KIA Picanto

For its size and price, the Kia Picanto gets a well-appointed cabin, which has acceptable levels of quality and equipment. While the cabin has a pleasant design, there’s no denying the fact that it has started to show its age.

The simple-looking driver’s cockpit of the Picanto comes with a three-spoke multi-functional steering wheel with Y-shaped satin silver lower spoke and an informative instrument console with an LCD MID in the middle. The upper centre console of the dashboard of the Picanto has a free-standing touchscreen infotainment system and unique-looking AC vents, separated by a fine satin silver line across the dashboard’s width.

The corners of the dashboard come with vertically-aligned ovular AC vents, while the lower centre console has a panel for automatic climate control switches and cup holders. Other features gracing the cabin of the Picanto include alloy pedals, a sunroof, and electronically adjustable and foldable rearview mirrors.

The Picanto might not be as flashy and cutting-edge to look at, as many new-age modern offerings from the Korean carmaker in the SUV segment. The overall design of the Kia Picanto has existed in the same form for a long time now. However, even today, the Picanto has a likeable design, which makes it one of the cutest-looking cars on sale.

At the front, the Picanto has a touch of aggressiveness with the horizontally-stretched tiger-nose grille with chrome garnish on its upper and lower edges. The grille is flanked by large headlamps housings, which have angular inner edges and curved outer designs. These headlamp housings come integrated with projector bulbs and daytime running LEDs. The front bumper of the Picanto features vertically-aligned triangular housings for the projector fog lamps and a large trapezoidal air dam in the middle.

The Kia Picanto showcases its compact size and stance in the best form when viewed sideways. The slightly-flared and well-contoured rounded front and rear fender arches add some character to the side profile. In the top-spec versions, the Kia Picanto comes with 15-inch alloy wheels. Further cuteness is assured by a slightly rounded roofline, towards the C-pillar.

At the back, the Kia Picanto gets distinctive-looking C-shaped tail lamps, which come with refreshing LED inserts. The boot lid has a rather clean design, with the rear bumper getting additional triangular lamps on the corners. The Picanto also comes with a roof-mounted spoiler with integrated brake light and rear wiper, washer, and defogger.

Available with a front-wheel drive configuration as standard, the Kia Picanto comes with a suspension combination of MacPherson struts at the front and a torsion beam at the rear. The Picanto measures 3595mm long, 1595mm wide, and 1495mm tall, which makes it one of the smallest and easiest cars to drive in the UAE. Adding more ease and joy to the driveability of the Kia Picanto is its light steering setup.

The UAE market is currently receiving the Kia Picanto with the 1.2-litre four-cylinder naturally-aspirated petrol engine as the standard powertrain choice. Available with a 4-speed automatic gearbox as standard, this smooth and refined petrol engine produces 84 PS of maximum power and 122 Nm of maximum torque.

The Kia Picanto is armed with a basic set of safety features, the list of which comprises dual front, side and curtain airbags, ABS with EBD, reverse parking sensors, reverse camera, electronic stability control and hill start assist.

The compact dimensions and light steering setup make the Kia Picanto a very urban-friendly car to drive. While the interior space is at a premium, given the compact dimensions, the Picanto impresses with the number of features and a loveable design for the price at which it is being offered.