, has a new design to further its appeal

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Car Reviewed: Kia Picanto ‘3’ 1.0-litre 5-speed manual

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I got the chance to drive the new Picanto ‘3’ grade car for a week. It followed a large Genesis SUV so was a step down, but as a small car five seat, five door, the Picanto has a lot other offer and was really enjoyable on the busy roads in Bournemouth. The ‘3’ sits above the base ‘2’ model and the GT-Line. The more powerful GT-line S tops the range.

With what Kia calls ‘Opposites United’ styling, the Picanto takes some cues from Kia’s flagship car, the EV9. Many things have been re-styled on the New Picanto. There are rather good-looking 16-inch alloy wheels, a continuous rear light bar, and distinctive front and rear bumpers. Overall, the cabin feels more spacious.

Safety is essential on these small city cars, and the Picanto has it covered, with superbright LED headlights as standard on the ‘3’, six airbags, Electronic stability control, ABS braking with brakeforce distribution, Emergency stop signalling, vehicle stability management, hill start assist, forward collision avoidance assist, lane keep assist, lane follow assist, cruise control and intelligent speed limit assist: a rear parking sensor and a reversing camera.

On the inside, the Picanto feels more significant and more comfortable. Better equipped than many other A-segment cars, the 8.0-inch touchscreen is a good size and easy to get used to, with Apple CarPlay, Android Auto and Bluetooth. This grade also has a wireless phone charger. Below the touchscreen, the heater and climate controls are easy to work with familiar buttons and knobs. Heated front seats are standard, and there is also a heated steering wheel. Automatic air-conditioning is also standard. The seats are finished in black and grey artificial leather, comfortable and hardwearing.

In the car tested, the efficient 3-cylinder, 1.0-litre naturally aspirated engine with 62hp was matched to the 5-speed manual, an easy slick gearbox.

Altogether, eight models are available; the top-of-the-range GT-Line has a 1.2-litre engine with 77hp, and an automated manual transmission is available as an option on all grades.

Driving the car is very light and easy; the Picanto rides very well for such a small car due to having a longer wheelbase; thanks to the quick steering rack with a lock to lock in just 2.47 turns, it is effortless to park, even in the smallest spaces, with good visibility all around. As you may expect, it’s not that fast, but it is nippy, with a 0.62mph in 15.4 seconds and a top speed of 90mph. It feels good and fun to drive; it easily keeps pace on bigger A-roads and motorways. On twisty roads, the Picanto has agile handling, which is helped by torque vectoring by braking; in this small A-segment car, this improves handling and stability along with overall safety.

It does have a noticeably small fuel tank of just 35 litres, but with a combined fuel consumption of 52.3mpg, it’s still good for about 350 miles. Emissions are low at 116/km even without all the gubbins of a hybrid or range anxiety of an electric car.

The boot is pretty small with 255 litres, but the rear 60:40 seats, when folded, will increase this to 1010 litres for those larger purchases or trips to the garden centre.

Still, good value for money, the model tested was £17,545 with Kia’s seven-year warranty for 100k miles and 12 months of complimentary roadside assistance with the RAC. Kia’s promise to make the ownership experience the best available is industry-leading.

For me, this places the Picanto at the top for small cars.