Kia Picanto manual 2018 review

For many, micro cars are not the first to come to mind when it’s time buy a brand-new car.

They might be small, cleverly packaged and incredibly user friendly, but they aren’t what you’d call ‘aspirational’. Not like a sporty coupe, anyway.

But they're often front-and-centre first-time new car buyers; those who are ready to take the first exciting steps into a dealership and sign their life away on the dotted line.

Those, and the more mature consumer, most likely looking for a second car to retire the large SUV (bought for caravanning holidays) from its duties around town.

And on those bases (the first example in particular), you have to hope the little Kia Picanto is going to be a dependable companion that can stand the test of time.

On first impressions, things are good: there's a whole bunch of kit that comes in as standard, including a 7.0-inch touchscreen multimedia system with Apple CarPlay & Android Auto functionality; a seven year/unlimited kilometre warranty; and even Auto Emergency Braking (AEB). That’s some decent kit cleverly spread across the fronts of convenience, ownership, and safety. But it’s not like the Picanto ruins it all with its asking price. No. That’s the best part: a very humble $14,000 plus on-roads. 

But is there any substance behind the gadgetry? Some good-ol’ honest engineering? Or is it just another example of a car designed by marketing men? 

Put simply, anyone can make a sub-standard car, fill it with toys, and make it sound like a great deal. But making a wholesome, well-engineered and well-designed runabout... that's what some people are more interested in.

So on those bases, how does the Picanto fare?

Saturday

First off, let’s talk about the looks. As I found out while emerging from my dilapidated Sydney apartment on Saturday morning, the styling probably won't make you weak at the knees. It's a tidy design - one that looks much better than the out-going model – but the front and rear seem to have been created by separate design groups. The styles of either don’t look 'tied together' with the same design language somehow.

I can see the designers tried to spice up the aesthetics of the micro-car segment, but I think it just looks like a rental with funky headlights (at least in base ‘S’ spec). Each to their own, I guess.

Not that you could argue the outside is all bad; the dimensions of the vehicle are tiny. And that means it's a gem to park and scythe through traffic. It's brilliant, in a 'Self Preservation Society' type of way.

The fun continues on the inside, too. Yes, there's the raft of hard, scratchy plastics you'd expect from a car of this class, but the interior is nicely lifted by Kia's 'floating' 7.0-inch touchscreen. No, it doesn't feature in-built sat nav, but it does have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality which makes the maps app available on-screen.

There's also an ingenious display button that kills the screen at any time – a very useful safety feature for night-time driving. Such a tool doesn’t sound that amazing, I know, but it's far better than having it located in a menu, then a sub-menu inside a sub-menu. Which, unfortunately, is a common and egregious oversight in today’s vehicles.

I also love the air conditioning and rear de-mist buttons. Instead of hiding in the dash as boring, flush-fitting switchgear, they hang out from the base of the HVAC controls as big, fat tabs. Like a fighter jet. Cooool.

The ergonomics are spot-on, too: the controls and switchgear fall to hand easily; the dashboard instruments are clear and concise; and the trip computer is a breeze to use. Everything is laid out in a purely functional way, yet manages to look pretty good too.

This feel of quality extends once you’re out on the open road. Pulling into Sydney traffic on the way to Orange, NSW, the 1.25-litre four-cylinder petrol engine pootled me along with little noise and vibration. Power reserves are not titanic – the Picanto makes a grand total of 62kW at 6000rpm and 122Nm at 4000rpm – but it's at least delivered with relative smoothness and linearity.

The manual is easy to drive, with it's light-throw and top-end clutch bite. (image credit: James Marsden)

Naturally, such an engine requires a bit of 'motivation' for high-speed overtakes, particularly as I whizzed through the lows and highs of the Blue Mountains, but the little multi-point injected unit swept me through without dismantling the entire cabin or blowing out my ears. And that’s always a plus.

It's reasonably geared, too. In the tested five-speed manual, the engine was turning over at a comfortable 2750rpm per 100km/h – great for the highway. While it would've been nice to have a six-speed 'box – something that's becoming more and more commonplace, even among cheap cars – the gear ratios were at least spread across the range efficiently.

