Kia Picanto review: why this is the best cheap new car on sale

Car prices have soared in recent years as brands have moved away from offering drive-away bargains. This hatchback breaks the mould.

IAIN CURRY AND JULES LUCHT

4 min read

June 18, 2024 - 8:47AM

National News Network

The Kia Picanto is small but affordable. Picture: Supplied.

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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?

The Picanto is ideally suited to inner city driving. Picture: Supplied.

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 interior design is plain but practical. Picture: Supplied.

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.

The Picanto is small and nimble. Picture: Supplied.

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.

Despite its size the Picanto can still swallow the weekly groceries. Picture: Supplied.

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.

The Picanto is a solid performer on the open road. Picture: Supplied.

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.

The Picanto

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.