It takes something pretty special nowadays to stand out in the city car segment, especially with cars like the Hyundai i10 and Volkswagen Up! taking centre stage. There’s a host of other competitors including the Skoda Citigo, Citroen C1 and Peugeot 108.

But what about the Hyundai i10’s sibling car - the Kia Picanto? The second-generation model is offered with either three or five doors and showcases Kia’s tiger-nose front-end at the hand of famed designer Peter Schreyer, whose hits include the original Audi TT.

The Kia Picanto has a more upmarket feel than a lot of the other city cars currently available, yet it also has one of the cheapest price ranges around.

Performance

There are two petrol engines to choose for the Kia Picanto, both using a five-speed manual gearbox as standard. Entry-level models use a three-cylinder 1.0-litre unit with 68bhp. With this engine the Picanto covers the 0-62mph sprint in around 14 seconds, an unremarkable but respectable time for this class.

The four-cylinder, 1.25-litre petrol produces 84bhp, which is actually quite a high figure for a city car, and completing the acceleration benchmark in circa 11 seconds, the Picanto is quite nippy. It's definitely the engine we'd recommend, as it can cope with passengers far better and gives the Picanto enough oomph to overtake slower traffic if necessary. It does get a bit coarse at higher revs though, which impacts on its motorway refinement compared with quieter rivals like the Skoda Citigo.

A four-speed automatic is available as an option for the bigger engine, but adding almost two seconds to its 0-60mph acceleration, it's hard to recommend if you can drive a manual car.

Ride and Handling

The Picanto might be tiny, but Kia has aimed for a big-car feel

The Picanto might be tiny, but Kia has aimed for a big-car feel and the suspension is suprisngly good at soaking up most bumps. The steering is a bit artificially heavy at higher speeds, but remains accurate and the chassis has decent grip. Push harder and there's a fair bit of body roll, but it's not uncomfortable and serves as a reminder you're approaching its limits.  It might not be its natural habitat, but take the Picanto on the motorway and it feels stable and comfortable. More the shame then, that there's a fair bit of wind and tyre noise, which could put you off heading on very long trips.

Interior and Equipment

The Kia Picanto has previously been the main sponsor for the ITV dating show ‘Take Me Out’.

As with every other affordable city car, the Picanto’s entry-level model offers little standard kit. One thing to bear in mind - if you’re going for the entry level 1 model, you will have to upgrade to the 1 Air trim if you want air conditioning. Following 1 Air are three more trim levels (called 2, 3 and 4) which all offer far more kit as standard. They include alloy wheels, heated and electric mirrors and rear electric windows. There's also a SR7 trim, available with the 1.0-litre, with alloy wheels, air-con, front foglights, privacy glass and automatic headlights. Build quality is pretty good, so while there’s clearly some cheap plastics knocking around, the comfortable seats and structured layout of the instrument panel will leave a lasting and better impression. The Picanto’s boot measures 200 litres, which is less space than the Skoda Citigo and Suzuki Celerio, which both offer more than 250-litres. There's also a loading lip, also this does mean you can stack a few bags vertically in the deep boot. Fold the rear seats down and its maximum storage space of 605 litres means you can carry larger items if there's just two of you. Interior leg and head room on the other hand is impressive, especially when it comes to leg room in the rear. We'd definitely recommend the five-door, which looks almost as stylish from the outside, and makes it far easier to access the rear seats.

Cost

During the 2015 facelift, both engines received small tweaks to make them cheaper to run

During the 2015 facelift, both engines received small tweaks to make them cheaper to run. The 1.0-litre now manages 95-99g/km of CO2, making it free to tax, while economy has increased to 67.3mpg. The 1.25-litre returns between 100g/km and 106g/km of CO2 with the manual five-speed, depending on which trim level you go for, and comes with stop and start (referred to as 'ISG' by Kia) as standard. We'd definitely avoid the automatic if possible, as it drops the economy to 50.4mpg and sees the CO2 shoot up to 130g/km of CO2.  One of the Picanto's strongest draws is Kia's impressive seven year warranty, which should allay any fears of expensive repair bills. Servicing should also be pretty cheap, as should perishables like replacement tyres.

Our Verdict

The Picanto is an attractive city car which should prove very cheap to run. It might not be one of the newest city cars around, and its slight lack of refinement and small boot are signs of that, but it has other charms, including its seven-year warranty and superb equipment levels.