Test drive Kia Picanto X-Line: Superhero of severe traffic jams. Test drive Kia Picanto: everything you wanted to know about the compact Korean Kia Picanto review main road

It would seem that the impressions from such machines should be one hundred percent positive - like watching videos with kittens. But the updated urban hatchback itself did everything to be judged by adult standards: it gestured, hummed angrily, and even if it spoke in a girl’s voice, it missed the accents...

On the one hand, cars like the Picanto are literally doomed to be bombarded with diminutive suffixes - after all, they are small, and cute, and nimble. On the other hand, even if there is general affection, it refuses to be converted into mass demand. Many manufacturers generally prefer to start from second gear, in the sense of not having A-segment models in the Russian line-up. Opel some time ago threatened to bring a new, compact and very worthy Adam - but changed its mind at the first signs of instability in the market, and then decided to happy to stay.

Minimum price

Maximum price

It is important for Kia to be represented in all core market segments - so there is no talk of abandoning sales of the Picanto. Moreover, the compact hatchback was updated, according to tradition, without shaking it up too much, but adding some options - for example, cruise control, which was previously absent even in the most expensive trim levels. At the same time, due to the appearance of a new configuration (a three-door with a 66 hp engine and a manual transmission in the most affordable Classic configuration), the base price of the model car was reduced by 35,000 rubles - while the configurations previously present on the market increased in price by five thousand. ten.

The statistics do not present any particular surprises: two-thirds of Picantos were purchased by women, in most cases married. That is, this is probably not the first car in the family: for transporting large companies and a lot of things, there is a crossover driven by the husband, and the compact Korean works more like a backup. And if there is no one to hide behind, can this hatchback be a car for all occasions in a large city? It seems that AutoVesti readers are interested in this question no less than we are, since they asked to load into the Picanto not a group of nightlife fans and not a dwarf dog, but an entire baby stroller. And when a reader asks, we don’t refuse.

Visually, the interior of the Picanto 8 is cozy - there will be complaints about “cheap” finishing materials, but they seem far-fetched to us.

Question from Minion

It is clear that they always save money on such machines - what did they save more on?

It depends on what you compare it with. If with Quoris for three million, it turns out that Kia saves on all its other models. In theory, reasons can be found: for example, Picanto is the only Kia that is imported to us ready-made from overseas (all other models are born in the process of local assembly), which means that we are more dependent on exchange rates than others. Plus, the demand for segment A cars in Russia has never been booming. On the other hand, the Picanto is assigned an important role as a kind of bait, along with which the novice car enthusiast must swallow the perception of Kia cars as an ideal compromise between price and quality. So, this small car in our market is not for show and in no case should it stand in the buyer’s throat.

They saved money here primarily on space. You sit down, take a closer look, twist your elbows just to be sure - it doesn’t seem to hit you anywhere. You relax and make a natural (and not a conscious test) movement - and now it’s already tight for your elbow, then your knee. And as soon as you feel discomfort for the first time, the mode of a critical look at the surrounding interior turns on by itself. Here is the wide front panel - on some Mitsubishi Outlander she makes you happy (when you place plates and glasses there for a snack along the way), but here it immediately seems that she has taken a few centimeters from your beloved. Why does the center console protrude so much? And you have to reach so far to reach the tray for small items at the base of this console...

Motor power

horsepower

Ground clearance

millimeters

Trunk volume

In a good car you feel that it is built around you, but here it’s the opposite: engineers and designers created the interior, and you have to somehow fit into it. The front seats also do not allow you to relax irrevocably: they touch rather than hug - in one zone they grab your side too harshly, and in another they deprive the body of a minimal, but still necessary support.

Fortunately, there is something to distract yourself with. Everything that is directly in front of the driver is thought out conscientiously - from the dashboard to the pedals, which help to do everything smoothly and allow you to select halftones by dosing the effort, rather than choosing between on and off modes. The steering wheel is good both in terms of tactile sensations (pleasant to hold) and muscular ones (the steering is well tuned) - although, contrary to ideas about a compact women's car, it does not become empty and light even at walking speeds. And the number of buttons on it hints that when compiling the list of options for the updated Picanto, aggressive savings were clearly not the goal.

The steering wheel on the compact Korean is pleasant to touch and turn.

Question from a Foreigner

Tell me honestly about the engine.

Since the pairs of units in the Picanto are rigidly fixed (the 66-horsepower engine only works in tandem with a 5-speed manual transmission, and the 85-horsepower engine only works in tandem with a 4-speed automatic), then we should rather talk about the combination of engine and gearbox. We were only able to try the second combination and cannot throw any reasonable accusations at it into the intake manifold.

Minimum fuel consumption during the test (recorded on the highway in close to ideal conditions)

Of course, if in a Picanto you engage in wholesale overtaking of trucks on the famous reversals of the Moscow-St. Petersburg highway, then the pleasure will be below average. Of course, kick-downs happen here more often than we would like - and sometimes in frankly relaxed situations, when the driver tries to gently add gas. Of course, having abruptly slowed down, you won’t be able to immediately return to cruising speed with a slight movement of your right foot due to the elasticity of the motor. But even when tossing around in city traffic, and on the highway with two lanes in one direction, the “85 hp + automatic” combination is nothing to blush about.

