2021 Kia PicantoMorning review THIS is one of the cheapest cars on sale!
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00:00G'day, I'm Paul. So if you're looking for bargain basement, you cannot get much more
00:05bargain basement than the Kia Picanto. It is one of the cheapest cars on sale in Australia.
00:10Even the name sounds small. It sounds like piccolo, which is a small coffee. But yeah,
00:13this thing here, priced at just over $15,000 in its base trim, it competes with things like
00:20the Mitsubishi Mirage, the MG3, and it kind of competes with the Honda City.
00:24Today we're going to do a detailed review of this. If you do want to skip ahead to other parts of
00:28this review, you can use the time codes up on the screen there. Or if you're on YouTube,
00:32just scroll down and use the chapters below. And if you haven't done so already, make sure you hit
00:36subscribe and press the bell icon so you can find out every single time we drive cars that
00:41sound like small coffees. Let's talk about the exterior. You have eight exterior colors to
00:46choose from. All but white is an additional $520. Now what about the design? Look, this,
00:52like I said, is one of the cheapest cars in Australia, but it kind of doesn't look all
00:56that cheap. You know what I mean? You'd expect it to look a bit nasty, but I think it looks good.
01:00It looks nice and cute and it looks like it could get in and around the city fairly easily.
01:03So here with the black, you can see you've got this blocked off grille because it doesn't really
01:07need any air inside here. I'll run through the engine a little later on, but then it's offset
01:11with like this brushed aluminium style material up the front here, and then the rest sort of all
01:17blends in because of the black. But you can imagine if you had a lighter color here, all of
01:20this stuff would sort of stand out nicely. Now, this is interesting. Part of the, I guess, the
01:25appeal of this car is all standard safety equipment, so this is part of that safety module.
01:30In terms of headlights, you have a pretty basic setup. It is just halogen headlights. Got another
01:34little light under there, and then this is your daytime running light that comes on when the car
01:39is running. And then we'll whip around to the side. Now around here, you can see the back of a vent at
01:43the front there, which is pretty cool. So the air comes through there and then it pops out over here
01:47for aero. But I haven't seen this in a while. Hubcaps. So 14-inch steel wheels with hubcaps.
01:53Don't look overly offensive. They are tiny tires though. 175 wide. They just look really cute.
01:58Indicator over here instead of in that wing mirror. Now, what about the side profile? It's a fairly
02:02short car, but for the most part, it's all pretty straightforward. You get these body-colored door
02:07handles, and then if we whip around to the back, it's a fairly straightforward setup here as well.
02:11You just have standard incandescent taillights, reflectors down the bottom, and then that's about
02:16it. Really not much more to say. Let me know what you think in the comments section below about the
02:19design. Do you think it looks good for being one of the cheapest cars on sale? Do you reckon they
02:23could have done a bit more with it? Let me know your thoughts. We are inside the Kia Picanto and
02:28we'll start with the key. Yeah, here it is here. So it's a traditional old-school key. It flips out
02:35to put into the steering column. You have lock, unlock, and then boot. Then on the back, you have
02:41Kia, and then it slides into here, and everything fires up. Now, let's talk styling. So, I think it
02:50looks okay. It's really quite nice. They updated it here with this big 8-inch infotainment system.
02:55You've got these parts here that sort of contrast the black material, and that continues down the
03:01lower part of that stack as well. In terms of the materials they use, you can see here with the
03:05steering wheel, it's like entirely made out of plastic, and that dashboard is pretty scratchy
03:10stuff. There's no center armrest, so all the touch points are actually quite hard, but that's okay.
03:16It just goes to show this is how you make a car on a budget. Now, in terms of touch points, we measured
03:21exactly how hard they are with our durometer. If you want to see how this compares to other cars
03:25that we've tested, scroll down to the description below. Now, in terms of build quality, just because
03:30it's cheap, it doesn't mean it's nasty. Everything feels really well put together, so kind of makes
03:36you wonder how they can make a cheaper car like this feel so robust and put together, where
03:41some more expensive cars don't carry the same trait. Okay, what about infotainment? So you'd
03:46expect a cheap car like this to have a pretty cheap infotainment system, but it's actually the
03:50opposite. This is a really good unit, and it comes with some tech that's really new to the market in
03:55that sense. So, 8-inch infotainment system. We do have a detailed review of this that you can watch
04:00by clicking up here, so today it's just going to be a brief overview. Color touchscreen, it takes up
04:05virtually that entire space there. In terms of radio, you have AM and FM radio and a six-speaker
04:11stereo, but it's smartphone mirroring that is the intelligent part to this system, because
04:16it has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but they're both wireless, so you don't need a cable to hook
04:20them up. So, I'll show you what Android Auto looks like. Give that another click. Here it is there.
