Kia Picanto vs Toyota Prius C

What's the difference?

Australians are moving into ever-larger vehicles when really we should be embracing the small car now more than ever. It's great Kia is still here, with its Picanto showing what can be offered in such a compact form-factor.

While it's not as affordable as it once was, it looks like it won't be long before Kia is the last torchbearer of sub-$20k starter cars. Even so, this is a great choice for buyers on strict budgets.

It's as if the the future is firmly rooted in the past at Toyota. The Prius is still undoubtedly clever, frugal and easy to drive, but it is feeling so old in places that the bad had begun to weigh on the good. If you're a tech-head or have a right foot crafted from lead, then there's nothing to see here. But if the thought of saving money at the bowser sets your heart aflutter, then step right this way.

You wouldn't know it in Australia, where our collective tastes are orienting toward larger and larger vehicles, but city cars are experiencing something of a golden age overseas.

Cars like the Nissan Sakura, Honda N One, and Hyundai Casper join a long list of others which are design leaders in the city-car segment, and this is why the Picanto needs to look sharper than ever to compete.

Particularly in the GT-Line form we tested for this review, the 2024 car has adopted a dramatic facelift which complies to Kia's incoming and much more science-fiction look, complete with an extremely angular design and frowny LED light fittings.

Around the rear, there's a reworked set of tail-lights with a contemporary strip which almost reaches the whole way across the boot lid, and the new alloy wheels round out the whole aesthetic.

Given this, it's a little disappointing to see how few elements have changed on the interior. From the inside, this Picanto feels basically the same as the pre-update version.

I like the D-shaped steering wheel the GT now gets, and the multimedia screen is great for such a small and affordable car, but all the other switchgear, including the steering wheel is from previous-generation Kia products, and not the shiny new design-led stuff which appears in cars like the Sportage, Sorento, or Niro.

Also, while it's feature-laden all things considered, the interior plastics are mainly the harsh, hollow, scratchy kind. The new digital instrument cluster isn't one big screen, instead it's constructed of a few basic sectors which aren't customisable outside of the background colour. At least the central portion shows some useful information.

The good news is that it doesn't look quite so quirky as the full-size Prius. The not-as-good news is that it's still no beauty-contest winner. Not helping matters was the fact our test vehicle was painted in a retina-burning yellow (they call it Hornet Yellow, and it's new for 2018) that looked almost nuclear.

Viewed front on, the blacked-out section of grille and bumper gives the littlest Prius a vaguely manta ray-shaped front-end, while the headlights climb both upwards and back into the body, lending a sense of sportiness to this very unsporty hybrid. From the back, the chunky bumper, vertical taillights and rear windscreen spoiler all add a little attitude to the design.

Inside, you'll find a small but premium-in-places space, with a gloss-black stereo surround that angles the main controls toward the driver, while the digital driver's binnacle is pushed toward the centre of the car, displaying speed, fuel and other key info above the stereo, rather than in front of the steering wheel.

Feeling a little old or not, the Picanto has a clever interior which makes the most of its limited dimensions.

There are huge bottle holders in the front doors, a further two with little flip-out sectors which sit below the air-con controls. These holders can be folded away to turn this space into a tray for the storage of large objects. There's even a centre armrest console box, but it's tiny.

On the topic of air-conditioning controls, these are, refreshingly, physical dials, which are increasingly going missing as manufacturers move such functions to touchscreens. The Picanto keeps things manual though, even including a volume and tuning knob for the touchscreen, with physical shortcut buttons adorning the bottom section of the frame.

Physical controls is something Hyundai Group has committed to, and it's not until you use a vehicle without them you realise how essential they can be.

Despite its tiny footprint, there's also plenty of room in the cabin for an adult my size (I'm 182cm tall). I felt as though there was massive airspace between my head and the roof, as the Picanto's seats let you sit nice and low to the ground, and while it's limited in its width, it feels like I had enough room and adjustability for my legs.

Only one area brought me discomfort and it was the elbow-rest in the door. Sounds silly, but while the GT-Line has a little synthetic leather strip here, for some reason it has no padding, so it's seemingly for aesthetic purposes only and is still an uncomfortable place to rest your elbow on longer journeys.

