Kia Picanto VS Honda Civic
Kia Picanto
Likes
- Affordable
- Available as a manual!
- Deceptively well equipped
Dislikes
- Minimal interior upgrades for 2024
- Feeling its age
- Fuel consumption is so-so
Honda Civic
Likes
- Great interior
- Lovely chassis
- Excellent engine
Dislikes
- Missing some safety gear
- Tight access to boot space
- Old media software
Summary
Kia Picanto
If you're feeling the cost of living sting, there's a good chance you've scaled back your ambitions for your next new car. You may have even looked at some of Australia's most affordable brand-new vehicles and the Kia Picanto is one of them.
It's one of the few brand-new options left with a before-on-roads starting price of under $20,000 and it's one of the few non-performance models left which can still be chosen as a manual.
It's one thing to be affordable, though, and quite another to be good value - so does the freshly updated 2024 Picanto have what it takes to stack up against more expensive options? Let's take a look.
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| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 1.2L |
| Fuel Type | — |
| Fuel Efficiency | 5L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Honda Civic
The Honda Civic's 10th generation is drawing to an end. Well, I say that, but there's still a pretty solid chance that the 11th generation won't quite be here this time next year.
I make the point because we've already seen a "prototype" for series 11 of the Honda Civic Story, but also because we won't actually get the car we've seen – the sedan. Just 20 per cent of Civic sales go to the booted version and then you have to merge that data with the rise of SUVs, both with Honda buyers and the market at large.Â
Things is, I think the sedan is the better of two for a variety of reasons which I will explain below. I also think the Civic, despite its advancing "age" (four years isn't really that long in the current climate) is still a fairly sensible choice among its peers, which include some serious competition.
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 1.5L turbo |
| Fuel Type | Regular Unleaded Petrol |
| Fuel Efficiency | 6L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Verdict
Kia Picanto7/10
Australians are moving into ever-larger vehicles when really we should be embracing the small car now more than ever. It's great Kia is still here, with its Picanto showing what can be offered in such a compact form-factor.
While it's not as affordable as it once was, it looks like it won't be long before Kia is the last torchbearer of sub-$20k starter cars. Even so, this is a great choice for buyers on strict budgets.
Honda Civic7.3/10
As a car to drive, the Honda Civic feels great. It had a good start, but the later addition of the turbo 1.5 and the continuous honing of the chassis, steering and driveline – an endearing, unheralded trait that Mazda and Honda do so well – has taken what was a solid car and turned it into one I'd genuinely consider owning, even in this wild orange colour.
What it doesn't have is a full suite of safety systems, which is a real shame, because its main rivals do. Some of us are happy to forego things such as reverse cross-traffic alert and some are not. If you can, the Civic sedan should be in the reckoning. And the clock is ticking.
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Design
Kia Picanto
You wouldn't know it in Australia, where our collective tastes are orienting toward larger and larger vehicles, but city cars are experiencing something of a golden age overseas.
Cars like the Nissan Sakura, Honda N One, and Hyundai Casper join a long list of others which are design leaders in the city-car segment, and this is why the Picanto needs to look sharper than ever to compete.
Particularly in the GT-Line form we tested for this review, the 2024 car has adopted a dramatic facelift which complies to Kia's incoming and much more science-fiction look, complete with an extremely angular design and frowny LED light fittings.
Around the rear, there's a reworked set of tail-lights with a contemporary strip which almost reaches the whole way across the boot lid, and the new alloy wheels round out the whole aesthetic.
Given this, it's a little disappointing to see how few elements have changed on the interior. From the inside, this Picanto feels basically the same as the pre-update version.
I like the D-shaped steering wheel the GT now gets, and the multimedia screen is great for such a small and affordable car, but all the other switchgear, including the steering wheel is from previous-generation Kia products, and not the shiny new design-led stuff which appears in cars like the Sportage, Sorento, or Niro.
