2021 Kia Picanto vs Suzuki Swift

What's the difference?

Really when you boil everything away, the Picanto is probably all the car you need around one of Australia’s capital cities. This little car is brilliantly equipped on the multimedia front, is smartly packaged with a long warranty, and even offers a decent drive experience too.

It’s the lack of a compelling intercity drive experience that will really stop it from being the kind of car most Australians want. But as a second car or daily runabout, it’s hard to fault.

Our pick of the range is the S auto for its supreme value and better ride quality.

Let’s not mince words here. The GLX Turbo should be on everybody’s supermini shortlist. In fact, from the base GL to the baby hot-hatch class-leading Sport, every current Swift’s value for money rating is outstanding.

Eager, zippy, light on fuel but heavy on fun, our particular version in particular encapsulates Suzuki’s decades-long experience in delivering fiery and user-friendly city cars, yet possesses a dynamic capability and open-road confidence that makes it a sheer pleasure beyond the urban limits.

Road-noise aside, the Series II just enhances an already accomplished alternative to the Polo and Mazda2. If you’re after an affordable, characterful, comfortable, chuckable and controllable warm hatch, then the Swift GLX Turbo slays all before it.

The Picanto is a fun little thing to look at. I even like how plain the base car is with its dorky 14-inch steel wheels and flat paint, but the Picanto really stands out as a true city car in a segment that barely exists anymore.

Japanese manufacturers (for safety or price reasons) don’t bother to bring cars like this to our market, so it’s unique to see something that literally exudes its practical boxy aesthetic rolling around our streets.

While you can option the S in ridiculous colours, the GT-Line really brings a bunch of attitude with its over-the-top angry face, slicker-than-they-should-be alloy wheels, and nicer interior treatment. It’s streets-of-Asia kerb appeal won’t be for everyone I suppose, but you’re left with few options in this class.

The interior is, as you might imagine, full of hard plastics. This is especially noticeable in the base S which misses out on soft surfaces for your elbows – a pain (literally) on longer journeys.

Both specs excel with that massive touchscreen and bright multi-function cluster to bring a bit of wow-factor compared to rivals.

The dash design and simple but effective steering wheel help the Picanto feel like it’s no less a part of Kia’s increasingly design-led range with tastefully applied silvers and gloss finishes.

Plenty. Since launching at the 2004 Paris Motor Show, the reborn Swift has wooed consumers with pert and perky design inside and out, complete with BMW Mini-inspired upright windscreen, a contrasting ‘floating’ roof look, short overhangs and myriad personalisation options.

As a consequence of this, however, the first two generations from 2005 and 2011 respectively inherited packaging limitations, especially if long-legged passengers found their way squished in the back-seat area, while cargo capacity wasn’t much chop either. It’s clear the Japanese supermini sacrificed space at the altar of style.

Fortunately, the AZ-series redesign of 2017 was a complete and wholesale rethink, reimagining the Swift’s endearing bug-eyed fascia, boxy turret and reverse-angle rear-door window line, but within a much longer and wider track that allowed the timeless design to breathe. Stubbiness gave way to elegance, yet you’d never necessarily know at first glance that the latest hatch is dramatically larger and roomier inside.

Suzuki also took the opportunity to incorporate some fresh design details around the headlights, hidden rear-door handles and pared-back dashboard aesthetics.

The result is a modern classic.

It should be clear from the outside that the Picanto is all about maximizing the use of its tiny footprint, and from the inside that goal has been achieved.

You’ll notice immediately from the driver’s seat how big the Picanto’s tall roof makes the interior feel. You do sit quite upright, and there’s no telescopic adjust for the steering, but I had no trouble finding a comfortable seating position regardless.

Kias generally have plenty of cabin storage, and the brand has done what it can with the space available in the Picanto. There are small binnacles in the doors with a decent bottle-holder, several small binnacles on the transmission tunnel, with a modest console box in the GT-Line, and a two-tiered shelf with neat flip-out cupholders under the air-conditioning controls.

Connectivity on offer includes a single USB port and 12-volt outlet for front passengers.

Hopping in the back seat is a much better experience for an adult than you might imagine. If you look at the Picanto in profile, it’s clear the brand has maximized the amount of aperture space for the doors, as they take up so much of the car’s diminutive length. This helps the rear seats be 90 per cent as easy to get into as the front ones.

Sitting behind my own driving position, I was pleasantly surprised to find airspace for my knees, and the same tall roofline made ensured there were no issues for my head either.

One area you will suffer in the rear row is a lack of amenities. There are no power outlets, cupholders, or adjustable vents, regardless of variant.

The boot comes in at 255 litres, which doesn’t sound like much, but is on par with the slightly larger Mazda2. I found much of that quoted number is useful, too, as the boot would eat the largest (125L) CarsGuide travel case with a little extra room to spare on either side. A space-saver spare wheel even lives under the boot floor on every grade.

