2022 Kia Picanto GT review

With an infectious and energetic attitude towards everything it does, the Kia Picanto GT could be the perfect antidote to the workday blues.

What we love

Chock-full of character without needing to go fast
Upmarket presentation inside and out
Perfectly at home on tight city streets

What we don’t

Phone mirroring is power-hungry with no wireless charge pad
Surely a few more kilowatts and a close-ratio six-speed couldn’t be too hard?
Steady price rises over the years

Introduction

Kia’s entry-level city runabout, the Picanto, perhaps isn’t all that entry-level at all when you look at the range.

In the case of the 2022 Kia Picanto GT range-topper and its $21,490 drive-away price, or the one-step-down Picanto GT-Line, the range might look a little top-heavy.

In reality, GT-Line is more of an appearance package, with mechanicals shared with the more earnest Picanto S. Picanto GT, on the other hand, fits the bill as Kia’s quicker (but not too quick) compact warm hatch.

It’s a niche market. In the micro car class the Kia sells in, Mitsubishi and MG don’t play the sporty game with the Mirage and MG 3. Fiat does with an Abarth 595 version of the Fiat 500, but you’ll pay an eye-watering $32,950 before options and on-road costs for the cheapest model – although you’ll get more power and performance as a result.

The Kia Picanto GT is certainly a slightly unusual little creature, then, but rather than simply existing because it can, Kia has made the Picanto GT a genuinely entertaining little city hatch.

Key details	2022 Kia Picanto GT
Price (MSRP)	$21,490 drive-away
Colour of test car	Clear White
Options	None
Price as tested	$21,490 drive-away
Rivals	Suzuki Swift \| Mitsubishi Mirage \| Fiat 500 / Abarth 595 (if your budget will stretch)

Inside

With compact exterior dimensions, don’t expect lounge-like interior space – although, that said, the little Picanto is pretty generous inside.

With two in the cabin it’s not too squashy at all, the front seats are a little close together, and you may occasionally clash elbows with the front passenger. But in an effort to keep intrusion to a minimum, Kia has been clever about where everything else in the cabin goes.

The Picanto puts some much larger cars to shame for dash storage. Under the air-con controls there’s a double-stacked space for your phone, wallet and keys, and two cupholders ahead of the gear selector that can be retracted to open up a bigger storage footprint.

The Picanto even has a lidded centre console, which isn’t typical for this segment, nor cars on the segment above. It’s not huge, but it is handy to pop small odds and ends out of sight and keep them from rattling about the cabin.

The interior looks pretty upmarket and sporty, with gloss-black dash highlights, black and red ‘premium’ leather-look seats, plus the same material on the steering wheel and gearknob.

Kia even includes height-adjustable front seatbelts and height- and tilt-adjusting front headrests. Not something usually associated with cars of the class. The steering wheel adjusts for tilt only, though, not reach.

As you might expect, rear-seat passengers don’t score as much kit. There’s no USB or power back there, nor a folding armrest. Seating is ideal for two in the back, but even with three belts you’ll need smaller passengers back there, otherwise width and leg room will be in short supply.

Regardless of where you sit, though, the tall roof means no lack of head room, which is a good thing.

The rear seats fold with a 60:40 split, but rather than folding flat they leave a small step in the boot floor. There’s a compact 255L boot with the seats up, and a handy bag hook on each side, or 1010L with seats folded.

	2022 Kia Picanto GT
Seats	Five
Boot volume	255L seats up / 1010L seats folded
Length	3595mm
Width	1595mm
Height	1485mm
Wheelbase	2400mm

Infotainment and Connectivity

The entire Picanto range features the same high-featured infotainment unit. There’s an 8.0-inch touchscreen, Bluetooth connectivity, a single USB-A port, AM/FM radio, and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity.

The smartphone connectivity is a ripper. Whereas some of Kia’s older wireless systems could prove glitchy, the 2022 Picanto never faltered, even loading the system quickly enough to pop CarPlay on the screen by the time you buckle your seatbelt and start the car.

The six-speaker sound system is a little lightweight in its performance, though it’s not terrible. There’s no navigation or digital radio – arguably not required with your phone on board.

The real shortfall is a lack of wireless charging – wireless streaming is pretty power-hungry, and the ease of use of a wireless charge pad to keep a phone maintained would be the icing on the cake.

The driver faces traditional analogue gauges, with a 4.2-inch colour info display in between. It offers a digital speedo and trip computer details. Nothing too comprehensive, but neat, clear and informative enough.

Safety and Technology

Unfortunately, the 2022 Kia Picanto range carries a four-star ANCAP safety rating from the vehicle’s launch in 2017. While the Picanto does come with autonomous emergency braking, it lacks more advanced driver assist systems, like lane-departure warning and blind-spot monitoring.

Included features cover six airbags, front and rear outboard seatbelt pretensioners, rear-view camera with dynamic parking guidelines, automatic headlights, LED daytime running lights, halogen projector headlights, and cruise control with speed limiter function.

	2022 Kia Picanto GT
ANCAP rating	Four stars (tested 2017)
Safety report	Link to ANCAP

Value for Money

It’s quite easy to like the Picanto for what it offers, but a little grounding to remember that this $21,490 drive-away terror was once $17,990 drive-away – and that was only two years ago.

