Kia Picanto Reviews

The base-model Kia Picanto Sport is available in either four-speed automatic or five-speed manual guise, and is one of Australia's most affordable brand new vehicles.

In a cost of living crisis it's natural to look to what your most affordable new car options are, and the Kia Picanto micro hatchback seems more relevant now than ever.

It might be Australia's cheapest sporty drive, but the Kia Picanto GT is also an endearingly unique urban runabout that punches above its league in many areas, including for packaging, equipment, performance and aftersales care. The GT is also an appealing alternative to larger superminis like the MG3. But with few real chassis upgrades, it's no Suzuki Swift Sport style hot-hatch rival.

One of the smallest and cheapest cars in Australia - is the Picanto all you really need in a city?

The Picanto GT-Line is the mid-grade in the small car’s Australian lineup, and will be joined later in 2020 by the top-spec GT.The GT-Line wears an aggressive bodykit and has projector headlights with LED DRLs. For the 2021 model year it also has a new bumper design front and rear, new 16-inch alloy wheels.On the inside it features a new 8.0-inch multimedia touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as updated interior trims and soft-touch surfaces for the door trim and console box.The GT-Line carries the same engine as the base S, a 1.25-litre four-cylinder petrol producing 62kW/122Nm. Official/combined fuel consumption figures are 5.0L/100km for the five-speed manual and 5.8L/100km for the four-speed automatic. On our test of the GT-Line automatic, we saw a real-world figure of 7.5L/100km.The Picanto has a small 35-litre fuel tank, and is able to consume base-grade 91RON unleaded petrol.The Picanto is covered by Kia’s seven year/unlimited kilometre warranty promise. Servicing is required once every 12 months or 15,000km and is covered by a fixed price scheme. Prices over the seven years work out to a yearly average service cost of $389.42.

The Kia Picanto S is the Korean brand’s smallest and most affordable car in Australia.Wearing an MSRP of just $14,690 for the five-speed manual version, the Picanto is one of the most affordable new cars on the Australian market. A four-speed automatic can be had at a $1500 premium, at $16,290 before on-road costs.Updated for the 2021 model year, the Picanto S now scores a set of new halogen headlights, new designs for its 14-inch steel wheel covers, a new 8.0-inch multimedia touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, and a full colour multi-function display in the dash cluster.Standard fitment includes cloth seat trim, plastic wheel and shifter, auto lights, basic air conditioning, and cruise control.All Picantos now get auto emergency braking as part of their safety suite (but no other advanced safety items), and it has six airbags, dual ISOFIX points, and three top-tether mounts. The Picanto carries a four-star ANCAP safety rating.The base S remains powered by the same 1.25-litre four-cylinder petrol engine as previous iterations, producing 62kW/122Nm. Official fuel consumption figures for the combined cycle are 5.0L/100km for the manual and 5.8L/100km for the auto. Our week-long test of the five-speed manual produced a real-world figure of 6.4L/100km.The Picanto has a 35-litre fuel tank and can consume base-grade 91RON fuel.As always Kia offers its seven year/unlimited kilometre warranty on the Picanto range, and service pricing is fixed for the life of the warranty and averages out at a yearly cost of $389.42.The automatic version of the S is our pick of the range, as it offers the best balance of equipment and price in the Pincanto range.

The Kia Picanto sounds fun, right? And it looks fun too.

Kia has just released a GT version of its popular Picanto, but is it an angry as it looks?

I bet most people would struggle to name even three Kia Picanto rivals. "The... uh... Mirage? They still sell that, right?" is the response I'd expect from most people. Maybe you'd throw in the Fiat 500 and, if you're (for some reason) a microcar aficionado, you'd also point out there's something called

For many, micro cars are probably not top-of-mind when it comes to spangling new vehicles. But they're often front-and-centre for young, first new car buyers, as well as a more mature group looking for reliable, comfortable and convenient transport. And on that basis, you have to hope the little Kia Picanto is going