I’m old enough to remember the first-generation Kia Picanto – and it didn’t exactly thrill me back in the early 2000’s.
It was a kooky looking thing with a very dated front end and it was tiny, and it had a funny name that tried to make out it was hot hatch – Picanto translating to spicy – and it wasn’t.
What it was though, was a car quick to adapt and Kia New Zealand at the time, was probably quite aware of this, which is why – amid the car heroes of the Kia brand at the time, namely the Kia Optima, Rio and ill-fated Magentis, the Picanto turned up like a little five-year old on their first day at ‘big school’.
It was precocious too, and very proud of its big boy pants while Kia New Zealand gave it ‘favourite child’ status in terms of marketing – much to the confusion of many who couldn’t see why.
Someone sitting behind a Kia desk somewhere has decided to punt the Picanto once more, which has led to the arrival of the Picanto X-Line, a spiced-up SUV treatment of a rather smart, third generation supermini.
Still cute, but in a ruggedly aggressive way, the Picanto X-Line may not be exactly what Kia NZ wanted, but damn, they shouldn’t be disappointed; this one’s a mindbender.
It’s a smidge bigger than the standard Picanto, but not massively heavier. In fact, the X-Line weighs in at just 4kg than its slightly less SUV-esque GT Line stablemate – though both are 19kg heavier than the standard LX manual.
How much is a smidge? OK, all Picantos have the same 2400mm wheelbase, but the body of the X-Line is longer by 75mm, wider by 30mm taller by 15mm overall. There’s 15mm in ground clearance to factor in and the consideration of the 16-inch alloys over the 14-inchers of the LX models.
In cabin, this means someone with casually broad shoulders, a 5’11 height and maybe seven or so additional kgs of Christmas leftovers, is not going to feel at all squashed when driving the littlest Kia. I volunteered to drive from Auckland to Hamilton, and you know what? It was one of the more pleasant trips I’ve made this year.
Korean carmakers tend to favour Western body shapes far better than Japanese or even some European competitors, so the back-seat accommodations are not as tight as might be expected. Good boot space too.
Under that bonnet which is part of some not inconsiderable rhinoplasty (yep, the Schreyer Tiger Nose has had some work done), the X-Line has the same 1.25 litre engine as the rest of the Picanto range. Apparently, the one-litre turbo engine found in the Rio was not available to us so the hot stuff on the X-Line Picanto is not under the hood.
You won’t feel short-changed however, the X-Line ’buck and a quarter’ mill is more than enough muscle to scoot the SUV-styled supermini at spunky speed on longer distance hauls and it’s nimble enough to squirt into city savvy spaces.
Nor should one sneeze at the adoption of a four-speed auto. While Euro four speeds are typically good for well, toasting marshmallows and little else, the four-cogger suits the Picanto well enough, and since the little-SUV-that’s-really-a-car sips up around 5.4 litres per 100km and can hoof it with cars two classes up, who’s complaining?
The biggest feature of the Picanto though, would have to be pizazz. It’s well balanced – arguably the best in class, well designed, brilliantly appointed and striking with its bash-plate equipped lower air dam and funked up colour co-ordinated grille.
There are other superminis out there to take on the X-Line on paper, but its in the car park where the shizzle hits the fan, and the Picanto has plenty of shizzle.
Specifications:
Body type
Five-door hatch
Drive
Front wheel drive
Engine type
4-cylinder
Engine capacity
1248cc
Max power
62kW @ 6000rpm
Max torque
122Nm
l/100km (Combined)
5.8 litres
C02 emissions
134
Boot capacity
255/1010litres
ANCAP rating
4 star
Price
$21,490