Fuel consumption recorded in the city during the evening rush hour

Of course, there will be a specific soundtrack when kicking down, but how often does driving a car like the Picanto consist of a series of sharp and long accelerations? The problem is rather different: the roar of the engine subsides quite quickly, but the hum from the tires accompanies you the whole way. And it’s noticeably straining, putting pressure on the ears. Passengers do not have to shout over each other, but at a speed of 60-70 km/h, because of this hum, it is not always possible to hear the system’s remarks clarifying or executing voice commands (more on them below). In short, in terms of sound insulation, the Picanto still has room to improve.

Depending on the configuration, the Picanto has two dashboard configurations. In the photo - a more advanced one, for the Luxe and Prestige trim levels.

Question from Ivan

What is the real ground clearance?

Kia representatives claim that the ground clearance is 152 mm - and our measurements confirm this. At the same time, the Picanto does not have a pronounced lower point - if the exhaust pipe, passing under the feet of the rear passengers, drops just below the bottom or rear beam, then by one or two millimeters.

We took measurements after the test drive was completed - and to be honest, at that moment ground clearance did not seem to be a particularly important parameter for us. It’s much more important to talk about the suspension settings, because the Picanto’s suspension turned out to be unusually stiff. Lumps, holes, wide cracks, tram rails or square “cobblestone” tiles between them - when you come into contact with any of these irregularities, at first you involuntarily wince, and over time you cannot get used to the peculiar suspension settings. Breakdowns, even during a relatively calm ride, happen quite often; if you move aggressively in traffic, you will catch them with alarming regularity. On top of that, due to not the most effective sound insulation, you can also hear the suspension - and the sounds it makes are not the most pleasant.

And most importantly, it’s not very clear why you should be so harsh. It is obvious that Picanto buyers are unlikely to rush along the roads with their ears open and look for the limits of controllability - especially since modest engines will not allow much flying. And if the small car had tilted and swayed a little more, it’s unlikely that the owners would have blamed it for this (if they would have paid attention to it at all). And so the end result is that the car is like a sports car made for perfectly smooth asphalt - but in large cities of our country this is less common than we would like, and in civilized Europe the roads are not like glass everywhere. It seems that the Koreans initially tuned the suspension for themselves and did not seriously reconfigure it for us.

Question from Ivan

Does it blow away when a truck passes by? And is it clearly visible to truck drivers?

Kia representatives believe that the suspension seemed stiff to us due to the 50-profile tires on 15-inch wheels. In other trim levels (we drove the most expensive Prestige, they come with 60 and 70 profile tires on wheels with a diameter of 14 (steel or alloy) or 13 (steel only) inches.

We complained above that the Picanto's suspension is a bit harsh - maybe it was made this way precisely to maintain directional stability when driving around with trucks? One way or another, potential buyers should not worry: the “shock” air wave running away from the road train will not move the car half a row. And where do such questions come from? Pre-perestroika "Zhiguli" from "kopek" to "eight" also weighed less than a ton (although the Picanto, with a mass of 840 kg, will be a whole centner lighter) - but we don’t remember jokes about a Lada being blown off the road by a MAZ. Once we found ourselves in an area of ​​strong crosswind, we felt a couple of times that it was not in vain that Mercedes-Benz taught its active suspension to counteract it. But this is a mere trifle, which even a novice driver would hardly be afraid of - he would simply feel at some point that the steering wheel had become heavier. In general, the Picanto’s directional stability is fine: you’ll have to steer, but you won’t have to be distracted by it or strain yourself because of it.

As for truck drivers, it’s difficult for us to speak for them. But still, the Picanto is not a penny in size; it is three and a half meters from nose to tail - this, for example, is only 30 centimeters shorter than the Mini. Those for whom our discussions are not enough can be advised to turn their attention to the rich Luxe and Prestige trim levels, where there are fog lights in the list of standard equipment, and LEDs all around (in the sense - running lights front and lights plus an additional brake light at the rear).

Girls will definitely like this detail: the light bulbs next to the mirror do not light up all at once, but two at a time - from top to bottom.

Question from Ivan

Are there many blind spots when driving? in reverse?

Of course, there is a dead zone under the rear bumper, where a ball can suddenly roll, the Bug can run after the ball, the granddaughter can run after the Bug - and so on. If you are planning to go somewhere in a Picanto, this is not a reason to leave caution at home. But in reality, the dead zone is very arbitrary - and it hardly makes sense to buy a car in the more expensive Luxe and Prestige trim levels if, of the entire list of equipment available for them, you are only interested in rear parking sensors. When maneuvering in reverse, the main emotion is rather relief from the fact that you don’t have to keep a few centimeters of the rear bumper in mind and you can safely judge the distance to the wall by the lower edge of the rear window.

1. The armrest could have been trimmed to avoid contact with the knee. The tray in the door is too narrow to store anything other than cards and bottles.
2. There are few containers for small things - but they are large, without unnecessary partitions and compartments.
3. The cup supports in the niche at the base of the center console are foldable.

