I am 51 years old and love manual cars. 95% of my driving is by myself, so I bought a Picanto GT. I love it, its like a go-cart with windows. Not real world fast, but cheeky enough to make others put the boot in when they realize I am off like a rat on a hot tin roof. Yes I get caught every time but duck and dive and whiz out of corners and a Picanto is a bucket of smiles. Cheap to buy, cheap to run, looks alright and absolutely bags of giggles to whiz around in. I know there are plenty of better cars, but not for this price and that makes a lot of difference to me.

"I'm Tom Bakerrrr, this is Chasing Carrrrs." Love it

Bought one a month ago, GT 100hp turbocharged. Really happy with the performace and quality. Feels premium. Can't belive KIA lets go this car for such low price.

We bought my grandma one of these a couple of weeks ago. It’s such a riot!

Owning one since 2019, Stage 1 136hp/212nm, so much fun! 45,000km and no issues at all.

I was literally checking this out on line today as I saw one in the car park at the shops. Looked really nice in white

From your review Tom, looks like this is a fun first car for someone on a $20K budget, with the proviso that he or she can handle manual transmission. Nice interior and looks great in red!

One of the few fun cars left at the 20k price point in Australia.

*Great review, love this car. Glad Kia is still making lower priced cars as well as more premium offerings :)* 👍

I think that the Kia is one of the best looking hatches across the board these days.

Great review! I hope you'll be reviewing the Suzuki Swift Sport in the near future. Keen to hear your thoughts on the car.

Hey Tom, great review. I totally agree as i just had one of these today for a loaner while the Sorento was in the service department. Was so much fun to drive around. Great engine sound coming inside the cabin. Found myself giving it a boot in 2nd and then changing straight into 5th. I will need a runaround car next year and would definitely consider one. Things i didn't like, no digital speedo readout, limited room in backseat for passengers. Things i did like, very broad torque band as you mentioned, light and easy to throw around, great on fuel. 8 out of 10.

Picanto GT --young people's first "manual hot hatch" :) It would be interesting to compare Picanto with Swift Sport thought the later has an unreasonable price

Looking into one of these 2020 models here in Scotland. I'll be coming from a 1.6 Vauxhall Mokka that I've had nothing but problems with. Kids don't live with me full time anymore either so that's why I'm going down in size too. Great video. It reminds me a lot of the old Fiat Puntos.

What a fun little car! Glad Kia is still making lower priced cars as well as more premium offerings :)

It reminds me my Holden Barina xc, small manual cars can be a lot of fun!

Love your enthusiasm Tom. Charming. My first hot hatch was a 1990 Mazda 323 Astina SP which at nearly $30,000 back in the day would be the equivalent of over $50,000 today! It had less equipment than this Picanto but actually very similar performance with a 0 - 100 km time of about 9.8 seconds. However it's short gearing, wide C pillar and jiggly ride amongst other things drove me insane and I sold it. I can't believe the beautiful interior of this Picanto. It reminds me of the surprise quality of Japanese cars in the 60's and 70's which other manufacturers couldn't match. If I was in the market I would definitely look at the Picanto and probably buy one!

The Daihatsu Charade G11 Turbo, 37 years on. 1.0Lt 3 cylinder turbo goodness.

I have just ordered the 2022 model which is even better. Very good value and looking forwards to getting it next May. A nice review. Thanks for confirming my choice.

in Malaysia, we get a 1.25L N/A Picanto GT with 4at torque converter gearbox. other than that we get sunroof, spoiler. the other things would be the same like Australian version Picanto GT. it would be lovely if we also can get the 1.0L turbo version in our country. with a cheaper roadtax, we could get a great performance in this small car.

Great review, love this car. How are the clutch & shifter weighting?

Nice review as always. I ordered one. Just seems time. Lets face it no one tests drives a car anymore anyway!! Thanks Tom.

Really great review mate. Keep doing what your doing. 👍

Great review Tom... as always... all aspects covered...

It's 2024. I'm not a car dragster enthusiast I recently bought a new current Picanto Sport/base model to get a shopping trolley with a small wheel fat tyres for a comfortable ride. It's a shame the top model doesn't have fat tyres as an option.

Love it - such a great package and great value and GT great first car for a manual driver - wish it had some company in this sector :)

Love my GT. Great review.

I own one of these cars, and this is a really good review of it.

Great review, glad you picked up some negatives too but overall I'm looking forward to buying one of these soon, I think it'll be perfect and fun for around the city and inner west

Good review ... I was thinking about an MG or Hyundai i30 ...but it's pushed me to go buy a picanto GT

Hey Tom what is the headlights technology in GT? LEDs or xenons or halogens? And any extra features like auto high beams or Corner lighting etc?

I wish Kia optioned a manual in the Rio GT-line or Cerato GT. I can get a Hyundai I30 N-line in manual, but not a "full fruit" Premium model. I think Kia would be surprised at how many manual Cerato GT's they'd sell.

Such a cute car. I wish they had that here in the states. I bought a Aurora black Kia Rio s with the technology package. I am happy with it.

Hey Tom (or anyone). How does this compare to the Suzuki Swifts range. Was trying to see how it feels and compares to the Nav with safety pack or GLX Turbo. Love the idea of the manual and the fun drive for the Kia GT but love the extra features the Suzuki brings (push start, adaptive cruise).

What a fun video to watch, and that background is hard to top!

There’s actually also the Kia Rio GT. Not just the Picanto and Cerato

Great review Tom be looking forward to seeing a lot more

I just bought the MY21 Kia Picanto GT Line (top trim auto not the turbo) and I absolutely love it!