04:26It takes up the entire screen, nice integration, and fairly quick as well with the way that it
04:32responds, and this is what Apple CarPlay looks like. Another full screen integration, really nice
04:38and smooth there. With both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, you can use the built-in phone voice
04:43recognition system, means that it can forward commands to the cloud for clarification. It's just
04:47a far more reliable system, also because this doesn't actually have voice recognition built into
04:52the native infotainment system. You have to use it through smartphone mirroring. It's also a small
04:56color LCD display ahead of the driver, gives you information such as warnings, digital speedo,
05:01and allows you to transition between the cruise control settings, and also some of your trip
05:06computer settings, and then also change the car settings, so how long the lights stay on, that
05:11kind of thing. So, nice to see that integrated into this latest update. Okay, over to safety technology.
05:16So, despite this being cheap and cheerful, it does have autonomous emergency braking, which is great
05:22news. It's the radar type system, and it will stop the car if you don't, and in addition to that, you
05:26have rear parking sensors. Unfortunately, you don't get blind spot monitoring, or a lane keeping
05:31assistant, or anything like that. That's not included, but you do get a reverse camera to
05:35match those rear parking sensors as well. Speaking of which, let's have a look at what that looks like.
05:40Put that into reverse. Fairly basic setup, but you've got your guidelines there that move with
05:45the steering wheel, and then the quality is okay. You can see exactly what's going on behind the car.
05:50Okay, practicality, and we'll start with connectivity. So, you've got one USB port up the front here,
05:55which can be used for your smartphone mirroring, or to charge your device, and then a 12-volt outlet
06:00as well. In terms of storage, where are you going to put your phone? Well, basically anywhere. There's
06:05stacks of room here. You've got a little tray up the top there, a tray down the bottom as well.
06:10You can pop it down here. It's surprising how much storage room there actually is in this.
06:14Coffees, if you are a coffee drinker. Oh, by the way, if you keep hearing beeps whenever we're
06:19reviewing a Hyundai or a Kia, it's because it comes up with a battery discharge warning, like,
06:24literally within 20 seconds of you switching the car off, and it just keeps prompting you for it.
06:28So, it's a little bit annoying, but that's what the beeping is. Yeah, coffee cup. So, it sits down
06:32the front here really nicely, easy to grab and remove. Bottles, same story. That sits into there.
06:39You can also convert this space by moving these out of the way, and then they pop back into position
06:44like that. Then you have bottle storage inside the door as well, and then there's also a glovebox,
06:49too. Not the world's biggest glovebox, but big enough to fit a bottle plus the manual and a
06:54couple of other odds and ends. What about comfort? Well, you have single zone manual air conditioning,
06:58so you just set your fan speed, your temperature, and then you manually adjust it, just like in the
07:02old days. The seats, they are a cloth trim, but they actually look pretty good. So, it's not just
07:06one basic flat design. You've got this white stitching breaking up the back, and then this
07:11sort of cool looking material in the centre. In terms of comfort, they're really nice to sit in,
07:15full manual adjustment. Steering wheel sits nicely in the hand, too, and then all of your
07:19controls are easy to reach from the driver's seat. Okay, second row. Look, I wasn't expecting
07:24this to be massively cavernous, and it's kind of met that expectation. My knees are very much into
07:29the seat in front of me. Keep in mind, this seat's quite far back in my standard driving position,
07:35but you can sort of side saddle if you want to. Headroom is okay. Toe room's fine. You've got a
07:40matte pocket back here. There's no centre armrest, but you do get ISOFIX points on the
07:44two outboard seats, and a cup holder here. Nothing in the door. Pretty straightforward.
07:49Let's sort cargo space. So, it is a small car, so don't expect massive amounts, but it's pretty
07:54impressive for what it is. Here, you have 255 litres of cargo space available. Pretty basic
08:00layout. Under the floor there, you have a space saver spare tyre, plus the jack as well. Show you
08:06what it looks like with the bags in there. Laptop bag tucks off to the side, and then the suitcase
08:13fits in there. I wonder if we can close that. I think we should be able to.
08:17Look at that piece of cake. So, if you do want to expand the space, you can get rid of
08:21the parcel shelf fairly easily. That just pops out of position, and then you can drop the second row.