Also, while it's feature-laden all things considered, the interior plastics are mainly the harsh, hollow, scratchy kind. The new digital instrument cluster isn't one big screen, instead it's constructed of a few basic sectors which aren't customisable outside of the background colour. At least the central portion shows some useful information.
Honda Civic
Making fun of the Civic's over-supply of angles and lines is really very easy, so for once I'll refrain. Partly because the sedan is better than the hatch in this respect and also because – somehow – I have become quite fond of its wacky face. The sedan's profile is also more flowing and, with all the RS piano black and extra aggro (which ironically means yet more lines and angles), it sat much more happily in my camera lens than before. I wonder if the Civic's controversial looks have aged well in the same way Chris Bangle BMWs have? Because we're all suddenly pretty fond of those now, aren't we?
My changed opinion is bound to infuriate Honda's designers who have cleaned up the Civic for its next version. At this point I should mention that the sedan is on its last legs here in Australia – we won't be getting the next one.
The interior is as good-looking as it is practical. I still don't like the angles of the gauges in the left and right sections of the dash, but the central digital dash section is really good and easy on the eye. The RS picks up some subtle features like the strip of chequered flag fabric on the seats. It's a nice, clean look and I like the use of metallic materials on the climate controls and the stereo. It's a very calm interior, quite a contrast to the exterior.
Practicality
Kia Picanto
Feeling a little old or not, the Picanto has a clever interior which makes the most of its limited dimensions.
There are huge bottle holders in the front doors, a further two with little flip-out sectors which sit below the air-con controls. These holders can be folded away to turn this space into a tray for the storage of large objects. There's even a centre armrest console box, but it's tiny.
On the topic of air-conditioning controls, these are, refreshingly, physical dials, which are increasingly going missing as manufacturers move such functions to touchscreens. The Picanto keeps things manual though, even including a volume and tuning knob for the touchscreen, with physical shortcut buttons adorning the bottom section of the frame.
Physical controls is something Hyundai Group has committed to, and it's not until you use a vehicle without them you realise how essential they can be.
Despite its tiny footprint, there's also plenty of room in the cabin for an adult my size (I'm 182cm tall). I felt as though there was massive airspace between my head and the roof, as the Picanto's seats let you sit nice and low to the ground, and while it's limited in its width, it feels like I had enough room and adjustability for my legs.
Only one area brought me discomfort and it was the elbow-rest in the door. Sounds silly, but while the GT-Line has a little synthetic leather strip here, for some reason it has no padding, so it's seemingly for aesthetic purposes only and is still an uncomfortable place to rest your elbow on longer journeys.
It sounds unlikely, but I fit behind my own driving position in the back seat, with my knees almost up against the back of the front seat. Thankfully, the seat backings are softly-clad so even if you were slightly taller than me it might be ok.
Again, headroom is sufficient, and the seats are reasonably comfortable in the outer two positions. There are no amenities in the back seat. Rear passengers don't get air vents, door pockets, or a drop-down armrest in the centre position. There is only a small pocket on the back of the passenger seat. Can't say it would be the best space for longer journeys, but it fits adults for short city trips.
The boot measures 255 litres. It's small enough it may rule the Picanto out for some family buyers who need to wrestle with a pram or some such. The boot is large enough to fit either the largest CarsGuide luggage case on its own, or the two smaller ones, but absolutely not all three. It may surprise you to learn there is enough room under the floor for a space-saver spare wheel.
Honda Civic
The Civic's cabin is swimming in space and and filled with comfortable seats and lots of storage.
The back seat is super-spacious as it has been forever. Having driven the i30 Sedan last week, I'm having difficulty splitting the two for legroom and lounging space. Where the Civic loses out – and it's close – is in rear headroom.
There are four cupholders and bottle holders and a massive central bin between the front seats, big enough to conceal the massive new PlayStation 5 (okay, maybe not that big, but it it certainly looks big enough).
The boot holds a gigantic-for-a-small sedan 519 litres with the seats in place. Honda doesn't supply a total figure with the seats down, but it will be a lot. The opening for the bootlid is a little tight, so don't get too excited at Ikea.
