Picanto gets some added X factor

Appealing city car gets a chunky SUV-like makeover. Carmel Stewart takes it for a spin

X marks the spot where Kia has added a little something extra to its award winning Picanto.

Powered by its tried and tested 1.25-litre petrol engine, the Korean-built, front-wheeldrive Picanto X city-sized car has a number of additional goodies which sets it above others in the same segment.

Perhaps most important to modern-day drivers is the connectivity package – a seven-inch touchscreen dis play plus satellite navigation with Android Auto and Apple Car Play fitted as standard.

In appearance, the Picanto X is a little chunkier than its non-X siblings in the range being longer, wider and taller with increased ground clearance, black side sill mouldings and wheel-arch cladding, silver skid plates beneath the SUV style front and rear bumpers and twin exhaust outlets.

Those who travel with tape measures (and there are those who do) will note that we are talking millimetres here – 75 mm longer ,30 mm wider and 15mm taller with a 35mm longer front overhang and a 40mm greater rear overhang.

In addition, all on board have slightly raised seating positions (15mm) on grey faux leather upholstery. Boot space adds up to a comfortable 255 litres which ups to more than 1,000 litres with the rear seat back dropped flat.

The grille and fog lamp surrounds are finished with lime green highlights – a colour repeated inside with the stitching round the steering wheel, gear lever gaiter and armrests.

On the road, all is neat and tidy, compact, composed and well suited to the town centres for which it is designed and, at £12,595, it offers relatively inexpensive transport for five. Buyers can opt for the standard fit five-speed manual transmission or pay a tad more for the four-speed auto at £13,245.

Both come with a decent spec list and, as with all Kias, an unbeatable seven-year fully transfer able warranty which is such a big plus on the sales front that it is a wonder more manufacturers don’t do the same.

With 16-inch alloys, satin chrome highlights, privacy glass on the rear windows and tailgate, LED daytime running lights and rear lights plus Bluetooth and DAB radio as standard you have everything you need plus a few fancy bits besides – metal pedals, flat-bottomed steering wheel, rear parking sensors, a snazzy rear-view camera and a proper grab and lift handbrake which is so reassuring on steep hills. Safety stuff includes six-airbags, electronic stability control and emergency braking as standard.

The sparky 1.25-litre 83bhp engine won’t take the chequered flag at Brands Hatch but it’ll get you where you need to go without breaking the bank. Top speed clocks up at 107mpg, 0 to 60mph has been registered at 11.6mph, average fuel consumption is officially 61.4mpg and CO2 emissions 106g/km with manual gearing and an average 52.4mpg and 124 g/km with the auto box – all figures which will help the Picanto X make its mark.

The new Picanto won the Product Design award at the 2018 international iF Design Awards earlier this year as well as Best City Car in both the 2018 What Car? And Fleet World awards.