Kia Picanto review

The Kia Picanto is something of a rarity. It's a dinky city car that runs on petrol, at a time when most rivals have gone electric – or gone off sale.

Why? Because petrol small cars like the Picanto are simply not that profitable to build, meaning manufacturers would, understandably, rather invest in small SUVs or electric cars. But what if you don’t want to pay big bucks, don’t want to plug in your car or simply don’t need SUV levels of space?

Kia Picanto video review

Well, Kia has shown it's not looking to leave this part of the market any time soon. It's given this third-generation Picanto a substantial facelift, with a fresh look outside, tech upgrades inside and five seats as standard, and continues to offer it with a choice of two petrol engines.

While there are fewer small cars on sale, there are still some rivals to consider. So should you buy the Kia Picanto over, say, a Dacia Sandero, Hyundai i10 or Toyota Aygo X? Read on to find out…

You can have the Kia Picanto with one of two non-turbocharged petrol engines, starting with a 62bhp 1.0-litre unit. The official 0-62mph time of 15.4 seconds – or 18.2 seconds with automated manual transmission (AMT) – puts it among the slowest accelerating cars you can buy. It feels it too, so you’ll often need to use full power to keep up with traffic.

The other choice is a 77bhp 1.2-litre four-cylinder petrol and the official 0-62mph time for that is 13.1 seconds with the manual gearbox or 16.5 seconds with the AMT. It’s much easier to use every day and would be our pick of the range except that it's only available from Shadow trim and up, making it quite expensive.

The 71bhp Toyota Aygo X is slightly slower but the Hyundai i10 (which is closely related to the Picanto) gets a peppier turbocharged option and the Dacia Sandero 1.0 TCe 90 is punchier still.

The Picanto doesn't ride as slickly as a Sandero or i10, and jostles you around more over scraggy town roads, with some extra fidget along pimpled sections of motorway.

In truth, it's still not what you’d call uncomfortable, especially if you go for the entry-level trim, which comes on smaller 14in alloys. And the good thing is that – being a little more firmly sprung than some small cars – it doesn't bounce around along undulating country roads.

The Picanto's firm suspension helps it to corner more keenly than most rivals. It's right at home on twisty lanes, displaying the kind of agility and alertness that its nearest rivals can't muster. For comparison, the Sandero displays more body lean.

The i10 and Aygo X steer slightly more sweetly than the Picanto but that's picking holes. The steering is still excellent at keying you into the grip at the front wheels and it's more accurate than the Sandero's.

Importantly, the steering lightens up at low speeds, which – combined with its tight turning circle – makes the Picanto a doddle to thread through traffic or into tight parking spaces.

The fact that you need to work the Picanto’s small engines hard, and that their manual gearboxes only have five-speeds, inevitably leads to a bit of noise.

And it's not just engine noise: at 70mph, just chatting with your passengers will involve raising your voice. If you want a little car with a bit more decorum, try the quieter i10 instead.

On the up side, the Picanto's brakes are really easy to meter, with a firmer, more confidence-inspiring pedal than the Sandero's. That means driving smoothly in traffic isn’t an issue, plus the manual gearbox has a slick shift and clutch action. The slow-witted AMT gearbox has you nodding gently during every change, so it's less appealing.

"The Picanto's ride isn't luxury-car smooth but it's not too bad for a small car and I found it less bouncy than softer rivals." – Neil Winn, Deputy Reviews Editor

The only real bugbear with the Kia Picanto's driving position is that its steering wheel adjusts for height but not reach. Fortunately, its driving position works well for most people, and it’s very easy to make sure the standard digital driver's display is in plain sight.

The driver’s seat is supportive, despite the lack of lumbar adjustment, and has enough side bolstering to stop you sliding around in corners. The well-aligned pedals and driver’s seat-height adjustment make it really comfortable, even on a long trip.

The Picanto's dashboard lay-out is simple and a doddle to understand, with well-placed buttons that are big enough to spot easily on the move.

You get halogen headlights with the Picanto's entry-level trim but all other versions get brighter LED headlights that are better for visibility at night. Seeing out of the front during daylight hours isn't a problem thanks to slim front pillars and a deep, wide windscreen. The same is true when you’re looking out of the side windows while tackling junctions and roundabouts.

The rear side windows are slightly smaller, but passengers are unlikely to feel claustrophobic – the Picanto is relatively bright and airy in the back compared with the smallest rivals.

The rear pillars are chunkier and the rear screen is relatively small, but over-the-shoulder visibility is slightly better than in the Hyundai i10 and much better than in the Dacia Sandero. It's great that rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera come as standard.

Every version of the Picanto comes with an 8in touchscreen with DAB radio, Bluetooth, built-in navigation, and Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone mirroring.

Better still, the Picanto’s software is easy to use and has intuitive menus. True, it’s not ideal that you can only interact with it through touch, but that’s also true of rival small cars and it at least responds quickly to all of your inputs. 

All in all it feels more modern than the Sandero’s infotainment system (in fact, the entry-level Sandero doesn’t even have a touchscreen) and is a match for the i10’s system.

As with every other car in its price bracket, the Picanto's interior isn't graced with soft-touch materials that are a great joy to behold. However, the plastics have been textured in such a way that they don't look or feel too cheap.

