First unveiled in South Korea last month, the facelifted Kia Picanto is set to make its debut at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show in March, before going on sale across Europe by the end of that month.
We’ve already seen what the designers have done to the exterior of the A-segment hatch – there’s a new front fascia with a reshaped “tiger nose” upper grille, a larger, more rounded lower grille and smaller fog lights housed in new surrounds. The rear bumper is also now of a sportier design, with a blacked-out lower insert. A sport pack is offered on both three- and five-door models, along with a new 14-inch wheel design.
Inside, the Picanto gets chrome trim around the instrument binnacle and air vents, a new fabric seat pattern and a new fascia for the audio system. As on the Korean-market model, cruise control and speed limiter is now available as an option, as is Kia’s new audio-visual navigation (AVN) system with a seven-inch display, available from Q3.
Moving forward, there will be three interior colour packs offered – a Red Pack with black faux leather and red cloth seats plus high-gloss red and black door inserts, a Yellow Pack with black part-leatherette seats with yellow stitching and bright yellow dashboard and steering wheel trim, as well as a Brown Pack with brown faux leather seats and piano black dashboard trim. Footwell illumination come with any of these packs.
Under the skin, there are new Euro 6-compliant engines, including a mildly-updated 1.0 litre naturally-aspirated three-cylinder engine. No word on whether performance has improved, however, and there’s also no mention of the 106 PS/137 Nm turbocharged 1.0 litre TCi mill offered in Korea.
Brakes weren’t exactly the Picanto’s weakest link, with standard all-round disc brakes, but 2015 sees the introduction of larger discs – 252 mm at the front versus 241 mm – that will be offered as an option. They bring the stopping distance from 100 km/h down to 37 metres, two meters shorter than before.
Korean-market Kia Morning
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This thing is so hideous. Axia Advance looks much better.
Is that you, Mr Loo?
Some said the Iriz is copied from the i10. But the nicer way is to say the i10 copied from the Iriz.
Iriz drivers can just change the badge easily and woola!!
well, at least it is euro 6-compliant..
macam Iriz ja
oh wai-
But quality is way above your iriz..
What quality?
Both Kimchi and Proton.
got different?
Both Cheap car in the market.
Axia n picanto.. both git their own beauty.. same goes to iriz..
Axia n picanto.. both got their own beauty.. same goes to iriz..
Now then will Naza Kia offer the FL Picanto with top spec list at a good price?
As long as its not a kimchi, it will have RV
If its a KIA, it can no longer be traded in
RV = Regret Value? sure regret one lah. :P
Meh
Still waiting for the ‘not so new anymore’ i10 to arrive here in Malaysia
Really hope Perodua could develop a 1.0L turbocharged engine to boost the sales even further. But no worry, as long as it is sushi, they still sell well even the engine output is very low.
In your dream
According to all the sam loos out there.
Korean cars=kimchi
japanese cars=sushi
So…malaysian cars=nasi lemak?
Btw should change the name Sam Loo to Sam’s Loo.Sound rather appropriate don’t you think.
hugely underrated….guys theres a thing called picanto, please stop buying myvis
Picano is too small, you can resize the car ah?
Although Japanese car are good, but after I drove my VW that I won, I really fell that Japanese car are sucks. Those who can’t afford a real CBU VW please buy Toyota at least the RV is really good.
You dun have customer even before CNY?
Poor you sitting down alone in showroom
Regret buying Picanto, very weak gearbox, so underpower, sampan handling. The plus point only its beauty & features. What for having nice car but you’re not enjoying driving.
Just wondering what sort of driving excitement you expect from a A segment econobox.
Most of them are rattly, hollow, unrefined, underpowered and poorly spec’ed econoboxes.
Credit goes where it is deserved though. Judged within its segment, its decent to look at, quite well built, top spec safety features (even more important for a smaller car). Yes, it feels relatively underpowered, quite pricey and won’t win any gymkana runs but it does what it is supposed to do well.
If it had not been Naza offering full safety spec across the board, you wont be seeing other manufacturers following.
I bought the Picanto late last year. While I would prefer a little more pick-up when driving uphill, it has been the perfect small city car for me. It’s a great run-about car for city driving and I have taken it out for outstation trips as well. Handling is good and road behaviour is perfect for me.