It sounds unlikely, but I fit behind my own driving position in the back seat, with my knees almost up against the back of the front seat. Thankfully, the seat backings are softly-clad so even if you were slightly taller than me it might be ok.

Again, headroom is sufficient, and the seats are reasonably comfortable in the outer two positions. There are no amenities in the back seat. Rear passengers don't get air vents, door pockets, or a drop-down armrest in the centre position. There is only a small pocket on the back of the passenger seat. Can't say it would be the best space for longer journeys, but it fits adults for short city trips.

The boot measures 255 litres. It's small enough it may rule the Picanto out for some family buyers who need to wrestle with a pram or some such. The boot is large enough to fit either the largest CarsGuide luggage case on its own, or the two smaller ones, but absolutely not all three. It may surprise you to learn there is enough room under the floor for a space-saver spare wheel.

Not very. This is a Yaris-based city car, let's not forget.

That said, it never feels cramped up front, with enough shoulder and headroom to ensure you feel separated from your fellow passengers, where you'll also find two cupholders, and an infuriating USB connection housed in the touchscreen - so your cord dangles from the dash when connected.

Climb into the back, and you'll find yourself in a pretty snug space. Sitting behind my own (5ft-8inch) driving position, it's only the scalloped back of the driver's seat that affords me any clear air between my knees and the seat in front, and the space behind my head and the roof lining is minuscule, too. But again, we're talking city car space here, so you can't expect to lounge about back there.

The ambience in the backseat leaves a little to be desired, though. The door trim pushes into the passenger space, and the plastics used in the rear are rock hard. There's a single cupholder to share, and a seat-back pocket on the rear of the passenger seat, but that's it; there's no vents, USB or power sources. There's no bottle-room in the rear doors, either.

An easy-access boot space will swallow 260 litres with the 60:40 rear seats in place. And there are two ISOFIX attachment points, one in each window seat in the back.

We've just spent a week behind the wheel of the Prius c i-Tech; the top model in the two-variant range, sitting above a cheaper model known simply as the Prius c.

At $26,540, it ain't cheap for a city car (and it's $4k more than the most-expensive Yaris on which it is based; more worryingly, it's only $1500 cheaper than an Audi A1), and the standard features list is more a novella than War and Peace.

Outside, you'll find 15-inch alloy wheels, remote unlocking, LED headlights and front fog lamps, while inside you'll leather-look seats (they're actually vinyl), sat-nav and climate-control.

Tech is covered by an  (old-school feeling) 6.1-inch touchscreen that pairs with a six-speaker stereo, but there's no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto.

This is another area where the Picanto is feeling in need of a little innovation. It has the same very dated 1.2-litre four-cylinder petrol engine as the previous car, producing a sufficient but not exciting 62kW/122Nm.

It drives the front wheels via an equally old four-speed automatic transmission, or as tested, a five-speed manual transmission.

It's better with the manual if you can drive one, and a bit of a win for first time or young buyers who will still have the option to learn to drive one, so points there.

Under that little hood lives a 1.5-litre, four-cylinder petrol engine good for 54kW, which pairs with a 45kW electric motor. Toyota lists combined outputs at 74kW at 4800rpm and 111Nm at 4000rpm.

That hybrid setup partners with a CVT automatic, pumping power to the front wheels.

An older engine and transmission combination makes for a less than impressive fuel consumption figure in today's market, but then the Picanto is a very light car, so it has lower fuel consumption than most of its contemporaries regardless.

The official fuel consumption on the combined-cycle test of the five-speed manual we tested is 5.4L/100km, and in our week of what I would consider fairly combined usage our GT-Line drank 6.0L/100km. Not great when you consider a much larger hybrid Corolla can use less fuel, but pretty close to the claim nonetheless.

The Picanto has a 35-litre fuel tank – enabling a theoretical driving range of 648km – and happily drinks base-grade 91RON unleaded fuel.

If that last section didn't impress, this one surely will. The little Prius c will sip a claimed 3.9L/100km on the combined cycle.

That's very low, and the fact it accepts cheaper 91RON fuel makes it a very affordable car to run. Except... the onboard computers revealed a slightly less-impressive 5.1L/100km after my time with the car.

