Kia raises its supermini game

THOSE people who seem to think the job of a motoring correspondent involves a whirlwind of glitzy launches in foreign climates and a non-stop merry-go-round of driving the biggest, best, fastest and most expensive metal there is to find, never seem to realise there are other aspects of the job as well; like driving a Kia Picanto, for example.

Such folk often express green-eyed jealousy at my darned luck in ever getting such a brilliant job as they dream of the five star luxury bestowed on me by fawning motor companies desperate for a favourable review of their latest whiz-bang product. But then they express complete amazement that this also involves driving products which will never see the top ten of anyone’s “that’s-what-I’ll-buy- when-I-win-the-lotto” list; like a Kia Picanto, for example.

But like anything else in life, you’ve got to take the rough with the smooth and so it is every now and then that you find yourself driving what are sometimes callously called “budget cars”; like a Kia Picanto, for example.

Truth is, however, that I actually really enjoy driving small cars — I swear.

Of course, superminis cover a massive breadth of effort on behalf of motor manufacturers because they do actually sell in vast numbers, despite the fact that so many people pooh-pooh their place in the greater scheme of things. More often than not, people do so because of badge snobbery, or, worse, sheer ignorance. Were they to realise the levels of sophistication that is now on offer in such cars, they might think again. And, in doing so, they could do a whole lot worse than to think of the Kia Picanto.

This is a very small, very sophisticated and very charismatic machine indeed and I have to say I loved my time with it. Sure it is only available with a diminutive one litre engine and only comes in two trims LX and EX, but it is also damned cheap, costs the absolute least amount of annual road tax, and costs from just under eleven and a half grand. What’s wrong with any of that?

Well, the Picanto is not without flaws, but it is still nonetheless a very competitive package indeed.

The small engine has its upsides and its downsides. The latter become apparent particularly on the open road when the output of just 51 kW (68 bhp) gets found out a little. This three cylinder unit really does have to be flogged and if you want to see either the top speed of 153 km/h or even see the 13.8 second 0-100 km/h time, then you do have to give it a severe caning.

But there is a vicarious thrill about getting the maximum from a small three cylinder such as this. There is the unique soundtrack for one – that throaty rasp is a joyous thing indeed; there is also its dog-like willingness to please that brings a smile to your face. Not many buyers will want to do this of course, but of the rest of us it is a very welcome side benefit.

The main upside is the engine’s frugality and the company quote a figure of 4.2 litres/100 km (which is nearly 70 mpg) for the Picanto’s consumption figures and while you can take such figures with a small grain of salt, you’d still have to be happy if it managed to give you anywhere near them.

It also does have to be said that the Picanto is not as well sorted on the handling front that some of its rivals; the ride is a little knobbly, the brakes are a little on the snatchy side and the steering is almost completely devoid of feel, which somewhat spoils the fun a bit.

That said, however, there are upsides to this in that grips levels are excellent and the majority of the indicators point to a very well sorted chassis. And that is something to remember here, because many small superminis from Kia in times past were absolutely brutal, so there is a huge level of improvement on offer with this machine.

The interior too shows how immeasurably grown up the Picanto has become. The level of specification on the EX version is very high and will surprise people who care to check it out.

When you think that only a short time ago it was inconceivable that such a small car would have ABS, EBD, stability control, Bluetooth with voice recognition, steering wheel mounted stereo controls, all round electric windows and mirrors and a rake of other stuff — all as standard.

We’ve been banging on for months now about how good the Koreans have become in terms of delivering quality product and this is yet another fine example of just that. It may be that small cars are not on many people’s agenda and it may also be that there are a lot of people out there driving around in cars which are unnecessarily large for their needs.

Perhaps then they should be looking for smaller, largely well sorted and equipped machines; like the Kia Picanto, for example.