You did not mention the Rio GT. Another good GT offering from Kia. The Picanto is a bit small for most drivers.

When you spoke about the stability control "taking control", this car is I believe one of, if not the only vehicle in the city car segment with torque vectoring (which Kia doesn't even seem to advertise). Another sneaky thing is Kia use the same engine in this as the Rio but detuned it... Kia probably didn't want this car to be seen as a hot hatch (Even if in Aus our GT model gets stiffer suspension than overseas models).

Yes a great little ripper! But waiting for that AWD turbo yaris😁🏆

Love the look of these!

I’ve owned the car and with that being said, I never liked the comfort of it, never liked how slow it is. But it drives okay

I have my kia picanto gt for over 12 months now and I drive it hard great off the line and handling is great. Thing is the a/c has stopped cooling twice and the brake pedal has a recall that kia never told me about till I rang them. Kia has not got the best customer service be warned.

OK I have owned the kia picanto gt for just over 12 months and its quick and cheap for the class but there has been some warranty issues. The a/c has stopped cooling twice, the car some times wont accurate i have to take my foot of the pedal and then it will accurate, I have had all the yellow aeb and abs lights come on and the brake lights stay on I have to put my foot under the pedal and bring it forward to turn them off. Other then that its a great car what can you expect for the car its cheap and fast I am sort of happy with the car. The car has done 11000km's.

Would be a great unit for those CBD parcel courier companies.

Good review mate, did you film the segments in-car talking to camera on a DJI Osmo Pocket?

Is it noisy on the road. The Suzuki swift sport is a great car , but terrible road noise. How do you think Kia compares. ? PS does it need 98 octane ? Comparisons please .

I have a 2020 Kia Rio sport auto and I’m seriously thinking of getting the Picanto. I drove a manual for 20 years and miss it so much 😝 I couldn’t get a manual.

Well said, great review.

KIA Version of the Fiat 500....?

Is cool how much?

hi,is it any good on motorway driving ?

I own the 2019 Gt turbo. I drive the hell out of it. Punchy through the corners handles great and Definitely fun to drive. A little more power would be nice. After market tune chip options available. I have actually just purchased the 2021 Gt turbo in the new metallic grey but waiting for it to arrive. Change over price was good. Love this little car

Reminded me of my first car Nissan Pulsar ET Turbo.....came in at only 820Kg!

Will they do the more powerful Picanto in Automatic?

Sounds delightful. We don't get the 1.0l triple here in NZ - real pity :-(

We have one of these (uk model GT line s) and it's a really nicely made car. As for performance, if you allow the turbo engine to reach full operating temperature it'll reward you with some good pulling power. As for the instruments, what's old-fashioned about them? I've never felt the need for G-force measurement or altitude display...

Almost half the price of a Yaris Hybrid and still gives you an arm rest. Nice job Kia

Overseas 2020 models got a flat bottomed steering wheel?? OZ KIA???

Just wondering if Kia is a more prestigious brand as compared to Hyundai...picanto vs i10

We have Grand i10 turbocharged in India with 100 horsepower. But it also doesn't come with an automatic

Would be an awesome comparo against a used car alternative.

Stinger GT steering wheel

Price

So can you disable the traction control to get to 10 10 th ???

Would you take this or the Corolla hatch?

Ngl, the gates are pretty small for shifting

Does this have the same power as the VW UP Gti ?

Great car and review. Is it really a”hot” hatchback?

Only problem I can see latter is the 3 cylinder engine. ,

I’d love this thing if it came with the 1.6l turbo. Am i asking for too much? Maybe.

Stupid car, I totally want one

i want one!

wait until you reach 3000 kms and timing chain starts to rattle

I scrapped a 520D for a Picanto 3 automatic. The reviewer is a snob and need to understand that even a new Picanto is a LOT of money for most people. The car is great, not only around town, but on the motorway too. The review is for a version that almost nobody will buy, the 3 is the popular one. He clearly has no time for anything less than an M5 or RS6. You only want the picanto as an automatic but the 4 speed torque converter is being dropped for a new KIA designed and built DCT. This is bad. A 6 or 8 speed torque converter box would be so much better. Even Peugeot can do this on a 1.2 turbo!

It has all the safety gear - but I think it’s only received a 4 star rating?

I don't know why people would buy this when they can get a Cerato for a few K more

Do one for a ae86 treano

Perfect Uber Eats car

75 messages!! Read your texts Tom lol!

But..it's 23k not 18?

Who drives manual everyday anymore?

My picanto gt line is automatic with no turbo. Country (israel)

So it's inexpensive, not cheap😉

Suspension tuned a little too firm for my liking. Really pronounced and jarring ride around certain parts of Sydney.

No electric tailgate? ... No sale !

Haha hot hatch id buy i30n over this how ever it's got slightly bigger boot then corolla

Here is the list of features KIA Australia ripped off from this model which is available in other market just shocking!!!!: 1. keyless entry 2.keyless start 3. Lane keeping assist LKA/LKA 4. Heated seat 5. DRIVER FATIGUE WARNING 6. tire pressure monitor 7. Digital Auto climate control 8. Sunroof 9. Auot stop start...........

Peugeot all the way for me, would never buy a Korean car

My Picanto gt LINE is at 900 kg not 1000 like you say it it 🤬🤬🤬🤬

The GT LINE IS THE TOP OF THE LINE NOT THE GT MODEL YOU HAVE GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT