2014 Kia Picanto | new car review

Looks

Called the Kia Morning in South Korea and the Kia New Morning in Vietnam, the Picanto as we know it, must’ve surely turned over some new leaves for the brand to have earned that name. Currently in its second generation, the Kia Picanto parades around with a slim Tiger Nose radiator grille, a hexagonal lower grille and substantially large plastic inserts around the fog lamp housings. An ascending contour that begins at the front fender and gets more prominent as it works its way to the peak of the LED tail lights does a fantastic job of adding a little zest to an otherwise bland exterior.

Feels

 The interior of the Picanto is a little different, a little out of the ordinary, and I like that. A hazard light switch bang in the centre of the dashboard, a steering wheel with one of the biggest smirks I’ve come across, and the central A/C vents and radio system fitted into what resembles the silhouette of an AK-47 bullet; the Picanto surely scores points for creativity. With 820mm of legroom available for rear seat passengers and a short transmission tunnel to accompany, seating up to 4 people is an easy task for the Picanto.

Engineering

The Picanto packs in an interesting pedestrian safety feature that isn’t heard of in its class. Essentially, the vehicle’s frontal structures are specially optimised to reduce potential head and leg injuries to pedestrians. A bumper lower stiffener is an important additional component that protects a pedestrian’s lower leg incase there’s a collision.

What’s on offer?

The Picanto packs in a 1.2 litre V4 engine that produces a mildly decent 86 horsepower and 120 Nm of torque. If you’ve got a functional left foot, the Picanto is available with a 5 speed manual transmission and will even save you AED 5,000 on the initial cost. For all the others, the 1.2 litre engine is mated to a 4 speed tranny and prices range from AED 37,900 – AED 43,900.

Summing it…

The Picanto is no hot hatch rival and it doesn’t try to be one either. What it is though, is a small, economical, and well priced city runabout that has enough space to fit a few of your mates in the back as well.