Kia Picanto review: what the car critics say
The Picanto is a ‘good-looking, dinky thing’ with turbocharged options

With an eye on rivalling the success of the Volkswagen Up! GTI, Kia has redesigned its smallest and cheapest car, the Picanto, and added a turbocharged GT-Line S version to the line-up, said The Daily Telegraph. “It’s a recipe as old as time, but it works. Take a small car, sling in an engine from a bigger one, add sporty bits on the outside, and serve.” In this case, the result is a great, spacious car that is undeniably a lot of fun.
The Picanto is a “good-looking, dinky thing”, said Autocar, if a bit top-heavy from some angles. There are lots of options for paint colours and it has a sporty interior trim. The kit inside is also impressively generous for a small car: Kia’s latest infotainment system – complete with an 8in screen and smartphone mirroring – comes as standard, and there are plenty of physical buttons alongside the screen.
If you need to get about in anything approaching a rush, you’ll want the turbo 99bhp “monster”, which gets you from 0-60mph in 9.9 seconds, said Top Gear Magazine. The 66bhp version only manages 14.1 seconds. The turbo option can also be paired with a five-speed manual gearbox. The steering is sharp, and city driving in the Picanto is “a bit of a blast”. For a first car, or just one needed as a “runabout”, you can’t go far wrong here. UK price from about £9,250.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Kia Picanto: in pictures
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
How Zohran Mamdani's NYC mayoral run will change the Democratic Party
Talking Points The candidate poses a challenge to the party's 'dinosaur wing'
-
Book reviews: '1861: The Lost Peace' and 'Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers'
Feature How America tried to avoid the Civil War and the link between lead pollution and serial killers
-
Brian Wilson: the troubled genius who powered the Beach Boys
Feature The musical giant passed away at 82
-
Book reviews: '1861: The Lost Peace' and 'Murderland: Crime and Bloodlust in the Time of Serial Killers'
Feature How America tried to avoid the Civil War and the link between lead pollution and serial killers
-
Brian Wilson: the troubled genius who powered the Beach Boys
Feature The musical giant passed away at 82
-
Grilled radicchio with caper and anchovy sauce recipe
The Week Recommends Smoky twist on classic Italian flavours is perfect to grill, drizzle and devour
-
Echo Valley: a 'twisty modern noir' starring Julianne Moore and Sydney Sweeney
The Week Recommends This tense thriller about a mother and daughter is 'American cinema for grown ups'
-
Larry Lamb shares his favourite books
The Week Recommends The actor picks works by Neil Sheehan, Annie Proulx and Émile Zola
-
Stereophonic: an 'extraordinary, electrifying odyssey'
The Week Recommends David Adjmi's Broadway hit about a 1970s rock band struggling to record their second album comes to the West End
-
Shifty: a 'kaleidoscopic' portrait of late 20th-century Britain
The Week Recommends Adam Curtis' 'wickedly funny' documentary charts the country's decline using archive footage
-
Lollipop: a single mother trapped in a 'hellish catch-22'
The Week Recommends Daisy May Hudson's moving debut feature is a gut puncher in the Ken Loach tradition