Everything seems well bolted together, giving the same feeling of solidity you get in a Hyundai i10. As with the i10, the buttons and switches feel well-damped, but the i10 does have a few more gloss-black plastics that knock it up a notch – for perceived quality at least.

"I wouldn't say I was overwhelmed by the Picanto's interior plushness, but for a car in this class and price range it feels pretty well put together inside." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

Tall drivers in the Kia Picanto will easily find enough head and leg room to sit comfortably. The Dacia Sandero is a much bigger car overall, and the Hyundai i10 is a little wider, but the Picanto doesn’t feel cramped.

There's plenty of storage dotted around, including two cupholders between the front seats that are big enough for the largest of takeaway coffees, plus a tray for your mobile phone, and front door pockets big enough to hold a small water bottle. The centre armrest, meanwhile, opens to reveal an extra cubby.

All Picantos have four doors but their openings are not as big as they are in an i10, so getting in and out is more of a squeeze. Once inside, six-footers will have little to complain about in terms of head room but will find their knees pressed up against the front seatbacks, especially if anyone tall is in front.

Rear leg room is pretty good by the standards of the littlest small cars but the i10 has quite a bit more and the Sandero is more spacious still. Five seats now come as standard (earlier Picantos had four seats), with two Isofix mounts for child seats in the back. Sitting three adults side by side there will be a real squeeze because of the Picanto's narrowness.

As with most other small cars, the Picanto really doesn’t do anything exciting when it comes to rear-seat versatility. Indeed, like the Sandero and i10, 60/40 split-folding rear seats are its only feature.

For clever rear seats that extend boot space, take a look at the more expensive Honda Jazz. It gets rear seat bases that flip up like the seats in a cinema, creating lots of vertical space for tall items (pot plants, for example). 

When it comes to the Picanto's front passenger, they don’t get any luxuries, with no seat-height adjustment or adjustable lumbar support.

The Picanto has one of the more useful boots among small cars. At 255 litres, it's bigger than the Toyota Aygo X boot and gives you more than enough space for a few large shopping bags.

We managed to slot in three carry-on suitcases with some space to spare. The Sandero, though, is available for similar money and can fit six cases.

A height-adjustable boot floor comes as standard on all Picantos except the cheapest 2 version. In its highest position, the floor lies flush with the folded-down rear seats and sits above a useful amount of underfloor storage. Adjusting the height of the boot floor is an easy process.

"It's handy that all Picantos now have three rear seats but I'd be reluctant to share the fairly narrow rear bench with two other adults, especially on a long journey." – Neil Winn, Deputy Reviews Editor

The Kia Picanto is among the cheapest new cars in the UK. It costs slightly less as a cash buy than the equivalent Hyundai i10 but is still pricier than the larger Dacia Sandero, even if you go for the Sandero’s mid-spec trim.

Depreciation on the Picanto is predicted to be fairly slow, but still faster than for both the i10 and Sandero. That can have an effect on the amount you’ll pay each month if you’re buying on PCP finance so you might find those rivals cheaper. You can check the latest prices on our New Car Deals pages.

Running costs should be cheap, and the Picanto generally costs less to insure than the i10. Both the engines are frugal, and the entry-level 66bhp 1.0 unit should return real-world fuel economy not far off 50mpg.

The Picanto in entry-level 2 trim is well equipped for a car with such a low list price, and is the one we’d go for if you want to keep costs down and can live with the least-powerful engine. It comes with 14in wheels, automatic headlights, cruise control, electrically adjustable and heated wing mirrors, air-conditioning, touchscreen infotainment and parking aids. 

GT-Line is next trim in the line-up and adds sportier styling, 16in alloys and LED headlights, while 3 trim foregoes the fancy styling and adds extra kit including heated front seats, a heated steering wheel and keyless entry.

If you want the more powerful of the two engines, you'll need to choose either Shadow or GT-Line S trim. Both come with equivalent levels of equipment, adding upgraded safety tech and a panoramic sunroof, but the difference is that GT-Line S shares the GT-Line’s sportier styling.

In the 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey the Picanto finished right near the top of the 19 strong small car class. Meanwhile, Kia as a manufacturer finished in 11th place out of the 31 manufacturers ranked. That's pretty impressive, but still below Toyota, Dacia and Hyundai.

As with every Kia car model, the Picanto comes with an impressive seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty. That’s more generous than the three-year, 60,000-mile warranty offered by Dacia and better in length than Hyundai’s five-year warranty but can’t match its unlimited mileage.

Toyota trumps all though. You get a 10-year warranty with the Toyota Aygo X if you service it regularly with a main dealer.

Every Picanto gets six airbags as standard, and all trims get automatic emergency braking (AEB) to help prevent front-end shunts. Range-topping GT-Line S gets an upgraded AEB system as well as blind-spot monitoring.

When the pre-facelift Picanto was tested for safety by Euro NCAP in 2017, it scored four stars out of five with a safety pack fitted and three without. That rating has now expired – we’ll have to wait until further tests have been done before we can tell you whether the latest version is a safer car.

"I think a lot of buyers will find Kia's seven-year standard warranty appealing. It's an impressive offering." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

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