Question from andrew_spb

Is the radio too simple?

It’s difficult to call it completely simple - for example, because already in the Comfort package (from 604,900 rubles) there is a USB port, and in two rich packages there is support for Bluetooth and even voice commands. But the overall impression of the head unit is really blurry. You can get used to the unusually located buttons over time, but the small, cheap screen and numerous shortcuts in the menu can be a bit difficult. Out of duty, we studied the radio, but after that somehow there was no desire to touch it again: we set the desired radio station and forgot. I also didn’t want to give commands by voice: a noticeable delay in responding to a command is not so bad, and other manufacturers have not yet learned to cope with this, but the virtual woman’s not very clear diction and incorrectly placed accents are seriously annoying. Not everything is good with driver speech recognition either: the system generally copes with the names of contacts from the address book, but it only hears numbers. For example, we were able to “pronounce correctly” the desired radio frequency the fourth or fifth time.

However, for the Picanto - as for the budget Rio sedan, for example, a more modern head unit can be purchased from dealers (the Russian representative office of Kia itself chose the “head”, agreed with its manufacturer, and is organizing centralized supplies). However, it makes sense to wait a little, since a modern multimedia system with a touch screen and factory navigation should appear in the price lists for the Picanto in the next few weeks. Over time, it will find a place on the front panel of the Rio - but here we are no longer talking about weeks, but about months.

The radio is not for everyone, but there is a USB port at the base of the center console, and fashionable Apple gadgets connect without problems - like phones via Bluetooth.

Question from Ivan

How many suitcases will fit into the trunk simply and with the seats folded down? Will the stroller fit with the seats folded down?

Seriously concerned with finding the answer to these questions, we got hold of a fairly large stroller with a cradle, where the “chassis” when folded measures 85 x 54 x 38 cm, and the cradle measures 85 x 40 x 30 cm. With the rear sofa folded, all this is placed inside without any problems. If we assume that you want to place the mother and the cradle in the back, and place the “chassis” in the trunk, this option is only possible if you remove the wheels.

If you measure the trunk volume in suitcases, then a couple of medium-sized suitcases (the kind that are still allowed to be taken on a plane) will fit - of course, they will have to be placed vertically. How many suitcases would fit when the sofa was folded had to be estimated by eye - and the debate about whether it was five or seven (and whether a suitcase could be considered “fit” if its wheels rested on the driver’s ear) is still going on in the editorial office. In general, according to our feelings, if it is necessary to place a large amount of luggage, it is better to leave rear seats spread out. There is absolutely nothing resembling a flat floor when folding the sofa - therefore, neatly stacked luggage has a high chance of turning into a chaotic pile, the space behind the front seats (small, but still available) will be more difficult to use, you will have to tuck the removed shelf somewhere ... In a word, we would prefer to thoroughly scrub some of the suitcases and put them directly on the back sofa.

298 liters of trunk volume - is it a lot or a little? A lot: the Chevrolet Spark had only 170, the French couple Citroen C1 and Peugeot 107 had 139!

Question from Ivan

Compare prices and options with Skoda Fabia, Nissan Micra and others.

As you can imagine, no one officially considers the Picanto and Fabia to be direct competitors - but we like the way of thinking. Because it allows you to take a slightly broader look at the issue of choosing a car. If we use the traditional approach, then the Koreans can prepare money bags: their small car doesn’t really have any real rivals left. Micra is not sold here, Citroen Spark must be searched in dealer showrooms using a spark finder - the same picture with the French babies Citroen C1 and Peugeot 107. Daewoo Matiz in design and set of options it was stuck in the last decade, while Smart moved up the price line. There was no need to even blink or scare away with beeps - the competing brands somehow made way for themselves.

However, if we take as an example a budget car in segment B - and the same Kia Rio hatchback - we will see that with a similar set of options, the Picanto will be cheaper by only 20-30 thousand rubles. Just a few years ago, the difference was obvious: simple as a log and empty as a drum, few would have dared to compare the first-generation Renault Logan with an elegant Korean city car. But now, when state employees have become prettier in appearance and are filled with options, the situation turns out to be different. If we think about Fabia, then it’s a Czech hatchback with a 70 hp engine. and mechanics in the Ambition package and an additional package of options will cost approximately 500,000 rubles. The Picanto, which is similar in configuration and equipment, will cost 609,900 rubles, partly justifying the difference in price by the presence of a radio tape recorder that is missing on the Fabia. The price of a thoroughly stuffed Fabia with an automatic transmission, cruise control and parking sensors will approach the mark of 700,000 rubles - a Picanto will cost 729,000 rubles, and the difference in engine power (the Czech hatchback engine in this version already develops 105 hp) will be answered availability of Bluetooth support.

Of course, many Picanto buyers will make an emotional choice - they will like the design or the very idea of ​​​​a compact city car. But if you approach the choice rationally, isn’t it better to buy for the same money a car with the same set of options (if desired, the same brand), but more friendly to elbows and knees, which does not require you to squeeze and “build in” to it? And the difference in length (Picanto is 40 cm shorter than Fabia) can be made less significant by devoting one free day to practicing parking. However, as soon as we discussed this curious point, the route took us into the wilds of one of the newest residential areas of the capital. At the foot of twenty-story buildings, narrow driveways twisted, tightly packed with cars on both sides, rarely allowing two cars to pass each other, regularly leading to cramped dead ends and regularly requiring you to back up twenty to thirty meters... And suddenly there was a difference of 30 cm with a Czech hatchback seemed extremely appropriate to us...

