NO REACH TOP TECH ROCK SOLID
Holden Spark LS auto
$15,690
TheSparkhasplentyofmeritinits
own right, with segment-leading
power, smartphone miroring
and a grown-up feel, but Picanto
undercuts it on value.Suzuki Celerio auto
$13,990
Upright Celerio lacks features
compared to the Kia, but it is
roomy, surprisingly enjoyable to
drive and easy on fuel. Dowdy
design and soggy CVT however,
place it behind the perkier Picanto.ORTRY
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Moulded urethane steering
wheel looks great and feels
good in your hands, but just like
the old Picanto, the column only
adjusts for tilt angle, not reach.Premium-looking, quirkily
styled dash design is rendered in
rock-hard black plastic, but it’s
screwed together tight. It may be
cheap,butbuildqualityisgood.01
New Picanto boasts a segment-
first with standard-issue torque
vectoring. By using differential
braking of individual wheels to
reduce understeer, computers
improve the Picanto’s handling.@wheelsaustralia 41
Holding back
The addition of a snazzy
touchscreen, reversing
camera and handling-
enhancing brake torque
vectoring definitely enrichens
the Picanto experience,
but there’s still room to
grow. Euro markets enjoy
bingle-avoiding autonomous
emergency braking – on the
menu for Australia later this
year – along with six-speaker
audio (rather than four), a
wireless phone charging pad,
a sunroof and even a 1.0-litre
turbo-triple GT. Given that
local suspension tuning of the
manual-only GT has already
been completed, expect to see
Kia’s baby warm hatch some
time around Christmas.