A Little Refreshment
by David Finlay (02 Nov 07)

A large part of Kia's increased fortune in recent years has been due to the introduction of the Picanto, which first hit the UK in 2004. It's a sign of just how rapidly Kia has reinvented itself that the Picanto very quickly became the oldest model in the range, as everything else that Kia built was either thoroughly revised or entirely replaced.

Now the Picanto itself has been altered, though in truth very little of substance has been changed. The visual differences are as great as any other - although there has been no change to the five-door body itself, the Picanto now has new front and rear light clusters which are intended partly to give it a closer family resemblance to the Carens and the cee'd.

How successful this has been is a matter of personal opinion. Until now the Picanto has been a pleasant-looking little car, though perhaps not at the forefront of automotive styling. The 2008 model year version seems more modern, but those large round headlamps make me think that it has just been told something absolutely astonishing.

Maybe it's surprised by the new naming system, which does seem rather quaint. Starting from the lowest trim level, the line-up consists of the Picanto, the Picanto 2, the Picanto Ice and the Picanto 3. That's zero, two, ice, three. The standard car has a 61bhp one-litre petrol engine, while all the others get a 1.1-litre engine with only slightly more power (64bhp) but substantially more torque. Manual transmission is standard across the range, but the Picanto 2 and Ice can be specified with an automatic gearbox for an extra £800.

The only one of these options I've experienced is the 1.1 manual, and there are no complaints about it except that it needs a lot of persuading to tackle steep hills. Other than that, it's reasonably quiet, and powerful enough for relaxed driving in Picanto-ish conditions. 0-62mph acceleration in 15.1 seconds and a combined fuel consumption figure of 53.3mpg are good enough for the job, though if you choose the automatic these numbers deteriorate to 17.9 seconds and 47.1mpg respectively.

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