“Our Garage” has a new guest – the new generation Kia Picanto city runabout. From the moment it appeared in the editorial parking lot, this machine immediately became the butt of jokes. As well as its temporary owner. Of course, the small hatchback is painted in a “frivolous” sky blue color, and the image of an exclusively female car is in sharp dissonance with the gloomy man behind the wheel.

But if we ignore the color of our newcomer - fortunately, there are nine more color options for the new Picanto - then otherwise the hatchback is trying its best to get away from the established feminine image. Both in design and equipment. The Picanto no longer has naively open round “eyes”, and the smooth shapes of the body have given way to strict lines, spectacular stampings on the sidewalls and embossed door sills. Unisex?

The old and new Picanto are completely different cars in appearance! But if the design of the front would suit a “charged” hatchback, then everything in the back is much more boring - just another urban “supermini”.

The hatchback is trying to tell everyone that it has grown up and become a serious car. Look at its cocky “face” with a slightly protruding front bumper, which would be quite suitable for both a “charged” hatchback and the elements of an “adult” car, such as LEDs in the headlights, taillights and turn signal repeaters in the rear-view mirror housings. But if the Kia Picanto looks stylish from the front, the rear design is too different in style. It’s as if these two parts of the body were drawn by two different designers who had almost no contact with each other during their work.

And yet according to clothes new version The Picanto is greeted “excellently”. Kudos to the new Kia designers and Karsten Thoms personally, who was responsible for this project. What's in the cabin? The door opens with a button on the handle (keyless entry system is another sign of a “serious” car), and inside...

The top-end Picanto has a very rich list of equipment, which includes climate control, USB and AUX connectors, a heated steering wheel and even a keyless entry system with the ability to start the engine with a button. None of this can be found among competitors even for an extra charge.

And the inside of the little hatch is also very good! The quality of finishing materials is more than decent for a car in this segment. Yes, you won’t find soft plastic here, but in general the interior decoration is no worse than some higher-class Japanese ones. Plus, an interesting design: a flattened two-spoke (!) steering wheel with a comfortable grip, a center console that tapers towards the passenger side of the cabin, and black and silver trim. Everything is assembled with high quality, the panels fit smoothly and at first glance, all functions are convenient to operate.

But what's behind the cute design? For example, steering wheel It is adjustable only in angle, and the front seats are not height adjustable. Because of this, tall drivers sometimes have to lean toward the dashboard when turning to the right: you sit high, but the rear view mirror interferes with your view. Another feature of the new Picanto is the lack of backlight brightness adjustment on the instruments.

Kia has created a bright and memorable car.

On the other hand, the selected backlight level is almost optimal. It hurts the eyes, but it doesn’t force you to peer into the wells in an attempt to make out the instrument readings. Plus, the interior designers added a “Dark” button to the front panel of the Picanto. It is located to the right of the CD loading slot and turns off the largest and brightest element of the center console at night - the red-lit radio display. It's strange that the rest of the illuminated buttons and elements of the dashboard do not go out...

In the place where most cars have a knob for adjusting the brightness of the backlight, on the left side of the steering wheel, there is a button to turn on the heated steering wheel! Such a “trick,” which has long been the prerogative of exclusively prestigious models, is certainly not available in any of the competitors. At the same time, not only the grip areas, but the entire steering wheel are heated (and very quickly). Cool!

Three wells of extremely clear instruments with large numbers and easy-to-read font: speedometer, on-board computer, a tachometer, which only expensive versions have, and a fuel reserve. There is no engine temperature gauge.
The driving position is not the most comfortable for tall drivers. Finding the right settings is difficult due to the lack of seat height adjustment and steering wheel reach.
The eyeglass case, by the way, is also a privilege of the top Comfort and Luxe trim levels.

Well, another plus is an MP3 audio system with USB and line-in and four speakers. Its sound is not amazing, but the presence of different options for connecting external devices is certainly pleasing. I wish I could add Bluetooth...

True, all of the above “delights” of the test Kia Picanto are features of the top Luxe modification. In simpler versions there will be no heated steering wheel, no keyless entry, no LEDs in lighting and mirrors, no climate control (air conditioning is only available in the fourth of the five Comfort versions), no light sensor, or even beautiful door sill trims. The maximum configuration option is offered only for cars with the most powerful 1.2-liter engine in the range with 85 horsepower and a four-speed transmission. automatic transmission transmission And such a car also costs like an adult - 549 thousand 900 rubles. More than half a million rubles for a “supermini” – a lot!

The hatchback has LED sections in the headlights, taillights, turn signal repeaters and an additional brake light in a small spoiler on the edge of the trunk lid. Finally, the new Kia corporate style, one of the core elements of which is the shape of the radiator grille, has reached the Picanto.