Today’s Swift may still look as diminutive as its successful predecessors since 2004, but it is now deceptively spacious inside, with none of the old back-seat claustrophobia that blighted previous incarnations.

Here’s the thing. If you’re picturing getting in and out of the front seat to be a bit of a stooping-down squeeze as per most superminis like the Mazda2, then you’ll be in for a pleasant shock, because the Swift’s stylishly upright squareness and wide-opening doors pay entry/egress dividends, big time. Most people can simply climb in and out, as per most compact SUVs. Easy.

Once sat ahead of a beautifully sparse dashboard, you’ll also appreciate the excellent forward vision that the near-upright pillars offer, as well as the generous headroom and vast degree of adjustability offered by the driver’s seat and tilt/telescopic steering column. Even 200cm-tall folk will find a comfortable position up front. The cushions and backrests themselves are broad but supportive.

What’s directly ahead of the driver is also worth praising, thanks to lovely analogue dials with silver markings on a textured grey background highlighted by a sporty red ring of lighting. That’s as per usual for this generation Swift, but the MY21 update’s digital auxiliary speedo is an answer to more than a decade of pleas to Suzuki’s product engineers. Thank you!

The subtlety flat-bottomed three-spoke wheel is a delight to grip – being thin where it needs to be – while the placement of the standard paddle-shifters, along with the multimedia and (adaptive) cruise control switchgear on the spokes are further plus points.

The centre console is dominated by Suzuki’s ever-present touchscreen featuring a colourful and logical quadrant of audio, telephony, sat-nav and vehicle-settings functions. There’s reasonably effective voice-control, and while we’re no fans of finger-slide volume adjustment, this one seems to be more effective than others inflicted upon us. This said, nothing beats a good old-fashioned volume knob.

Beneath that, the single-zone climate control system brings effective cooling, heating and de-misting as required, though the fan adjustment isn’t intuitively sited where you may expect it to be.

The Swift may be style-savvy, but Suzuki’s thought of everything when it comes to packaging, with heaps of storage up front, including a small but useful glovebox size, decent bottle slots in the doors and room for bits and pieces in the lower-console area.

The same more or less applies out back too, though the faddish pillar-mounted door handles might be beyond the reach of smaller arms. Again, wide doors and a tall ceiling allow for easy entry, and once there, the amount of space is actually startling if you’re coming in from other superminis. Even long-legged riders can sit without their knees touching the front seats, with the added bonus of there being room for big feet under them. That’s something you could never say about older Swifts.

Additionally, the rear bench is flat but sufficiently comfy, and while there’s only a single cupholder at the rear of the front centre console and none elsewhere back there due to the absence of a centre armrest (or USB ports for that matter), the doors provide a couple of small slots for little items. Everybody bar the driver has an overhead grab handle, the windows wind all the way down and the middle position isn’t too much of a purgatory as long as you don’t mind rubbing shoulders with other passengers.

Some people may find the propensity of black plastic to be a bit cheap-looking, but the fact is that everything is extremely well screwed together, with no squeaks or rattles.

Further back, the luggage area is deep but not very long, offering up an adequate 242L, though of course the split/fold rear backrests do fold forward to extend that up to 556L. However, the resulting floor area is also stepped. A space-saver spare wheel resides beneath the floor.

The Swift’s bandwidth is impressive.

In the cheap seats is the brilliant base GL Navigator 1.2 litre from $18,990 (before on-road costs), the Sport 1.4L turbo from $26,990 is a pint-sized pocket rocket, while the GLX Turbo from $25,290 sits somewhere in between.

Powered by a 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo and mated solely to a six-speed torque-converter auto, it represents up-spec sophistication in a small yet salubriously specified package. That’s the pitch, anyway.

Direct rivals include the all-new Toyota Yaris Ascent Sport (from $23,630), recently made-over Kia Rio GT-Line ($23,990), Mazda 2 G15 GT (from $24,990), Volkswagen Polo 85TSI Style (from $25,690), Skoda Fabia 81TSI Monte Carlo (from $25,990) and – at a stretch – the Citroen C3 Shine (from $28,990). In this light, the GLX Turbo’s pricing is tight.

So, what’s changed for MY21? You may spot the refreshed grille, front bumper, alloys and colour palette, as well as the inclusion of auto-up/down windows, heated side mirrors, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and rear parking sensors, but we’re most excited over the newly-added digital speedometer. Finally!

That’s about $2K’s worth of extra kit, though the GLX Turbo’s price has jumped $2300. Any which way you look at it, it now costs more.  

Still, the safety/convenience roll call is long, with autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane departure warning with steering assist, forward collision warning, adaptive cruise control, four-wheel disc brakes, six airbags, anti-lock brakes with electronic brake-force distribution and brake-assist, and stability/traction controls all present.

