November 01, 2013

FIRST IMPRESSION: 2013 Kia Picanto !

Good news for compact car lovers! Naza Kia announced the official pricing for the upcoming 2013 Kia Picanto - RM54,888 for manual transmission and RM59,888 for automatic transmission, both on the road with insurance. It's a surprise that the generously loaded Kia Picanto is priced under RM60k, well below the estimated price of RM59k for the manual and RM64k for the auto previously. 

Mentioned in my previous blog post, the attractive looking Picanto is equipped with a 1.25 litre Kappa powerplant which can also be found in the Hyundai i10 1.25. The Kappa engine produces 87PS at 6000rpm and 120Nm of torque at 4000rpm. The difference between automatic and manual transmission is that automatic transmission get extras such as 15-inch alloy opposed to 14-inch for the manual, front fog lights, chrome door handles, keyless entry with push-start button, 6 speakers (4 in the manual), supervision meter cluster, LED illuminated vanity mirror, sunglasses case, cupholder illumination, Bluetooth and leather-wrapped steering wheel with audio buttons.


For an A-segment compact hatchback, the built quality is surprisingly good! Everything from the top of the dashboard to the door panel doesn't incur the word 'budget' in people's mind. The patterned seat cover is a good addition in heightening the vibe of the cabin too. Space is acceptable at the front, but leaving passengers wanting more at the back. Rear headroom is ok for me but legroom is tight if the front seat is adjusted to fit my tall frame. The boot space is comparable with Perodua Viva, nice for a short weekend grocery trip.

Safety wise, six airbags, Electronic Stability Control (ESC), Hill-start Assist are standard for both automatic and manual transmission. Since many auto journalists praised the Picanto after tried and tested it, I'm sure the Picanto will make Perodua Myvi 1.5 and Mitsubishi Mirage's potential buyers think twice before purchasing one of the models. 

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