There are, of course, simpler options. The most affordable Picanto in the Standard version - with a liter three-cylinder engine with a capacity of 69 horsepower and a five-speed manual - costs 364 thousand 900 rubles. But for this money the buyer will only receive central locking, audio preparation, electrically adjustable rear-view mirrors, on-board computer, electric drive of all windows and heated front seats. ABS and air conditioning - no. This equipment appears only in the top-end Comfort package for a car with a liter engine for 459 thousand 900 rubles.

Prices for a Picanto with an 85-horsepower unit and an automatic transmission start at 404 thousand 900 rubles. But here again - no air conditioning, no ABS... With them, the hatchback will cost 95 thousand rubles more.

The whole photo shoot

Women are special creatures. Cars are the same for them. A striking example is the Kia Picanto, the most “feminine” car I have ever tested. What's special about it?

Indeed, women's logic is something... For some reason, it is generally accepted that a car for women must be small, that such a car is easier to drive... This is not always the case, but where can we get away from stereotypes! Women themselves want a small, elegant car.

And one more thing - for hotheads. The Kia Picanto is not a crazy stool. High maximum speed does not speak about dynamics, so you are unlikely to be able to “light up” and “make jokes” in the flow. You can simply count on the fact that in clear, dry weather on a clear, high-quality road with good visibility in all directions, you will be able to get to your destination faster than you thought. But nothing more. The Picanto is not a mini sports car, it's just a mini car, and that's it.

For a mini sports car, its steering wheel is too uninformative. It makes few revolutions from lock to lock, and besides, the electric booster is configured in such a way that it pours a certain “heaviness” into it. But you have to literally grope for “zero” on a high-speed straight line. In addition, the car has a very short wheelbase, so it easily changes course at will and obeys the micro-relief of the route.

Next. In open spaces, the small dimensions of this vehicle. Something akin to the feeling of the author of the song “Skyscrapers, skyscrapers, and I’m so small...”. Only in my case, the “skyscrapers” are fields, forests and an endless road running into the distance. You most acutely feel that you are sitting very close to her, it seems that on the next wave you are about to touch the asphalt with your fifth point. Moreover, unlike sports cars, there is no feeling of a low center of gravity. The little Kia doesn't stick to the road, although, on the other hand, it doesn't try to tear itself away from it. So - for lovers of external effects - the rear wing will be an extra toy on it. Don't bother.

The feeling of being close to the road is enhanced by the noise of the tires. Without exaggeration, I can say that the Hankook Kinergy Eco tires are the NOISEST tires that I have encountered on the vehicles I tested. Even winter studded tires, as well as tires with off-road treads, give way to this summer, purely road model. By the way, it is on it that flowers are depicted. Probably, in the expectation that customers will pay attention only to them, all other aspects will turn out to be secondary for them.

The “junior” version of the Kia Picanto is equipped with a three-cylinder 1.0-liter gasoline engine developing 66 hp. With. Only a five-speed transmission is offered in tandem with this engine. manual transmission transmission The “senior” version is equipped with a four-cylinder 1.2-liter engine producing 86 hp. With. and a four-speed automatic transmission.

In fact, the noise of these tires is actually their only drawback (except for the relatively rare size - 175/50R15, will it be easy to find similar tires on sale?). As for the main characteristic of tires - grip properties, here Kinergy Eco, frankly speaking, is at its best. On any type of hard surface, as well as on gravel and smooth primers, I physically felt their “tenaciousness”. So their attractiveness lies not only in the flowers on the sidewalls, but also in the competent tread pattern and composition rubber compound. And the noise... well, what can you do, you'll have to forgive it.

The car we received for testing turned out to be equipped with a cruise control system. I can only say one thing about it - it works. Nothing outstanding, no special features. All control buttons are located on the right spoke of the steering wheel; there is no need to feel in the dark for an additional lever, which is present on much more expensive models. Can you save fuel by using cruise control? I think so - but you can just as easily cope with this task without it. Consumption of 95 gasoline in the suburban cycle, which included a ten-kilometer traffic jam, as well as periodic acceleration to high and very high speeds, was 6.7 liters per 100 km with the Picanto. On one of the highway sections, I reset the fuel consumption readings on the on-board computer and tried to drive at speeds not exceeding 110 km/h. If you manage to maintain this pace on your own or with the help of a cruise, you can count on approximately 5.5 liters of gasoline consumption.

Another “plus” of the car is that its on-board computer shows how many kilometers you can drive with the remaining fuel in the tank, as they say, until the last drops. On many models, the indication of available kilometers disappears, but on the Picanto I managed to notice the indication “19 km”. I couldn't do any less, I drove to a gas station. I didn’t want to take risks and try to make it to the next gas station at night, far from civilization.

In your circle

If the Picanto rides smoothly on smooth roads, then on roads with medium and poor quality surfaces the model demonstrates unambiguous suspension stiffness. It shakes, and quite a bit! And on long waves it also “takes off” and “sits down.” Rear passengers say it takes their breath away. I was not able to test this myself. In the driver's seat, these “take-offs” and “landings” are also felt, but not acutely.

But we were able to verify the decent performance of the active safety systems. If the ABS began to “chatter” in loose sand, perhaps a little earlier than we would like, then there were no complaints about the stabilization system. On a circular dirt track, it noticeably “held” the car when I steered it too sharply into a turn. At the same time, the electronics placed greater emphasis on reducing engine power. When the system was turned off, the engine began to roar, the front wheels struggled to the outside of the turn, but the tires clung to the ground to the last and prevented slipping. It was not easy to “destabilize” the Picanto.

But you shouldn’t overuse traveling on primer roads on it. The declared ground clearance for this model is 152 mm (cars supplied to Russia are 10 mm higher than Korean ones, they have different, specially selected springs and shock absorbers), according to my data it is a little more. Under the torsion beam of the rear suspension, the ruler showed 165 mm, under the arms of the front suspension - 160 mm, under the “lip” of the front bumper - 170 mm, under the engine sump - 190 mm. It seems that the indicators are not so bad, but... When leaving the field road on the highway, I heard an ominous grinding sound. It turned out that the obstacle was a stone the size of an average fist. I saw him ahead, and, logically, he should have slipped under any of the low points of the car. Didn't make it through.

Somehow it turned out imperceptibly that the test of this small car I came out rich in impressions. I had a chance to drive around the city a lot, and “fly” on the highway, and almost end up with an empty tank in the middle of the forest, and check how much this little thing can hold. It turned out that it’s not so little if you manage the space wisely. My wife and I managed to load into it, in addition to many bags and purses, our dog, as well as a large container in which three teenage puppies were located. This entire “menagerie” covered 400 kilometers without any problems, and even at night, in the rain and partly in fog. Special thanks to the creators of Picanto - for powerful LED headlights that provide excellent light in the dark, for effective fog lights, as well as for headlight range control. Here it has five gradations, and it is no coincidence: the car sags greatly when the rear part is loaded. But no breakdowns of the rear suspension were noticed even on bad roads.

I became friends with this machine from the very first minutes, and subsequently, during a week of testing, I comprehended all its “female logic.” My verdict is that this is a woman's car, 100 percent. It has a lot of positive qualities, but none of them individually, nor their sum, incline me, as a man, towards choosing this model. I am sure that more than one customer noticed the flowers depicted on the Picanto tires, and this, among other things, persuaded her to choose this model. I agree that these flowers are far from being the main feature of the tires, they are good despite the frivolous image, and would be just as good even if there was none. I just don’t understand the special logic of choice, that’s all.

My wife also noted the "femininity" of the Kia Picanto. At first glance, she liked the compact size, the cute design of the baby, the interior design, and the equipment. She immediately inquired about the price - and the mentioned amounts (the 1.2-liter version with an automatic transmission costs from 634,900 to 774,900 rubles) did not please her at all. For this money, she said, you can buy something much more spacious and practical. But for most women, this car will suit perfectly, since they will note in it exactly those qualities that my wife liked at first glance.

True, she didn’t notice the flowers on the tires... When I showed them to her, she said that this was not the main thing in the car. Well, women are different, and their logic is not always feminine. However, like the man: we managed to find out that among buyers of Korean minicars they still make up a considerable share - about 33%.

The emergence of excellent offers in the “B” class, as well as the knife of the 2014-2015 crisis, cut off in a thick layer all the “tasty” middle peasants in the pie called the “class of compact city cars”. There are only crumbs left, among which, however, there is still something to profit from.

Presented two months ago in Geneva, the baby Kia Picanto is one of the few who, despite everything, survived, and, in the virtual absence of competitors, expects to stay afloat in the stormy ocean of the Russian automobile market. The secret plan of its creators is simple - to give the market more than just a compact city car. To understand the intricacies of crisis marketing, we set off to travel around the nearest Moscow region with the updated Picanto.

Maybe someone remembers back in 1999, when Kia introduced the Visto (also Hyundai Atos/Atoz or Amica), the progenitor of the current Picanto. If not, then I’ll try to explain with my fingers what kind of car it was. It looked, drove, and was equipped approximately the same as some competitors of the current Kia Picanto look, drive, and are equipped today, of which there are only two left: Chevrolet Spark and Daewoo Matiz. However, taking into account the new realities, we cross out the Spark, and what remains is the old, boring, ugly “Uzbek”. There is also smart, but is it a competitor without a second row and two rear doors?

The front overhang is quite low and you need to be careful when parking near curbs. But the rear bumper has virtually no overhang - stand wherever you want.

It's hard to blame Peter Schraer for lack of taste. With his light hand, Kia walked with leaps and bounds along automotive markets all over the world, turning heads with the design of their cars. The Kia Picanto was no exception - the maestro outlined the direction of design development for the smallest Kia in 2010. And in 2011, the new Picanto with a crazy design appeared to the public in all its glory.

The updates affected the front and rear bumpers and the radiator grille. Projector-type and LED fog lights appeared tail lights. In the Sport configuration, the bumpers, radiator grille and foglights are noticeably different from ordinary configurations with a more aggressive look. Decorative red rims are also added here, and among the wheels there are 15-inch wheels with a luxurious design.

