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Kia Picanto boot space, practicality and safety

2017 onwards (change model)
Practicality rating: 4 out of 54.0

Written by Keith Adams Updated: 20 July 2024

  • Plenty of passenger space
  • One of the biggest city car boots
  • Flexible interior storage

How much space is there?

The Picanto has one of the most spacious interiors among its rivals – along with the Hyundai i10 it’s a rare city car that can actually accommodate four six-foot adults, though they wouldn’t necessarily want to spend a long journey back there. And though some versions of the Picanto do come with three seatbelts in the rear, don’t expect to transport a rugby team – three slim teenagers is about the limit here. You certainly won’t fit another person between two bulky child seats.

This is all par for the course with a city car, though, and the Picanto is among the most accommodating of its rivals – though the tall Suzuki Ignis gives it a run for its money.

All Picantos have five doors, and the rear doors open nice and wide making it easy to get child seats in and out. There are Isofix points on both outer rear seats.

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Kia Picanto - rear seats
Rear seats are easily accessible thanks to wide-opening doors.

Boot space and storage

The Picanto’s 255-litre boot is impressive for such a small car. It’s on a par with the Hyundai i10 and Volkswagen Up, bests the Toyota Aygo X and is only beaten for capacity by the Suzuki Ignis. The similarly-priced and larger Dacia Sandero puts this into context, though, offering 328 litres seats up, and 1,108 with them down.

It’s a very practical space too, free of wheelarch intrusion and with a nice wide opening. There’s a little bit of a drop down from a high load lip which you need to hoick items over, but you can mitigate this with the adjustable boot floor on some models. This same adjustable floor allows the rear seats to lie totally flat when they’re folded down, which they do in a 60:40 split.

Interior storage is good too. You get a useful shelf ahead of the gearlever which is ideal for holding your smartphone, while the cupholders pop out at the touch of a button allowing you to choose between holding drinks or a useful oddment storage tray. The USB port, for charging devices and connecting to the infotainment, is also ideally located just below aforementioned shelf.

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Is it easy to park?

Finding a space big enough for a car this small is predictably easy, and visibility is good. Helping things further are standard fit rear parking sensors and a reversing camera on all trim levels.

Safety

  • Acceptable safety levels for a city car
  • Four-star Euro NCAP rating
  • Lags behind the best though

When tested in 2017 the Picanto only scored a three-star rating with Euro NCAP, rising to four stars for versions fitted with autonomous emergency braking. All models available in the UK now come with AEB as standard, however, so consider it a four-star car – albeit one tested under less stringent protocols than some of its rivals.

The Toyota Aygo X, for example, scored four stars under the 2022 tests, suggesting it’s a safer car. It certainly has more up-to-date equipment – the Picanto doesn’t enjoy any kind of lane-keeping aid, for example.

Euro NCAP rating

Overall NCAP safety rating 3 out of 5
Year tested: 2017
What is Euro NCAP?
Adult Occupant: 79%
Child Occupant: 64%
Vulnerable Road User: 54%
Safety Assist: 25%