Keeping with luxury themes, the GLX Turbo also ushers in telescopic/tilt steering adjustment, paddle shifters, sat-nav, reverse camera, Apple CarPlay/Android Auto support, Bluetooth audio and telephony connectivity, electric-folding/heated door mirrors, keyless entry/start, climate control air-con with pollen filter, six-speaker audio and 16-inch alloy wheels, making it a decently-equipped supermini for the money.

About the only obvious omissions for the 2020s go-getting urbanite is wireless phone charging and USB-C ports, though a single USB-As outlet (as well as a 12V and AUX-IN access for your old iPod) is fitted. Phew!

The S and GT-Line continue to be powered by the same 1.25-litre four-cylinder non-turbo petrol engine with outputs of 62kW/122Nm. While not an impressive number to quote, it’s about right for something this size and weight.

This engine can be paired to either a five-speed manual or throwback four-speed torque converter automatic.

The GT will offer more oomph with a 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo providing a punchier 74kW/172Nm, although it's only offered with the five-speed manual. The Picanto range is front-wheel drive only.

Suzuki is an expert at exceptional turbo installations, as the GLX’s 998cc 1.0-litre twin-cam 12-valve Boosterjet three-cylinder turbo and intercooled petrol engine with variable-valve timing attests.

Tipping the scales at a featherweight 945kg and delivering a sparkling 82kW of power at 5500rpm and 160Nm of torque from 1500-4000rpm, this K10C unit is rated at a very healthy 89kW/tonne.

Sadly, the six-speed manual gearbox available elsewhere is denied for the Australian market GLX Turbo, which is a shame considering how rorty and rapid a powertrain this installation is.

But the default six-speed torque-converter automatic is a smooth and slick operator, and also comes complete with a set of paddle shifters located behind the steering wheel, for some manual manipulation of the transmission if required. Knowing that this is not a dual-clutch transmission will be a relief for many consumers who may be wary of the expensive long-term upkeep of such technologies.

Likewise, unlike the base 1.2L Swift models, there’s no sluggish CVT continuously variable transmission to blunt power delivery.  

Note that a manually operated handbrake is also fitted. Hallelujah.

Old engine tech means not particularly impressive fuel figures. At least, that’s what I found after testing the S manual and GT-line auto back-to-back over two weeks.

Official combined cycle figures have the five-speed manual S (as tested) consume 5.0L/100km, while the GT-Line auto is claimed to sip 5.8L/100km.

Our real-world figures over city, suburban, and freeway kays saw the manual S return 6.4L/100km and the auto GT-Line slip to 7.5L/100km

Those numbers are by no means a deal breaker, given they're not much higher than the claim, but hatchbacks a full size larger than this with 2.0-litre non-turbo engines can deliver equal or better real-world consumption.

The Picanto’s tiny 35-litre fuel tank needs to be called out. This car may be a fuel sipper, but you'll still be refueling with annoying regularity.

Not much.

Averaging an official 5.1L/100km for a carbon dioxide emissions rating of 119 grams per kilometre, the GLX Turbo is certainly one of the most frugal superminis on the market today. Given its 37L fuel tank, that should average just over 725km between refills. The urban and extra-urban figures come in at a miserly 4.3L/100km and 6.6L/100km respectively.

We managed a remarkable 6.4L/100km at the pump, and that included our fast and furious performance and dynamic road testing – and in a test car that arrived with barely more than 250km on the odometer to boot; despite this, the tacho visited the redline at regular intervals due to the fact that this engine begs to be caned.  

So, while the 1.0-litre turbo triple Boosterjet engine demands 95 RON premium unleaded petrol minimum, the real-world economy payback is well worth the few extra dollars at the bowser.

The Picanto offers a pretty straightforward driving experience, which is a plus in a car this simple.

The 62kW 1.2-litre engine in both our test cars proved peppy enough for the Picanto’s weight. It won’t set any hearts on fire, but I think it’s more than adequate for the task at hand.

The basic transmissions threw up a few typical issues. The four-speed auto is particularly transparent, lurching through each gear with little panache. The lack of ratios on offer makes accelerating in the auto a noisy, thrashy experience, and it’s evidently not the best for fuel consumption, either.

The manual meanwhile proves a bit better for keeping the revs in check with its extra gear, but has a simple and somewhat sloppy action, which makes switch cogs yourself a less than 'sporty' experience.

The ride is locally tuned, although I found it most compliant in the base S with its larger tyres. The 16-inch sporty wheels on the GT-Line increase cabin noise and ride harshness significantly.

Neither car was quiet above that 80km/h freeway mark, in terms of road and engine noise (with the 1.2 running at 3000rpm at 100km/h on the flat) making for predictably raucous inter-city drives.