08:28That gives you a little over a thousand litres of space, but just keep in mind that
08:32there's a step up from the floor there. We've just hit the road in the Kia Picanto. Now,
08:39powering this entry-level model is a 1.2-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol engine,
08:45makes 62 kilowatts of power and 122 newton metres of torque. So, very small engine for a very small
08:53car, and that's all mated to either a five-speed manual, or in this case, a four-speed automatic
08:59transmission. Yes, I know, haven't heard of something like that for quite some time. Now,
09:02that means a combined fuel economy of five litres per 100 kilometres, and we're currently averaging
09:107.0 litres per 100km. So, a little bit over that, but we have been doing a lot of idling,
09:16because it's bloody hot today, and also a lot of highway driving, which this car doesn't really
09:20love. Now, what does all this feel like behind the wheels? So, let's give it a little kick.
09:24I've pinned the board there. Look, it is fairly leisurely, but in and around the city,
09:31this is going to do just fine. Generally, it's going to be one person in the car,
09:34you'll be parking, doing all that kind of stuff. The gearbox isn't the fastest gearbox in the
09:38world to respond. Give it another punch. Even then, it doesn't really, the ratios aren't quite
09:43there to rev it out. So, look, it's fine, it does the job. So, you're not going to find any drive
09:50modes here. There's not even really the ability to shift back through gears. You can use the sort
09:56of gates here, but it's not like a traditional Tiptronic-style system. But, a couple of corners
10:01coming up here. Let's go. This is actually pretty fun to drive. Okay, I'm just curious to see what
10:08it's like if we punt it into a corner. It's actually not too bad. It's like a little go-kart,
10:14just with a small engine. So, yeah, a little bit surprising, I think, for such a small city
10:18runabout, but good surprising. The steering's actually surprisingly good as well. It's got
10:23a bit of weight to it. It is a tiny bit numb, but it communicates enough of what's going on.
10:28And if you pick up enough speed through a corner, it's actually somewhat entertaining.
10:33Now, keep in mind as well that if you do want a few more thrills out of your entry-level Kia,
10:38you can actually opt for the GT model, which has a turbocharged one-litre petrol engine.
10:42And I think that would give you a little bit more pep and be slightly fun behind the wheel.
10:46We don't have an official zero to 100km an hour time for the Picanto,
10:50but I thought we'd time it anyway. So this is how it went against the stopwatch.
11:08Okay, we're on a country road here doing 100km an hour. It's a course chip road.
11:13Yeah, look, there is a bit of noise coming into the cabin. It sits at like 3,000rpm at 100km an
11:19hour. So the engine's revving a fair bit just to keep it moving. And as a result of that,
11:23you're also getting engine noise into the cabin plus tyre noise too. There isn't a great deal of
11:27insulation. Now, what about the ride? So this is probably the most impressive part. A little speed
11:32hump here. They've really just managed to give it fantastic ride quality in and around the city.
11:38Even out on country roads, it just soaks up everything nicely. It doesn't have a massive
11:42amount of tyre coverage on the road, but it kind of doesn't need it. And that means that you're
11:46getting a nice, soft and cushy ride, regardless of whether you're driving over speed humps in the
11:50city or whether you're doing a country dash to see the folks or something like that. So
11:55they've really managed to dial in enough compliance in the suspension to make it
11:58comfortable to sit in. Now, as you'd imagine, the turning circle is comically small, 9.4 metres.
12:04That means that it literally just turns on a dime. That is incredible. I don't think I've
12:09ever driven a car with such a tight turning circle. That is impressive. Now, in terms of
12:13visibility, you won't be surprised to find that it's excellent. I mean, it's such a small car
12:18that you don't have front parking sensors, but you can clearly see where the front ends. The
12:22wing mirrors are big enough to catch anything down the side. Visibility out the rear is okay.
12:26It's a very narrow envelope. If you do have any friends in the car, it's going to be
12:30tricky to see past their heads, but for the most part, this is going to be very easy to
12:34park in the city. So Kia Picanto. Yeah, sure, it's the cheapest car or one of the cheapest
12:40cars in the country, but it doesn't feel like a cheap car, which is important. It has all the
12:44latest technology. It's got safety features. Best of all, it's easy to drive, easy to park,
12:49all the types of things that you associate with a car that's predominantly going to be in and
12:53around the city. Yes, it's not built for chewing up highway miles, but if you buy this with the
12:58knowledge that it is built for the city, I think you're going to be pretty happy with it. And with
13:02a seven-year warranty, at least in Australia, 10 years in some other countries, it just really
13:06impresses me that you can buy a car like this for the price that it is. So let me know in the
13:10comments section below, have you bought a Kia Picanto? What's it like to live with day-to-day?
13:15And have you found some interesting quirks that we need to know about? Let me know in the comments
13:18section below. Thank you for watching. If you did enjoy this video, make sure you hit like,
13:21don't forget to share it, and also subscribe to our channel and press the bell icon. But
13:25until next time, take it easy.