Equipment and options

Each trim level will have different equipment offerings.
Basic equipment (11)
  • ABS
  • Alarm
  • Body coloured bumpers
  • Driver`s airbag
  • Isofix child seat anchor points
  • PAS
  • Passenger`s airbag
  • Remote locking
  • Side airbags
  • Steering wheel reach adjustment
  • Traction control
Standard Equipment
Optional Equipment
1 Standard Equipment (3)
  • Cloth seat trim
  • Folding rear seats
  • Steel wheels
1 Optional Equipment (3)
  • 3x3 point rear seat belts
  • Audio remote
  • Front electric windows
2 Standard Equipment (6)
  • Air conditioning
  • Cloth seat trim
  • Electric mirrors
  • Front electric windows
  • Heated mirrors
  • Rear electric windows
2 Optional Equipment (9)
  • 3x3 point rear seat belts
  • Audio remote
  • Cruise control
  • Folding rear seats
  • Height adjustable drivers seat
  • Metallic Paint
  • Parking sensors
  • Sat Nav
  • Steering wheel rake adjustment
3 Standard Equipment (8)
  • Air conditioning
  • Cruise control
  • Electric mirrors
  • Front electric windows
  • Heated mirrors
  • Parking sensors
  • Rear electric windows
  • Sat Nav
3 Optional Equipment (9)
  • 3x3 point rear seat belts
  • Audio remote
  • Cloth seat trim
  • Folding rear seats
  • Front fog lights
  • Heated seats
  • Height adjustable drivers seat
  • Metallic Paint
  • Steering wheel rake adjustment
GT-line Standard Equipment (5)
  • Air conditioning
  • Electric mirrors
  • Front electric windows
  • Heated mirrors
  • Rear electric windows
GT-line Optional Equipment (10)
  • 3x3 point rear seat belts
  • Audio remote
  • Cruise control
  • Folding rear seats
  • Front fog lights
  • Height adjustable drivers seat
  • Metallic Paint
  • Parking sensors
  • Sat Nav
  • Steering wheel rake adjustment
GT-line S Standard Equipment (9)
  • Air conditioning
  • Cruise control
  • Electric mirrors
  • Front electric windows
  • Heated mirrors
  • Heated seats
  • Parking sensors
  • Rear electric windows
  • Sat Nav
GT-line S Optional Equipment (8)
  • 3x3 point rear seat belts
  • Audio remote
  • Electric sunroof
  • Folding rear seats
  • Front fog lights
  • Height adjustable drivers seat
  • Metallic Paint
  • Steering wheel rake adjustment
Shadow Standard Equipment (6)
  • Air conditioning
  • Electric mirrors
  • Front electric windows
  • Heated mirrors
  • Parking sensors
  • Rear electric windows
Shadow Optional Equipment (9)
  • 3x3 point rear seat belts
  • Audio remote
  • Cruise control
  • Folding rear seats
  • Front fog lights
  • Heated seats
  • Height adjustable drivers seat
  • Sat Nav
  • Steering wheel rake adjustment
Titanium Edition Standard Equipment (11)
  • 3x3 point rear seat belts
  • Air conditioning
  • Audio remote
  • Electric mirrors
  • Folding rear seats
  • Front electric windows
  • Front fog lights
  • Heated mirrors
  • Height adjustable drivers seat
  • Parking sensors
  • Rear electric windows
Titanium Edition Optional Equipment (5)
  • Cloth seat trim
  • Cruise control
  • Metallic Paint
  • Sat Nav
  • Steering wheel rake adjustment
Wave Standard Equipment (10)
  • 3x3 point rear seat belts
  • Air conditioning
  • Audio remote
  • Electric mirrors
  • Folding rear seats
  • Front electric windows
  • Heated mirrors
  • Height adjustable drivers seat
  • Metallic Paint
  • Rear electric windows
Wave Optional Equipment (5)
  • Cloth seat trim
  • Cruise control
  • Parking sensors
  • Sat Nav
  • Steering wheel rake adjustment
X-Line Standard Equipment (11)
  • 3x3 point rear seat belts
  • Air conditioning
  • Audio remote
  • Electric mirrors
  • Folding rear seats
  • Front electric windows
  • Front fog lights
  • Heated mirrors
  • Height adjustable drivers seat
  • Parking sensors
  • Rear electric windows
X-Line Optional Equipment
  • n/a
Zest Standard Equipment (10)
  • Air conditioning
  • Audio remote
  • Electric mirrors
  • Folding rear seats
  • Front electric windows
  • Front fog lights
  • Heated mirrors
  • Height adjustable drivers seat
  • Parking sensors
  • Rear electric windows
Zest Optional Equipment (6)
  • 3x3 point rear seat belts
  • Cloth seat trim
  • Cruise control
  • Metallic Paint
  • Sat Nav
  • Steering wheel rake adjustment

Dimensions

Length 3595mm - 3670mm
Width 1595mm - 1625mm
Height 1485mm - 1500mm
View full specs