Kia Picanto goes freshly 3-door

Three-doors are better than five. Well, at least in the looks department, and the new 3-door variant of Kia’s Picanto – here in Galaxy Black metallic as the £11,695 Equinox top-of-the-ranger – certainly does its best in the dress to impress stakes. The 5-door car is currently available to buy and will be joined by its more svelte sibling in dealers from 1st September.

Of course, Kia didn’t ditch a door or two just to keep the fashionistas happy; here are their stats and science behind the styling: “Globally, the market for Picanto-sized cars in 2014 will be around 2.4 million. By 2015 – well within the second-generation Picanto’s life cycle – that will have grown to 3.3 million. Around a million of these will be three-door cars. Without a three-door model, Kia would have nothing to offer 30% of buyers in one of the most dynamic sectors of the market. 

“In the UK, the importance of the three-door car is even more pronounced: the sales split between body styles in the A-segment (city car) is a slender 55:45 in favour of five-door models.” 

So there you go – we’re a sporty bunch here in Blighty! And Kia has upped the sporty flavour for their freshest 3-door with some over- and under-body tweaks. The front grille opening is larger than the 5-door and is available with silver or red trim surrounds, while the front bumper has been re-profiled to make the car appear wider and lower. 

The rear bumper has a rectangular black central section in place of the 5-door’s body colour, and a twin-exit chrome exhaust replaces the hidden single tailpipe of the 5-door.

Both Picanto body styles share the same external and internal dimensions but the 3-door car is offered in four more exuberant trims on the inside in keeping with the fuller flavour outside; 1, 1 Air, Halo and Equinox. The 1 and 1 Air carry over from the 5-door whilst the Halo and Equinox are new to the range. 

Standard features on all versions include a trip computer, height-adjustable seat, a tilt-adjustable steering column and Motor Driven Power Steering. In-car entertainment is provided by a RDS radio and CD player with MP3 compatibility. 

Picanto 1, 1 Air, and Halo have four speakers and Picanto Equinox has six, and Picanto Halo and Picanto Equinox also have USB and AUX ports, an iPod cable and steering wheel-mounted audio controls. On the outside body-coloured mirrors and bumpers and twin chromed exhaust outlets are all standard. 

Halo and Equinox share features such as Bluetooth connectivity with voice recognition, automatic lights, LED front daytime running lights and LED rear lights, body-coloured side sill mouldings and a red front grille surround. 

The Halo version adds to this with unique 14-inch alloy wheels, heated front seats, heated steering wheel, reverse parking sensors, alloy pedals and a Supervision Cluster – Kia’s electronic instrument binnacle. Inside the black and grey upholstery is complemented with a high gloss white centre fascia and steering wheel arm, on the outside the Halo is finished in Lunar Glow metallic paint.

The range-topping Equinox spec changes the interior to premium red ‘Chilli’ upholstery with a contrasting high gloss black fascia and gearknob, teledial-style 15-inch alloy wheels and Galaxy Black metallic paint. There’s automatic air conditioning and a smart key with a start/stop button, too. 

Safety-wise, all versions have electronic stability control (ESC), anti-lock brakes (ABS), electronic brake-force distribution (EBD) to send stopping power to the wheels with most traction, and emergency brake assist system (BAS), ensuring maximum stopping power regardless of the pressure applied to the pedal by the driver. Every Picanto has front, side and curtain airbags. 

The 3-door Picanto is offered with Kia’s new 1 - and 1.25-litre Kappa-family petrol engines, which deliver fuel economy of up to 67.3mpg with CO2 emissions as low as 99g/km. The larger engine is available with Kia’s EcoDynamics stop/start system and an automatic transmission. 

The 3-cylinder 1-litre motor makes 68bhp and 95Nm of torque, and the 1.25-litre 4-cylinder engine - offered in three guises - develops 84bhp and 121Nm of torque. In standard manual form it averages 60.1mpg, with the 4-speed automatic transmission 53.3mpg, and 65.7mpg with EcoDynamics. 

Sales for the 3-door Picanto start on September 1st, with prices starting at £7,795, and each car comes with seven years or 100,000 miles warranty on all non-wear and tear parts, including labour, subject to terms and conditions. The warranty is fully transferable to the next owner if the car is sold before the time or mileage limit expires. Which is nice. 


The new Kia Picanto is now available as a 3-door, seen here as the range-topping 1.25-litre Equinox finished in Galaxy Black metallic paint over teledial-style 15-inch alloy wheels








The top of the range Equinox interior features red ‘Chilli’ upholstery with a contrasting high gloss black fascia and gearknob

www.kia.co.uk



By Daniel Anslow

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