That $3500 step-up, or 19.5 per cent, is a bitter pill to swallow, but in a market where most competitors at a similar size or price have endured the same transformation, the outrage can’t be levelled at Kia alone.

In terms of ongoing costs, Kia has a seven-year, capped-price service plan so you can see what you’re up for at each of the 12-month or 10,000km intervals. Unlike some brands that keep each interval the same, Kia’s charges vary depending on the service, from as little as $283 up to $606 at the six-year mark.

Kia’s standard warranty is the same on the Picanto as it is for more expensive models, meaning seven years’ coverage is included.

Official fuel consumption is listed at a scant 4.8 litres per 100km, but on test, with a strong urban focus, we returned a less favourable 7.1L/100km. I reckon once the novelty of wringing out that fun and thrummy little engine settles, fuel use would too.

At a glance	2022 Kia Picanto GT
Warranty	Seven years / unlimited km
Service intervals	12 months / 10,000km
Servicing costs	$1108 (3 years) \| $1935 (5 years) \| $3127 (7 years)
Fuel cons. (claimed)	4.8L/100km
Fuel cons. (on test)	7.1L/100km
Fuel type	91-octane petrol
Fuel tank size	35L

Driving

Make no mistake, with 74kW at 4500rpm and 172Nm from 1500–4000rpm out of its 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol engine, the Kia Picanto GT doesn’t have much to give. But what it does have, it gives freely, willingly and wholeheartedly.

Unlike a regular Picanto, with a non-turbo 1.25-litre engine and 62kW and 122Nm, the Picanto GT certainly feels more eager, and that extra torque makes a big difference to rolling response.

It’s quite happy to burble along in heavy traffic. No, you won’t be the fastest off the line, but because of its perky nature and fun little soundtrack, you’ll likely have a better time of it than just about any other commuter.

To see if the tiny GT could live up to its name, I gave it a run on some tight and twisty roads out of town, and results were mixed.

You get to give the fairly light and easy gearshift a decent workout, and chasing performance is a big part of the Picanto’s appeal. It is not idiotproof or failsafe fast. Driver effort equals driver reward here.

In the past, Kia hasn’t always mastered clutch feel, and it’s a similar story here, where the pedal is very light. At least the bite point is a bit more positive, so there’s nothing to trip up novice drivers.

The ride manages to stay comfy on jittery roads, but big bumps can rattle occupants. Tyre noise is decently low, but again, not hushed and silent – you won’t need to thrash the stereo to drown out typical highway road noise, though.

It rolls a little in corners, but not a lot, and the front end tracks true. Without too much grunt at the front wheels, you don’t fry the front hoops and the whole thing feels surprisingly connected and lively on the right roads.

Better than all of that, though, just threading through roundabouts, or diving off from traffic lights, and rowing the little Picanto up to speed is a hugely rewarding experience. You’ll have the kind of grin on your face at 40–60km/h a BMW M3 owner only starts to see at speeds of 100km/h or faster.

If I really wanted to nitpick, for something wearing the GT badge, it is possible in high-repetition tight and fast corners to have the steering go heavy as the power steering struggles to keep up. In reality, unless you’re in a motorkhana you may never notice.

As it stands, the five-speed manual in the Picanto GT offers nice low engine speeds of around 2250rpm at 100km/h, both keeping the engine calm, but maintaining enough torque to roll uphill without losing momentum.

Personally, I’d like a tightly stacked close-ratio six-speed gearbox – but the five-speeder probably makes more sense as a practical all-rounder. It’s possible to drop out of the fizzy little engine’s power band when having a go with the current set-up. Heck, If I’m drawing up a wish list, I’d also like the 1.0T engine to muster a few more kilowatts – but that’s probably just me being greedy.

Adding a passenger or two around town doesn’t appear to tax the Picanto GT too much. It still maintains ride comfort, and it still feels energetic as you run around town, which is handy if your friends are the kind always hinting at a lift somewhere.

It doesn’t fail as a light, simple and easy city runabout, and it still ropes you in with fun dynamics. That’s a commendable result.

Key details	2022 Kia Picanto GT
Engine	1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo petrol
Power	74kW @ 4500rpm
Torque	172Nm @ 1500-4000rpm
Drive type	Front-wheel drive
Transmission	Five-speed manual
Power to weight ratio	73.1kW/t
Weight (tare)	1012kg
Turning circle	9.4m

Conclusion

The Kia Picanto gets a big yes from me. It does what many cheap cars neglect to do, and remains cheerful in the process.

It’s unfortunate that the Picanto GT is no longer a sub-$20,000 drive-away deal. It would be far more formidable if it were.

It’s also (perhaps for better or worse) a shame there’s no automatic version. Not because the car needs it, but the audience for this fun little runabout would instantly increase if there were.

Still, as it stands, the Picanto GT has all the ingredients as an engaging small hatch that can handle the run to and from work or uni as easily as it can weekends away in search of fun roads – or perhaps even friendly-fire track days with other small-engined hatches, if that’s your thing.

Lamentably, a four-star safety rating (and a slightly older one at that) counts against it, and the running costs over time may not be the cheapest in the segment. For daring to be different, and succeeding at it, the Picanto GT could be well worth a look.