The current update of the baby Kia Picanto can be called spot-on. It’s true - its design is ahead of its time - not every competitor, even former ones, is able to challenge the “Korean”. Therefore, radicalism is not required here. But new options not previously available in the class and technical improvements should awaken interest in the vanishing class of compact city cars.

The plastic of the dashboard is hard, but it doesn’t seem like it. The architecture of the dashboard, control panel and instruments is polished and not only pleasing to the eye, but also functional. But the silver lining on the steering wheel is not very pleasant to the touch, and is also quite slippery.

Agree, it is much more pleasant to see an additional information display on the instrument panel with graphics of processes occurring with the car - now the “Supervision panel” option is available for Kia Picanto. The steering wheel also acquired convenient controls for various vehicle systems. The finish of the automatic transmission lever has been improved - it looks more expensive and, naturally, beautiful. And even such small details as the air flow control knobs on the deflectors were transformed, being decorated with chrome strips.

The audio system, of course, is also new, and although it has a small LCD display. You can connect any device to it using all known protocols and inputs. A bonus to the system is the built-in memory of 500 megabytes. I got a Kia Picanto and cruise control. Yes, not a simple one, but with a speed limit function, which will allow you to avoid fines for exceeding the speed limit in the city. And if you drop some small item on the floor, the illumination of the footwell area will come to your aid, which is a rarity in this class of cars.

The audio system, although new, is very mediocre in operation - the sound is weak and not rich - music lovers should not worry.

The range of engines and gearboxes has also undergone restyling. Engines of 1.0 and 1.2 liters are the same as those presented on the European market. The engines comply with the Euro5 environmental class and, despite their volume, are very productive.

Updated Kia The Picanto is prepared for use in our latitudes with insulated options: a heated steering wheel, heated front seats, heated exterior mirrors and, attention, heated windshield washer nozzles, which, moreover, have changed their design for more efficient operation.

The junior motor has undergone modifications. To improve traction characteristics its intake manifold has been optimized, which widens the torque plateau, making it available over a wider range from 3,000 to 4,000 rpm.

Road clearance Kia Picanto – 142 mm and 152 mm with package for rough roads.

The manual transmission, paired with a 1.0-liter engine, also tried on new things and was transformed. It was equipped with a new reverse gear synchronizer, which made it possible to avoid noise when it was turned on. New materials and design solutions were also used, which influenced the clarity of the engagement of first and second gears. A stopper appeared in the design of the lever, which made it possible to increase the reliability of the system as a whole.

Liter Kia engine The Picanto produces 66 hp. and 95.1 Nm of torque. Acceleration to hundreds is 14.6 seconds, and fuel consumption in city driving mode is 5.8 liters. The 1.2 liter engine produces 85 hp. and 120.6 Nm of torque. Acceleration to hundreds is 13.7 seconds, consumption in the city is 7.3 liters.

However, it was not possible to test the younger motor. But my colleague and I tormented the 85-horsepower 1.2-liter engine with all our strength. Frankly, this is an unusually high-spirited engine. No, of course, if you compare it with any 1.6-liter engine, then, of course, volume will play a role. But according to its traction and overclocking characteristics Moreover, being burdened with an automatic transmission, this engine is little inferior to any 1.4-liter engine. The main thing is not to be shy about turning the engine. Yes, the consumption increases, but the car drives, and even overtakes. And the automatic machine is quite nice. It works thoughtfully but smoothly. What else do you need in the city? Oh yes. Comfort. Well, with this the Kia Picanto is all right. For such small dimensions and a modest wheelbase, it has quite comfortable suspension. On rails and pits, of course, it is a no-no, and it will shake the passengers sitting inside properly (especially those on the back seat), but at the same time it takes the blows with dignity. And on the road the car stands very confidently - it doesn’t roll and doesn’t try to get out of control. Yes, of course, there are flaws, but everything is within the acceptable range: the steering wheel is light, but when turning the car it is possible to steer the car quite accurately with it. You have to steer often, but it’s impossible to say that Picanto is openly trying to escape from control. And this becomes noticeable at higher than city speeds.

Suspension of the Kia Picanto: front – independent, spring, MacPherson type with anti-roll bar, rear – semi-independent, spring, with hydraulic telescopic shock absorbers.

As for the spaciousness of the cabin, the baby Picanto has everything in order. Three tall and fairly large men sat in the cabin with sufficient comfort. With my height of 186 cm, I did not feel very limited in space in the gallery.

Having moved to the front passenger seat, I had to roll back to give more space for my knees, resting against the glove compartment. It became, of course, tighter for the rear passenger, but not so much that it was annoying. In addition, our driver sat a little closer to the steering wheel than usual, which gave the rear seat passenger room to maneuver, and, being constrained by my seating position, he simply moved to the seat behind the driver.

The trunk of the Kia Picanto is small and not roomy. But its 200 liters should be enough for sports bags and supermarket bags. Large suitcases enter here with a creak. However, if there are only two of you in the car, then the backs of the gallery can be folded out, thereby expanding the possibilities luggage compartment up to 870 liters.

