For The Kia Picanto has a classy cabin and a fine driving position. Most versions are decently equipped and there’s a market-leading seven-year warranty.
Against It's jerky in traffic and suffers from numb steering and a knobbly ride. The entry-level engine is weedy.
This is one of the cheapest cars on the market and its interior shames more expensive models. If only the Kia Picanto was better to drive.
The 1.25-litre petrol engine is much stronger and smoother than the entry-level 1.0-litre, and if it were available with 1 Air trim this would be the pick of the range. Unfortunately, Kia offers it only with dearer trims, which pushes the price too close to that of mainstream superminis such as the brilliant Ford Fiesta.
As a result, we reckon the 1.0-litre model makes most sense. Yes, performance is disappointing, but it's reasonably cheap to buy. For most Picanto buyers, that'll be enough. However, don't get too excited about the claimed average fuel economy of around 70mpg. In our True MPG tests, the car didn't get anywhere near it.
Whichever version of the Picanto you buy, you’ll enjoy a seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty.
So you want a supermini that's cheap to run, is fun to drive and has some practical ability. Forget the three cylinder 1.0 variant of the Picanto -…
This is the wife's run around, the 5th Kia we have had in the last 6 years. No problems at all with the little beast except sticking rear brake…