I found the steering to be surprisingly direct and full of feel, giving the Picanto at least a little spark of entertainment for driving around city streets.

The Picanto also has to be one of the easiest cars in Australia to park. Visibility is fantastic all-round, and you’ll fit in pretty much any spot you can find. GT-Line owners will need to keep an eye out on those giant alloy wheels, however.

The GLX Turbo is an abject lesson on how to deliver a small-capacity forced-induction powertrain package – minus the infuriating hesitation and fatiguing jerkiness. While several rivals offer up three-cylinder turbos – and most with dual-clutch transmissions – they could certainly learn from motorcycle-maker Suzuki’s masterful engineering prowess.

Aided by that six-speed torque-converter auto, the Swift’s off-the-line acceleration feels instant and energetic, without any interminable lag-then-suddenness to hamper progress. The throaty and thrummy 1.0-litre zings as it sings along all the way to the 6250rpm red line, punching away powerfully, with quite eye-opening pace the welcome upshot. Selecting the paddle shifters brings some driver interaction, though – unlike, say, in a Mazda – the transmission won’t hold on to a chosen gear, but will instead change up to the next ratio. Oh well. Bring on the manual please, Suzuki.

Still, the auto’s lithe 945kg kerb weight is a huge factor in how spirited and sprightly the GLX Turbo is, right from the go-get. Indeed, its light and breezy attitude informs every other aspect of the driving experience, too.

For starters, parking is simple and easy, aided by direct steering, a tight 9.6-metre turning circle and the confidence-boosting vision afforded by deep windows, lofty seating, thin front pillars (the fat rears aren’t so great), the rear-camera view and proximity sensors. Brisk throttle response means darting in and out of tiny traffic gaps is second-nature, with the suspension playing a fine supporting role coping with the dips, bumps and humps that the fractured urban landscape throws at it. Collectively, all highlight Suzuki’s 60 years of experience creating capable cars for the city.

Yet the GLX Turbo shines away from the big smoke too. Older Swifts were often criticised for nervous or fidgety steering at speed, but the engineers have struck a delightful balance this time around that should please everyone. While the handling remains light and direct, it’s now also linear and controlled. Mid-corner bumps don’t upset the driver’s chosen line around, and there’s no steering rack rattle to speak of despite the front end’s hunger to hunker down either,  resulting in a sense of newfound calm and maturity.

That also translates to the Suzuki’s ability to cruise comfortably out on the open road, its tall sixth gear providing a subdued and laid-back attitude that is quite at odds at the 998cc turbo econo-box specification. Yes, the adaptive cruise control isn’t a stop/start system like the very latest varieties, cancelling out below about 20km/h, but hey, at least it’s included for relaxed highway schlepping.

Rolling along on Bridgestone Ecopia EP150 185/55R16 rubber, road and tyre noise might spoil the serenity for some, though, as it varies from a dull background drone to a hollow rumble depending on the road surface. It’s this Swift’s single biggest dynamic shortfall, and probably the price paid for its maker’s desire to pare down weight in the name of economy. A bit more of that heavy sound-deadening material would probably help enormously here.

Keener drivers may rue the early intervention of the stability and traction control systems that cut power and/or brake the car suddenly through more enthusiastic cornering manoeuvres, and the same also applies to the seemingly paranoid forward collision warning. However, for most folk, the electronic safety net they provide far outweigh any inconvenience. 

The Japanese-built GLX Turbo is fitted with an array of safety systems that is the equal of the European class leaders in this field.

These include autonomous emergency braking (AEB), lane departure warning with steering assist, forward collision warning, blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control (though without stop/go functionality), four-wheel disc brakes, six airbags, anti-lock brakes with electronic brake-force distribution and brake-assist, electronic stability control, traction control, emergency stop signal, daytime running lights, hill launch assist and rear parking sensors.

There are also two rear-seat ISOFIX points as well as three top tethers for straps.

Tested in 2017, the Swift scored a five-star ANCAP crash-test rating.

Suzuki says the AEB works between 15km/h and 140km/h, while the pedestrian detection system operates the Swift's AEB works between speeds of 15 and 140km/h.

Like all Kias the Picanto carries that famous, class-leading seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty promise, rivalled in this segment only by the MG3 which now has a warranty of the same length.

Service pricing is capped for the life of the warranty and varies from $269 to $565 per yearly (or 15,000km, which ever comes first)  interval, for a surprisingly expensive average yearly spend of $389.42.

Suzuki has switched to an industry-average five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty and roadside assistance.

Service intervals are every 12 months or 10,000km, while published basic capped-price servicing is available. Prices start at $239 (years one, three and five) and reach as high as $429 (year four). Total cost is $1475, averaging out to $295 annually at the time of publishing.

Vehicles under five-years old but with higher mileages can expect to be charged up to $529, according to Suzuki’s website.