Is it worth taking? In the absence of competitors, and even if they remained, yes. But the problem is that for 489,000 rubles, and this is the price of the initial configuration of the Kia Picanto, you can choose something from the more spacious class B. However, if your priority is design, compactness and a wealth of options, then I will not dissuade you from this baby .

Does it make sense to have a tiny car, 3.5 meters long, powered by an engine with a power much less than 100 hp? s., which also works in tandem with a 4-speed (frightened exclamation) “automatic”? There is, and another one if you want to feel like a fish in water in city traffic. "RG" proves the theorem using the example of the Kia Picanto, nine-point traffic jams, crowded parking lots of shopping centers and courtyards in residential areas where it is impossible to find a place for a normal car.

I decided not to keep the intrigue and not to build up suspense, saving the most delicious facts for the end of the text, and therefore I’m laying it out at the beginning: the Kia Picanto is the ideal city car.

It took me a couple of days to come to this conclusion and understand what the main feature of the smallest Kia is, why the market needs another cute and low-power hatchback or station wagon with an incomprehensible concept.

The reason for my slowness is a banal optical illusion. The paradox of the Picanto is that the car is completely unperceived by short people until you begin to deliberately compare it with the objects of the surrounding reality. For example, with a standard parking space in a “pocket” by the road, where behind the baby Kia, if you put it close to the curb, another one of the same size will almost fit. Jokes aside.

I was not interested in the Picanto's size characteristics until I got behind the wheel, and drove to the press park behind the car with the confidence that in the coming days I would be testing a classic compact car the size of, say, a Peugeot 208. The reality turned out to be much less trivial, because the Picanto - not a compact, but a city car. This is how I became acquainted with a much less known and widespread genre of automotive art.

In fact, the smallest Kia has only two competitors - and the Smart forfour.

The first one is more attractive in price - the starting cost of a pizza delivery car is 439 thousand rubles. And depending on how you look at it, a Picanto with a liter engine and a manual transmission, taking into account discounts, will cost 460 thousand. However, the Uzbek city car cannot compete with Kia in terms of comfort, coziness of the interior decoration and level of equipment.

As for Smart forfour, it is, of course, more technologically advanced and cooler - here you have a turbo engine with a capacity of 109 “horses”, and a robotic 6-speed transmission, and in general, this is a Mercedes-Benz, whatever one may say. The nascent sympathy is killed by the price, which starts at 890 thousand rubles. Picanto in maximum configuration GT Line costs 15 thousand cheaper!

And for the version from the Brabus tuning studio with a number of options, you will have to pay significantly more than one and a half million - for this money you can buy two subcompact Kia in the top. Also, do not discount the subjective point associated with the design - Kia, as mentioned above, looks like an ordinary small car, and Smart is perceived by most as a toy.

Kia also has the largest trunk. Its volume is 255 liters. Smart has 185, while Ravon has 170.

In general, it turns out that Picanto is a kind of golden mean. What's inside?

The test car was made in the X-Line configuration and cost 800 thousand rubles. For this money, the client receives truly rich equipment that you would never expect to see in a car of this class. Available: two-stage heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, a decent multimedia system screen, a rear view camera with dynamic turning lines, support for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto protocols, eco-leather trim, single-zone climate control... The list goes on for a long time. The point of the enumeration is to draw a simple and positive conclusion: the hierarchy that was built based on the size of the car has been destroyed. Small no longer means “empty”.

The only complaint about the Picanto's interior is the huge steering wheel compared to all other interior elements. Apparently, he moved here with one of the brand’s older models without the slightest adaptation to the size of the car.

However, let's return to the Picanto's superpower. When your car is a little more than three and a half meters long and a little more than one and a half meters wide, driving through dense traffic jams becomes almost a pleasure. The gap between the curb and the side of the car in front suddenly turns into room for maneuver. Moreover, this maneuver can be performed without any violation of traffic rules. But the most important thing is how the Picanto solves the parking problem. Just know that there will always be one and a half meters wide or three and a half meters long between standing cars. Always. Tested by packed parking lots near a shopping center on a joyful day off and sleepy parking lots in the courtyards of sleeping bags late at night.

Of course, we can recall the radical and uncompromising Smart fortwo, which became the hero of memes for its ability to park across. It is another 90 cm shorter. However, the fortwo is a two-seater, as the name suggests, and this fact immediately cuts off many potential buyers.

How does the Picanto drive? Despite the puny engine with a volume of 1.2 liters and a power of 84 hp. With. (this is a top-end unit, the second has a volume of 1 liter and a power of 67 hp) and an archaic 4-speed automatic transmission, surprisingly not bad. Up to 80 km/h there is enough agility not only to not feel like an outsider in the traffic, but even to decide to overtake.

Good acceleration by class standards is possible thanks to the car's insignificant weight - the Picanto weighs only 913 kg! And such lightness has a serious disadvantage. The car shakes like hell from the slightest breeze and it rolls like hell. So much so that an association with mossy times comes to mind, when Oka cars, partly related in spirit to the little Kia, drove with stickers “When I grow up, I’ll become a jeep.” So, Picanto clearly wants to turn into a serious frame SUV. At least, her manner of cornering speaks volumes about this.