Kia Picanto test drive since 2011 hatchback

Michest. We get acquainted with the new Kia Picanto

The premiere of the new Kia Picanto took place in the spring of this year at the auto show in Geneva. In anticipation of the start of Russian sales, which is scheduled for June 20, the Carclub.ru portal managed to get to know the novelty closer.

The old -fashioned round front and rear optics was replaced by a linzed with fashionable LEDs, the place of inexpressive anterior bumper was taken by a massive front -line front with a branded tigerine with a radiator grille, simple side moldings gave way to complicated stampings. The new Kia Picanto has matured, became more courageous and modern.


The global public of the new Picanto small -leaf was presented at a car dealership in Geneva, in the spring of 2011.

In the appearance of a small -leaf, the hand of the chief designer of KIA Peter Schreer, who was breathing into the design of the South Korean brand, is unmistakably traced. Yes, this is a little Venga, ”exclaimed colleagues, looking at the new Picanto. Indeed, with the senior model, which recently debuted in Russia, Pikanto is related not only by the new European corporate face of KIA, but also by a hunchbacked roof, a pronounced minivanism and an ascending window sill.


Sales of the new Kia Picanto will start at the end of June. In Russia, two gasoline engines with a volume of 1.0 liters (with manual transmission) and 1.2 l (with automatic transmission) will be available.

Compared to the precursor, the All-New Picanto has grown a little. With the same width (1595 mm) and height (1480 mm), the length of the hatchback increased by a good 60 mm (up to 3595 mm), and the wheelbase stretched by 15 mm (up to 2385 mm). Compact dimensions do not prevent the smallest Kia from being quite spacious. With medium growth, the driver can sit down on himself without any problems, but three on the back sofa will be crowded. The increased length made it possible to expand the volume of the trunk from toy 127 to already acceptable 200 liters.


In the cabin, Kia pleases with design solutions. However, the plastic is hard everywhere, the driver’s chair is not adjusted in height, and the steering column is departed. In addition, there is no front armrest.

The Spartan interior of the predecessor was replaced by a modern front panel with a chubby two -spoke steering wheel and three wells of the dashboard. The chairs are lined with pleasant fabric, assembly at a height, but the plastic is everywhere hard, and the seats profile leaves much to be desired. Not without misses in ergonomics. Even in the top configuration there is no front armrest, the driver’s chair is deprived of height adjustment, and the steering column is departed by departure.

Kia Picanto is played out by the presence of LED optics, rear-view mirrors with the function of electric folding, non-cloth starting of the engine, climate control and even heating the steering wheel! True, all these options are available only in top equipment, the price of which came close to 550 thousand rubles.


Traditionally, KIA has a connector for connecting iPod or USB flash drives.

Instead of a basic 1.0-liter engine with 4 cylinders, a 3-cylinder unit of the same volume with a capacity of 69 hp is offered, which can only be aggregated by a mechanical gearbox. A more powerful 1.1 liter engine was replaced with a new 85-horsepower four-cylinder engine of 1.2 liters. In pairs with it, only a 4-band automatic transmission is available.

There were no liter cars on the test, so we managed to ride only on a well-packed 1.2-liter hatchback in the maximum line of Luxe. From the first meters, Kia liked the active feedback on gas and adult effort on the steering wheel. Despite the announced 13.4 seconds to hundreds, Picanto accelerates quite cheerfully, it is good on the highway.


The three of the back is close, but two medium -sized passengers will feel quite comfortable.

On overtaking, the old 4-speed automatic is grazed, a delaying process and stealing precious time. By the way, both Vengia and other models of KIA have similar problems with this automatic transmission. True, they say that the Koreans in all of the carpet over the new dual -clutch of a similar DSG from Volkswagen or PowerShift from Ford.

After fifty kilometers passed, I realized that with praises with a dense effort on the steering wheel hurried. With increasing speed, increasing effort is inversely proportional to the information content of the steering. At first glance, everything is fine, when the steering wheel is dispersed in his hands, it is pleasantly thickening, but in order to resist the driver given in the turning of the trajectory, the driver is forced to catch the car every time. The feedback is excessively synthetic, which is why often about the angle of rotation of the wheels can only be guessed.


The volume of the trunk increased to 200 liters. The back of the rear seat folds in parts. Under the floor of the trunk is hidden a dock.

Kia Picanto is surprisingly confident. Even at high speed in the cabin, it is quite quiet, which indicates serious work with sound insulation. Of course, the filigree passage of high -speed turns was not put the main thing when creating the last generation of Picanto, but the youngest of Kia does not graze on the turns, passing the arc with small roll and enviable stability. But if the driver is playing and allowing sliding, there is no help to wait from the stabilization system even in the maximum configuration.


Kia is not bad on the road even at decent speed, but the steering wheel is clearly not enough information. This is the fault of the electric power, which gives the steering one too synthetic force.

The suspension is tuned hard. Pikanto notices all the joints and flaws of the roadway. On the pits there are more nerve endings of the chassis exacerbate even more, but serious bumps can be brought to the breakdown of the suspension. I liked the brakes. Dose the pedal effort is simple, the effectiveness is not bad, ABS comes into business on time.

The presence of shortcomings did not spoil the impression of the new Picanto, which left a good impression. This is no longer an ordinary resident of the country of Liliputov, but a bright and memorable image product. In addition, the hatchback matured, became more serious, acquired a modern design and the widest list of equipment for its class. And most importantly, that the price tag did not disappoint. The basic Kia Picanto Standart with a 1.0-liter engine, manual transmission, unpainted bumpers, a full electric packet, frontal airbags and heating seats costs 354,900 rubles. The most packed liter version with front fog, air conditioning, 6 pillows, ABS, heated steering wheel and audio system will cost 105,000 rubles more.


The appearance of the Kia Picanto, made in a corporate style under the guidance of KIA chief designer Peter Schreyer, was a success.

The cheapest version with a 1.2-liter engine and automatically can be purchased for 394,900 rubles, and the maximum packaged hatchback with climate control, thresholds, external LED optics and 14-inch alloy disks costs 549,900 rubles. For comparison, the price of the main competitor Chevrolet Spark varies from 379,000 to 489 100 rubles, and Suzuki Splash from 489,000 to 540,000 rubles. Comparative test suggests itself

Ruslan Galimov
Photo by Olga Zabelkina and Kia
 

Source: Carclub.ru