Kia Picanto Hatchback (2024 - ) review

You’re really looking at the perfect new first car here, because they don’t come much cheaper than this. Dacia Sandero aside. The simplicity of the thing, and the focus on keeping costs down (in a good way), makes it cheap as frozen chips to run. There are only two engines: a 1.0-litre or, if you want to go mad, a 1.2-litre. Both petrol. Neither of them have any electrical assistance, and both exceed 50mpg whether you go for a manual or an automatic gearbox. Every Picanto is in the bottom fifth of the insurance group ratings, and won’t cost much to tax, maintain, or repair. Proper budget motoring, this.

In the age of complicated petrol-electric hybrid systems and all kinds of fancy software-based tech, the Picanto feels like a mechanical anachronism. The basic drivetrain and electrical systems (and the fact that this car has been in production for almost seven years now) mean problems will be rare. And when they do happen, they’ll be cost-effective to fix. Kia tends to do well in customer reliability surveys – the Picanto in particular, over the years – and it comes with a seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty. Nice.

On one hand, the Picanto doesn’t look that ideal when it comes to safety. It’s a small car, so you don’t feel as inherently protected as you would in a high-riding SUV, or even something with a longer bonnet. That feeling’s exacerbated by the three-star Euro NCAP rating (out of five) that it achieved back in 2017. That said, it does have a lot of safety equipment as standard, including six airbags, traction control, braking assistance, automatic low-speed collision avoidance, and lane-keeping assistance. GT cars get auto collision avoidance for junctions and lane changing. It also has fuss-free infotainment and air con controls, including buttons and knobs – remember those? – so you’ll rarely find yourself raging at software submenus. That’s a safety feature in itself.

Despite there being a couple of ‘GT’ models, which evoke added sportiness and dynamic tuning, all Picantos are mechanically the same – engine and gearbox choice aside. But one of the fun things about a small car with small power and thin tyres is that, when it's set up properly, it can be almost as much fun as a proper sports car: loads of road feel, easy to chuck around, but without the speed to get you into trouble. The Picanto is beautifully set up in this regard. It’s the most fun you can have with something really slow this side of a trip to Disneyland with Joey Essex. How comfortable you’ll find it will depend on how you feel about being bounced around a bit, though. The Picanto does that, while also feeling quite firm over the road. It’s...unsophisticated. But then you’d expect that. And the way it leans into corners while having ‘road feel’ is the basis of its character. The driving position is brilliant for such a small car, too – lots of adjustment and significant headroom. It’s mainly rear passengers that pay the price for the Picanto’s stunted stature. Two adults in the back will be rubbing shoulders, assuming they can get their legs behind the front seats in the first place.

Kia still offers four trim levels with the 2024 update, starting at ‘2’ and ending with GT-Line S. But take a number 2 and you’ll definitely be satisfied. It gets alloy wheels, heated door mirrors, rear parking sensors, manual air conditioning, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a digital instrument panel, an eight-inch touchscreen including navigation, Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. A '3' gets you bigger wheels, heated front seats, heated steering wheel, keyless entry and wireless phone charging - a lot of car. 'GT Line' and 'GT Line S' mainly add styling stuff - fancier wheels, body kit, gloss black trim and a few visual upgrades for the interior. The boot’s a decent size: 255 litres, about enough for three stuffed bags for life. The price walk is very reasonable, too, starting at £15,500 (give or take a few quid) and rising by about a grand with each trim level; you'll pay around £19,000 for a Picanto GT Line S with everything thrown at it, the bigger petrol engine and an automatic gearbox.

Two petrol engines, a 1.0-litre with 62 horsepower and a 1.2 with 77 horsepower. It’s potatoes and tomatoes, to be honest. Neither is powerful or quick, so you’d probably only choose the more powerful one if you live at the bottom of a hill and/or regularly carry other people and a boot full of stuff. We’d go for the 1.0-litre manual in a car like this, to keep your costs down, albeit it’s great to have an auto option if you’ll be using your Picanto in busy stop-and-go traffic a lot. The Picanto is of course quite noisy, especially at motorway speed, but the 1.0-litre engine in particular forms part of its character. It growls a bit, in that characteristic three-cylinder style. The start-stop system is a bit uncouth though, sending a judder through the cabin like Harold Bishop’s flustered jowls.