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Ken Gratton21 Jan 2019
REVIEW

Kia Picanto GT 2019 Review

A pint-sized pepperpot on wheels, Kia's sporty micro hatch, the Picanto GT is very 'piquant'
Review Type
Local Launch
Review Location
Yarra Valley, Victoria

Holding a massive share of a market segment populated by tiny cars allows Kia the luxury of trying different concepts to fill out the Picanto range. The latest is the Picanto GT, powered by a turbocharged three-cylinder 'Kappa' engine and driving the front wheels through a five-speed gearbox. For a price undercutting the cheapest Fiat 500 the Picanto GT produces over 50 per cent more power and around 70 per cent more torque.

Picanto slugging above its weight

The Kia Picanto is steadily establishing itself as the sales champ in the local micro hatch segment. Last year, selling nearly 5400 cars, the Picanto more than doubled the combined sales figures of its direct rivals – the Fiat/Abarth 500, the now discontinued Holden Spark and the rather grim Mitsubishi Mirage.

The new Kia Picanto GT variant is bound to add incremental but significant sales, offering a turbocharged three-cylinder engine and a five-speed manual gearbox in a sporty package that positions it between the basic Fiat 500 Pop and the Abarth 595 for engine output and power to weight ratio.

Maybe you like the retro styling of the Italian cars, but what the new Korean car lacks in overall presentation – and there's no denying the aesthetic appeal of even the entry-level Fiat – the Picanto overcomes with a better driving position and the practicality of two extra doors.

Priced the same as the basic Fiat, but with on-road costs included, it's (relatively) a lot of car for not much money. The Picanto GT doesn't muster the same level of engine output as the Abarth, nor the overtly sporting character, but its ride quality and the lack of torque steer make it a better proposition for regular urban driving and the odd blast through the countryside just for the fun of it.

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Power to the 'popolo minuto'

While the Kia Picanto GT doesn't produce anything like the same level of performance as the Abarth, it's also way more affordable and the turbocharged three-cylinder delivers peppy response and liveliness that will shock owners of larger cars away from the lights. It's also quicker than a standard Fiat 500 – and easier to drive in traffic or on hills.

Yet the Kia Picanto GT is also reasonably frugal to run. Over the course of a couple of hours driving to the Victorian township of Kinglake along winding country roads and uphill, before heading back to Melbourne, the Picanto GT averaged 6.3L/100km, according to the car's trip computer.

The three-cylinder engine is more refined at idle and lower revs than the previously mentioned Mitsubishi Mirage, although the Kia engine is also a little more raucous than the three-cylinder engine powering Ford's Fiesta, Focus and EcoSport models, or Peugeot's three-cylinder 208.

There's little laboring at speeds down to about 1500rpm however – even when pushing up hill in a higher gear. It's a flexible, tractable engine, but one that's happier at revs above 3000rpm, naturally lacking torque for anything much other than steady cruising at 2000rpm or thereabouts.

The combination of exploitable torque and lower ratio for first gear makes the Picanto very easy to launch without riding the clutch, but there's more torque available from above 3000rpm through to redline. The Picanto GT will trickle away if the driver's not aiming for a full-blooded tyre-burning start. Shift at lower revs, however, and there's some engine flare present, which demands slower changing for the sake of smoothness, but rev the Picanto out past 3000rpm and the problem fades away.

Keep it spinning above 3000 – the 'Kappa' triple banger will rev out enthusiastically to 6000rpm – and the torque mounts in a solid, linear curve. Under load the engine has an in-line six aspect to its soundtrack and the combination of power and torque makes a sixth gear almost redundant.

Despite the meagre output from the engine, use the revs and the torque appropriately and the extra gear is not much missed – unlike the five-speed manual in the entry-level Fiat 500. The Picanto GT would be a better car with six speeds, but it doesn't desperately need them, although fourth and fifth do feel 'stretched' at 60-80km/h. The ratios are well spaced however, and the engine never falls into a whole with the next upshift.

With the engine cranked up and first gear a sufficiently low ratio, there's enough torque to spin a drive wheel from a standing start, yet fifth will hold revs down to about 2300rpm at 100km/h – for very conservative fuel consumption on the open road. Shifting is light and easy too – as well as fairly precise for a car that remains at its core a tiny little shopping trolley.

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Aussie solution

Kia's local chassis tuners have fettled the Picanto GT's underpinnings for sportier, more dynamic handling and road-holding. That does come at the expensive of ride quality, which can be choppy at speed. That's partly due to the Picanto's squat footprint, but also the intrinsically stiffer spring and damper rates. Nevertheless, the Picanto rides softer than both the company's Cerato GT – tested during the same launch program – and the Abarth 595.

The front-end grip of the Picanto GT is encouraging and body control is reined in properly in twists and turns, and steering response is tidy, but without the same immediacy as the Cerato GT. There's enough feedback through the wheel to place the Picanto precisely on the road and the brakes can be finely modulated through the brake pedal, which provides instant servo assistance at the lightest touch.

Overall, the Picanto GT is undeniably fun to drive, but the Nexen tyres can be rowdy at freeway speeds or on coarse-chip bitumen. At cruising speed, in addition to the prominent tyre noise, the rustle of wind and some rumble from the engine are also audible.

Pricing and Features
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Compromise for price

Inside the Picanto GT, the instruments and controls are typically Kia design – easy to read and use – but while the front seats look the part and offer some shape, the cushioning doesn't support the body as well as some might like.

Nor is the driving position ideal. To be close enough to the steering wheel (which doesn't provide reach adjustment), and still be the right distance from the pedals the seat squab has to be adjusted closer to upright than preferable, or else the driver sits with the arms outstretched. Still, the Picanto's driving position, while not outstanding, is so far ahead of the driving position for the Fiat 500.

Like the Fiat, the Picanto GT offers an appropriate hip point for entering the vehicle or alighting from it, but unlike the Fiat the Kia allows access to the rear seat without folding a seat forward.

Headroom is excellent for adults, but those of average height will feel short-changed by the legroom behind a similarly tall driver. It's quite cramped behind once the driver's seat is set up for the slightly compromised driving position. There are no adjustable vents in the rear either, so other than short trips, the Picanto GT is arguably suitable only for kids when undertaking longer journeys.

There's a space-saver spare under the floor of the boot, which is short, but deep for smaller shopping loads. The rear seats fold flat for larger items, but anything larger than the boot will have to balance on the fulcrum where the seat squab folds, due to the boot floor being lower.

Although the Picanto GT features some nice touches, such as the leather gear lever boot, the red coordinating exterior trim and the chrome door handles, the hard plastics throughout the interior do betray this car as a budget model in the Kia range.

But buyers know that. For the right sort of shopper the Picanto GT is fun and practical without loosening the purse strings too far, and it straddles that divide with ease – for daily driving or occasionally letting her rip.

How much does the 2019 Kia Picanto GT cost?
Price: $17,990 (drive-away)
Engine: 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 74kW/172Nm
Transmission: Five-speed manual
Fuel: 4.8L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 110g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Four-star (ANCAP, 2017)

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Written byKen Gratton
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Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalistsMeet the team
Expert rating
72/100
Engine, Drivetrain & Chassis
14/20
Price, Packaging & Practicality
15/20
Safety & Technology
14/20
Behind The Wheel
15/20
X-Factor
14/20
Pros
  • Fun on a budget
  • But practical for small families too
  • Something different if retro is passe
Cons
  • Rear-seat accommodation is stingy
  • Load space is not flat with seats folded
  • Tyre noise
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