Kia Picanto 2023

The Picanto range has impressive breadth – 1-, 2- and 3-spec cars begin the selection, the former kicking off proceedings at £12,250 these days and advertising its electric front windows, USB port and Bluetooth with pride. As with most cars, the entry models grab the headlines with their low, low prices, but the sweet spot is higher up the spec list as more of the good stuff becomes available. The 3 is the first to get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and the larger infotainment screen.

The Kia Picanto is a compact city car with a spicy attitude and styling, but a sensible approach to practicality and interior design. It’s available as a five-door hatch with space for five, and a line-up of little petrol engines. We'll save you the suspense of reading on, and say it's a brilliant all-rounder and one of the best in its class."

Like any great city car worth its salt, the Kia Picanto has good visibility, short overhangs, and light controls. That makes it a doddle to manoeuvre in tightly-packed supermarket car parks, and stress-free to drive smoothly in the city. Visibility is great, and the cabin is a triumph of simple, logical design. It looks good, but is also easy to use. Find out all you need to know with our 2022 Kia Picanto review. 

As with most small cars, the range runs the gamut from stripped out rental car (the bog-standard Kia Picanto 1) to posh city slicker, and the priciest Picanto GT-Line S models are brimming with technology, and impressive luxury features. Have you heard of a city car with a wireless charging pad, faux-leather seats and a heated steering wheel?

While Kia Picanto is not the best for passenger space, you can get adults in the back. Kia reckons it's possible to fit five, but while there are enough seat belts for the task, we'd advise against it unless you want to start a squabble.

Still, the Kia Picanto has a decent-sized boot at 255 litres, folding seats, and enough luggage space to handle shopping trips or the odd weekend adventure, although bulkier items like a baby buggy might call for some careful re-arranging inside.

Small petrol engines are the order of the day under the bonnet. Most of the line-up are not turbocharged, so they can feel strained and sluggish on faster roads and when driving on the motorway. Kia offers you a nicer engine as you go up the range, so the most basic cars get a buzzy 67PS 1.0-litre and a five-speed manual.

This engine is characterful and perfect for town use. Here it feels more urgent and free-revving than its paltry performance figures would suggest, thanks to its thrummy three-cylinder layout, but the 1.25-litre is stronger.

With four-cylinders, 85PS and the option of a four-speed automatic gearbox, it's a better option for buyers who plan on covering bigger distances. While still fairly sedate, you'll be thankful for the extra oomph it has. Whichever engine you choose, the Picanto is good fun to drive, with accurate steering, decent grip, and nice body control. It feels agile but remains planted through bends; the trade-off is a slightly firmer ride than rivals.

There are a dizzying seven different specifications to choose from with the Kia Picanto: 1, 2, 3, X-Line, X-Line S, GT-Line, and GT-line S. Plus two special editions. The '3' is our favourite, and definitely the one to pick. Thanks to a long warranty, the Kia Picanto also makes a fantastic used car, and with so few weaknesses, you'd be a fool not to try it.

"Perhaps the most impressive thing about the Picanto is its uncluttered, thoughtfully designed interior. A dash layout that places the majority of the controls right in your eye-line helps, but all its fundamentals are spot-on. " Kia Picanto Review 2023 front interior The clearly printed text on the switches makes spotting them intuitive, with bright and sharp instruments too. Some drivers will have to squint to read the dot-matrix display between them, but really we're just nit-picking.

There are a few buttons hidden by the driver's right knee, but everything you'll need to use on a regular basis is put front and centre, and there are no annoying quirks to befuddle you or become frustrating over time. The driving position of the Kia Picanto is excellent, and while you can’t adjust the steering wheel for reach (as is the case with most city cars) the front seats are comfortable and supportive. They'll stop you sliding about in corners, but keep you fresh on longer journeys, and all but the entry-level car come with height adjustment for the base. You sit close to the windscreen, and the window pillars are nice and thin, so you get a great view out and it's easy to judge the dimensions when you're trying to thread the Picanto through a narrow gap or into a space. The rear view isn't quite as straightforward, but over-the-shoulder visibility is still decent and mid-spec cars come with parking sensors and a reversing camera, so you'll be able to park it with millimetre-fine precision.

Kia Picanto 2023 has 14 interior images, top Picanto 2023 interior images include Dashboard, Steering, Engine, Front seats, Rear seats, Center console, Sunroof, Richbrook pedal set for, Gear lever, Passenger seats, Power outlet, Front AC vents, Front AC Controls and touch screen

Kia Picanto 2023 Top 2023 Picanto interior images include Front Lower View, Grille View, Drivers Side Mirror Front Angle, door handles and Front Side View.

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