Emissions are a claimed 90g/km of CO2, which is very good.

You've got low power, a pretty low-tech engine and transmission, but this little Kia is still great fun to drive.

For a start, you can have it as a manual that lets you wring the best out of the little engine, which is easygoing but lacklustre with the four-speed auto.

To be clear, it's not a great manual - usually when you get a brand new manual in 2024 it's one of those fancy performance ones with nice damping and notchy gates, but as simple as it is, it also gives the car a raw mechanical nature which keeps it engaging to drive. There are real consequences for choosing the wrong gear and it takes a touch of skill to get used to, a lost art of the all-encompassing drive which is a welcome change of pace compared to a lot of cars today.

The Picanto also has keen steering helping the organic feel, and it has a firm ride, too, which makes it surprisingly sporty in the corners, but it's lightweight nature and firm suspension gave it a crashy and bouncy feel on some of the inconsistent Sydney streets I exposed it to.

It's also a bit noisy in the cabin, both in terms of engine noise (you have to rev the thing to get it going) and tyre roar on anything but the finest tarmac. This issue increases with your speed, and reminds you of its city-car intention when you're on the freeway.

Still, the city is where it's best suited to, and it's a joy to easily dart down alleyways which take a degree of caution in the usual mid-size SUVs you see around the place, and the fact you can park it anywhere can be a real blessing.

The visibility is great, too, which means multi-lane situations aren't a nightmare, and the full suite of manual adjustment for the stereo and air conditioning are super easy to use when you're on the go (who has time to adjust a touchscreen when you have a manual transmission to worry about?)

In conclusion then, the Picanto isn't to be underestimated. This is a spritely fun little thing which makes the most of its limited hardware, but it truly is best suited for the confines of a city, and gets less impressive as you get it out on the open road.

In much the same way that you don't buy an exotic performance car for its ability to run to the shops, you're unlikely to be buying the Prius for its ability to set your pulse racing.

But happily, it doesn't feel wobbly or disconnected, either. It's aided by being such a small package, and when you're not wafting silently about in electric mode, and you've coaxed that little petrol engine into life, it serves up more than enough poke to navigate the city, and even to leave the slow-reactors in your rear-view mirror at traffic lights.

The ride is good, too, feeling connected to the road below without feeling uncomfortable, although the little Prius does tend to track with the corrugations in the road, leaving you to wrestle it back into line. That's a job made easier by light and surprisingly direct steering, which feels tailor-made for the city.

Finally, the leather-look seats are comfortable, even over long distances, the razor-thin A-pillars make forward vision easy and it's a very simple thing to drive and manoeuvre  into parking spaces. And all of those are good things.

Not so good? Well, the entire drive experiences feels a little beige and emotionless, it can get noisy and there are parts of the cabin that feel downright cheap. Worst of all, though, is that for a car that once heralded the future, it's feeling very, very dated.

But there are some amazing quirks attached to driving an (almost) electric car, including the delivery of eco awards for using the least amount of fuel (they were awarded for 2.6, 3.2 and 3.6L/100km over as much as 25km - none of which occurred during my tenure). The hardest thing to get used to was the absolute silence served up in electric mode. I counted four seperate occasions when I walked away from the car with it still turned on.

Every Prius c arrives with seven airbags, along with a reversing camera and... wait, that can't be it, can it? Oh... Forget AEB, lane-departure warning and the like, this future-focused Prius has a safety package firmly rooted in the past.

It was awarded the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating, but was tested back in 2014.

Kia's stand-out seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty isn't as stand-out as it once was, but is still the standard to beat for this segment, and is especially impressive considering the up-front cost of the Picanto.

You also get seven years of roadside assist included and a seven-year capped-price servicing program.

Over those seven years the price averages out to $438 annually, which is not as cheap as it could be, especially considering many Toyotas cost about $250 a year to keep on the road for their (shorter) warranty period.

The Picanto needs to visit a workshop once every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

Toyota offers a three-year/100,000km warranty, while the batteries are covered for eight years or 160,000km. The car's six-month service intervals might sting a little, though, but with each service capped at $140 for the first three years, even taking two trips to the dealership a year isn't too expensive. Just annoying.