KIA Picanto

The Kia Picanto is not the world's greatest light car but it is a good one. In Australia it does battle with a rapidly diminishing number of competitors as car-makers abandon the sub-$20K light hatch market, with just MG, Suzuki and Mitsubishi left. And only one of those is really in the mix.

All are pretty much the same – small engines, a couple of variants and hopefully a few niceties like a touchscreen with Apple CarPlay/Android Auto and, look, they're cheap honest transport and nobody expects too much from them. Get me from A to B without costing the earth and you’re alright by me.

There is one thing none of these competitors can offer and that’s a teeny tiny warm hatch with a fizzy 1.0-litre turbo, a five-speed manual and mildly sporty suspension.

That might seem like a fairly niche specification in 2021 – and it is – but in a market like ours, if there's a gap and you fill it, you sell cars other companies won't just because you’re there.

Pricing and Features

At $19,990 before on-roads, the Picanto GT squeaks in under the $20,000 barrier and is $1250 more than the similarly styled but 1.25-litre atmo automatic GT-Line.

The GT rolls on 16-inch alloys and comes with plenty of sportier styling cues including a deeper front bumper, red-splashed side skirts and a big black mesh grille.

The fake exhaust exits in the deeper rear bumper are shiny chrome and mildly amusing. It's a diverting little thing and looks great. The auto headlights are halogen projector units and reasonably effective.

In the cabin, you'll find an 8.0-inch touchscreen with wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The six-speaker stereo is plenty because the car is tiny but isn't the last word in audio excellence.

There is more chrome in the cabin but it's more restrained and satin-finished, with some bits scoring a gloss black finish. You get cruise control, manual air-conditioning, power windows all round, metal sports pedals, cloth trim and a little digital screen in the dashboard.

You also get what Kia coyly calls a "premium" steering wheel and shifter, which means they're covered in fake leather but there's no shame in that because it's a perfectly pleasant material.

What's less pleasant is the safety package. Yes, you get six airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls, forward AEB and forward collision warning but that's it. Overseas models pick up blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and lane-keep assist.

The kiddies are taken care of with three top-tether and two ISOFIX points. The four-star ANCAP rating from 2017 stands to this day and is unlikely to be updated.

You can just about get a 1.4-litre Suzuki Swift for similar money as a Picanto GT but it's not as well-equipped. If you want a turbocharged Swift you’re up in the mid-$20k mark and the Swift Sport is a whopping $29,000 for the manual.

You can take your pick of MG3s but that's not a car that comes close for quality, refinement, or 21st-Century dynamics. Ditto the Mirage, spangly new nose notwithstanding.

Comfort and Space

Being so small it's hardly the Taj Mahal in here. It's not even the Taj Mahal's emergency pantry but for front-seat passengers, it's quite roomy.

The seats don't look like much but are comfortable even for long trips. You have somewhere for your phone, USB and 12-volt ports as well as two retractable cupholders meaning that if you're not downing a coffee or Red Bull you can push them out of the way and store, I dunno, another phone. If you're one of those people who has heaps of phones, you could put another in the lidded console bin.

The back seat, well, it's a bit grim if you're not in a child seat or less than about 150cm in height and the middle seat is really not made for humans of any size. It's probably for the best that you can't really fit three back here because there are virtually no amenities, just a map pocket and a solitary coat hook.

You know how I mentioned all those phones? You could fit more in the boot, which is 255 litres worth. Some of that comes from it being quite deep, but it's a lot for such a small car. Fold the 60/40 split seats forward and space almost quadruples to 1010 litres.

On the Road

The Picanto GT-Line and GT share the bigger wheel and tyre package – 195/45R16 – and a specific set of shocks and springs for improved handling.

When a car is this small, you don't have a great deal to work with but Kia has a bit of form of conjuring up something pretty good out of the Picanto's necessarily limited platform.

And to complete the picture, the electric power steering has been tweaked to improve response.

The short wheelbase and light weight bode well given the engine's punchy 74kW (a nice round 100 horses if you're from the continent) and very useful 172Nm of torque. The long wand-like shifter is hooked up to a five-speed manual gearbox with a widely spaced set of ratios, so that torque figure has its work cut out.

Kia slaps a sticker on the windscreen that says the GT will drink unleaded at the rate of 5.1L/100km. My week delivered a 5.8L/100km average, taking in some motorways and plenty of city driving. With a 35-litre tank, that means a real-world range of just over 600km.

What do you get? A barrel of laughs, actually. The triple loves to growl as you get the turbo spinning and the torque flowing through the front wheels. The engine doesn't mind revving, which is mildly entertaining, but it does run out of puff well before the redline so you'll be shifting early to keep things moving along.

As you build speed in the bends, the Picanto GT will eventually succumb to understeer but without histrionics and a gentle lift is plenty to sort it out.

The steering changes haven't exactly transformed the Picanto but it's quite darty to start with. The extra grip from superior tyres takes the wobble out of an ambitious cornering manoeuvre. As with any car like this, it's all about gaining momentum and holding on to it with smooth steering, gentle braking and working the gearbox like a demon.

It's not particularly quiet, especially at a highway cruise, but that's intrinsic to its character – hearing the three-cylinder at work is not at all unpleasant and working it is half the fun. The only drag I could really find about the car was the gearbox's widely spaced ratios.

It's not a stick-it-in-third-and-ride-the-torque kind of car, you have to really think ahead about your shifting. That's good if you're learning how to drive properly but a closer ratio box would be hilarious fun.

Ownership

Kia's seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty is still the best package on the road. Yes Mitsubishi will give you ten years but your mileage is limited, you have to service with their dealers and the caveats go on.

A capped-price servicing regime covers the first seven services. Being a turbo Kia, you have to return to the dealer every 12 months or 10,000km. Given it's a city car, that's not going to trouble most buyers, but it's worth noting.

Service prices range between $283 and $606 for a total of $3112 or an average of $444 per service. That's quite a bit for a small, low-cost hatchback.

VERDICT

Obviously, this isn't the kind of car you'd be going out of your way to chuck down a country road with any regularity. But it's terrific in the city provided you're happy to work the gearbox and it'll do perfectly well out on the freeway.

It's pretty much out on its own and it's brilliant that it exists and survives in this SUV-mad world. Without a word of a lie, we genuinely considered the Picanto GT for the family, a car that would primarily be driven by our lanky son. It's fun to drive, encourages effort, delivers reward and has a long warranty with capped-price servicing.

But if you do happen on that country road, the modest amount of fun you'll have won't land you a fine or raise suspicions before you even get there. And it'll keep your kids well out of trouble while they learn that a half-decent car doesn't have to be fast. It's just a pity we're shortchanged on the safety gear.

2021 Kia Picanto GT specifications