While spending a week with the recently facelifted Kia Picanto, there were a few things that stood out for me.
For starters, a small hatchback like this can actually be quite fun to chuck around.
With its compact dimensions, agile handling and slick-shifting manual gearbox, you feel a connection with the road that is missing in many of the towering SUVs that many people opt for nowadays, often with tediously droning CVT gearboxes.
But given that the 3,595 metre-long Picanto is one of the smallest cars for sale in South Africa today, you also feel a bit dwarfed by everything else on the road.
South Africans still have an appetite for compact hatches if they’re well priced, but sales figures show that the Suzuki Swift is about as small as most people are willing to go nowadays, while the VW Polo Vivo and Toyota Starlet are where the comfort zone lies.
And here’s the rub. The new Kia Picanto is priced from R260,995 to R325,995, which puts it directly into price contention with the somewhat larger Vivo and Starlet as well as the latter’s Suzuki Baleno twin.
The Picanto simply can’t compete with these rivals when it comes to cabin space, elbow bumping avoidance and boot capacity, which in the Korean car amounts to 255 litres.
Rear legroom is fairly cramped, but if you're a young South African or a retiree who doesn't need a family car, the Picanto starts to make sense when you consider the advantages it offers.
There is a feeling of quality that is quite likely unsurpassed at this level. The cabin build feels rock solid and the materials and components all seem to be of a high quality. The driving controls are perfectly calibrated for the most part, except for that long-travel clutch, making the Picanto relatively easy to drive.
Power in the base LX model that we had on test comes from a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder normally aspirated unit that offers 49kW and 95Nm. It’s available with either a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic gearbox.
The midrange EX and flagship EX+ models upsize to a 1.2-litre unit with 62kW and 122Nm.
But the smaller engine felt sufficiently capable during our time with it and although it needs to be worked a bit when overtaking on rural roads, its urban performance was certainly adequate by city car standards and it cruised comfortably on the highway.
It’s economical, of course, and if you’re not too heavy on the throttle you could average around 5.5 litres per 100km.
What features can you expect?
The 1.0 LX we drove is now the new base model, replacing the previous 'Start' and 'Street' derivatives. This change comes after extensive research into what features buyers want at this price point. It turns out, the 1.0 LX offers a bit more than just the bare essentials.
Standard on the new LX is an 8.0-inch infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as well as reverse camera and multi-function steering wheel.
Also included is manual air conditioning, remote central locking, electrically adjustable and heated exterior mirrors, electric windows all round, height-adjustable driver’s seat and front USB ports.
It’s certainly a notch above rental-spec.
On the outside the recently facelifted Picanto flaunts a fresh look at the front and back, featuring the Korean company’s latest design language called Opposites United, so there is a resemblance to Kia’s contemporary electric car range that’s not available in SA.
The 1.0 LX rolls on 14-inch steel wheels with plastic wheel covers, while the 1.2 EX gains 15-inch alloys.
VERDICT
You could say that the new Kia Picanto is expensive for its size, but it is well equipped even at base level and it imparts a sensation of quality and workmanship that is a station above what you’d reasonably expect at this price point. If you’re happy to sacrifice size for quality, the new Picanto is very worthy of consideration.
But don’t overlook other options like Hyundai’s popular Grand i10. And if you really want to save money it will be hard to ignore the similarly sized Suzuki Celerio and Toyota Vitz twins, which are around R70,000 cheaper in base form, albeit with less equipment.
IOL Motoring