That can't be said for the automatic, unfortunately. When the four-speed variant passed through the CarsGuide garage a few weeks ago I found it to be as sluggish transmissions can get. Best to avoid that one.

The manual also pips the automatic for fuel efficiency. We found the manual Picanto would sip just 4.8L/100km on the highway and 5.0L/100km in towns and city suburbs. The four-speed auto will use around 8.2L/100km on average, as found by Peter Anderson in late 2017 road test.

Like most of offerings in the micro-car class – with the exception of the 1.2-litre Fiat 500 – the Picanto will be happy to take 91 octane fuel.

At $14,190, the Picanto S is a smidge more than its closest rival, the $13,990 Holden Spark LS, but $800 less than the bigger Mazda2 which sits in the class above.

Yet unlike the Holden or Mazda, the Kia comes with an industry-leading, seven year/unlimited km warranty. Seven years! As passenger car warranties go, that's as high as you can get.

Stable handling meant that enthusiastic cornering was predictable and secure. (image credit: James Marsden)

But while the Picanto's strengths lie in its confidence-inspiring warranty and frugal running costs, the Holden Spark's five-star ANCAP safety rating (the Picanto scores four) and Mazda2's driving enjoyment make it a difficult tug-of-war.

For your money, you get a 7.0-inch touchscreen (with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and Bluetooth), a reversing camera with rear parking sensors, cruise control, automatic headlights, front and rear fog lights, two ISOFIX anchor points in the rear, and AEB. You also get a neat hill-holder function on this manual variant. Very useful.

The only option you can get on the Picanto is premium paint ($520) – which seven of the eight paint schemes are – and an automatic transmission ($1500).

It's also important to note that while the Picanto comes with AEB as standard - and is the cheapest car in Australia to offer such tech - the safety conscious buyer will be let down by the fact it only scored four out of five stars in ANCAP’s crash tests. And that's a hard blow.

Sunday

Two things stuck out after arriving in Orange last night: the monotone, four-speaker sound system is unlikely to see the Picanto used as a mobile disco; and two, there's a surprising amount of refinement at speed.

It's not an executive limo by any stretch, but noise, vibration, and harshness levels are insulated to a respectable minimum. The front seats, however, put strain on my back and legs due to a lack of adequate lumbar and thigh support. Climbing out after a three-hour voyage wasn't as (completely) strenuous as I thought it'd be. But had Kia developed their seats just a little bit further, this would be one serious long-distance micro-tourer.

The Picanto isn’t that bad once you shove it into a corner either. Despite relatively standard suspension, with McPherson struts up front and a torsion beam rear, the little Picanto was a delight to drive. Stable handling - thanks to the wheels being pushed out to the far edges of the car - and a respectable level of adhesion meant that enthusiastic cornering was predictable and secure. You can really press on in the Picanto.

There's a good boot, too. Massive, considering the petty dimensions of the car. I didn't use all of it - partly because I'm a single 23-year-old male, and therefore only carry a mobile phone and pack of Yu-Gi-Oh cards - but there's good volume for stowage; about 255 litres (VDA) with the seats up. Or in other words, 37 per cent more than the Holden Spark.

As expected though, the Picanto is equipped with a temporary space-saver spare. Something I'm glad I didn't need to use as I turned around to head back home.

I must say, however, that on the night-time drive back to Sydney the Picanto's headlights really came over as a huge oversight. Whether you're on standard bulbs or have selected high-beam, the intensity and dispersal of light (and as a result, your response time) is irritatingly short. Driving around in the dark at 100km/h in 'roo country is not something I'm keen on, AEB or not.

Regardless of which, the Picanto proved to be a solid performer through most of the journey.

Heading back into the welcoming, carcinogenic arms of Sydney, the little Kia surprised me with just how polished some micro cars have become in the past few years. IYes, the Picanto has some flaws, but it still stands as a testament (albeit a minor one) to how much car you can get for so little money.