Price and features
Kia Picanto
Every dollar counts here, which is why it is disappointing to see the Picanto continue to claw up the price-scale for this update, but it's not in a major way, and it's still one of few options left in this price-bracket at all.
In fact, it is the only option aside from the MG3 Core, which can be had in automatic form at $19,990 drive-away and even then this car is set to be replaced later this year with a bigger and more expensive new-generation, so the Picanto may well be the last bastion of sub-$20k affordability in Australia.
Now keep in mind, these are before-on-road costs, so it's likely if you can have any Picanto under $20k by the time you get it on the road, it's probably going to be the base model Sport Manual, which starts from $17,890.
From there, you can add an automatic gearbox, pushing it to $19,490, or you can upgrade to the GT-Line which is the car we have for this review, which costs from $19,690 for the manual as-tested, or $21,290 for the automatic.
A small spread of relatively affordable prices in this market then, but what's in the box? As it happens, more than you might expect.
Standard stuff in 2024 has increased on the base Sport grade to include 14-inch alloy wheels (in place of the previous steel wheels with hubcaps), as well as a leatherbound steering wheel and shifter (up from the previous plastic-clad ones), and a 4.2-inch digital instrument cluster replaces the analogue dials.
Meanwhile, the GT-Line scores a D-shaped steering wheel and new 16-inch alloy wheel designs, and the updated and more aggressive face is highlighted by LED light clusters. In addition, the GT-Line scores USB-C outlets on the inside, synthetic leather seat trim, and both grades maintain the 8.0-inch multimedia touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay connectivity.
Feels like a lot more car than it appears from the inside, especially since it comes with most of today's expected active safety tech, too, which its main rivals, the MG3 and Suzuki Ignis, have never been able to claim.
Honda Civic
The Civic RS price has slowly crept north, along with the prices of its mostly Korean rivals, now at $34,090. It's a fair bit more than the Ford Focus ST-Line, but you can't get a sedan version of that and infuriatingly neither can you get the wagon.
The RS has 18-inch alloys, a 10-speaker stereo, faux leather seats (nothing wrong with that), auto LED headlights and DRLs, dual-zone climate control, reversing camera, front and rear parking sensors, keyless entry and start, electric driver's seat, auto headlights and wipers and a space-saver spare.
The 7.0-inch matte-finished touchscreen runs Honda's homage-to-the-80s software package that is bolstered by the presence of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. It also has DAB, which is a nice touch, but it is missing built-in sat nav, which most of its rivals have.
Under the bonnet
Kia Picanto
This is another area where the Picanto is feeling in need of a little innovation. It has the same very dated 1.2-litre four-cylinder petrol engine as the previous car, producing a sufficient but not exciting 62kW/122Nm.
It drives the front wheels via an equally old four-speed automatic transmission, or as tested, a five-speed manual transmission.
It's better with the manual if you can drive one, and a bit of a win for first time or young buyers who will still have the option to learn to drive one, so points there.
Honda Civic
The 1.5-litre four-cylinder has a light pressure turbo bolted in to produce 127kW at 5500rpm and 220Nm between 1700-5500rpm. Those numbers are 23kW and 46Nm up on the 1.8-litre, which goes without the turbo.
You can let the continuously variable transmission (CVT) look after the turning of the front wheels or if you're feeling sporty – not an unreasonable expectation if you've picked the RS – you can use the paddle shifters which tell the computer to put some fake gears into the box for you to shift up and down.
Efficiency
Kia Picanto
An older engine and transmission combination makes for a less than impressive fuel consumption figure in today's market, but then the Picanto is a very light car, so it has lower fuel consumption than most of its contemporaries regardless.
The official fuel consumption on the combined-cycle test of the five-speed manual we tested is 5.4L/100km, and in our week of what I would consider fairly combined usage our GT-Line drank 6.0L/100km. Not great when you consider a much larger hybrid Corolla can use less fuel, but pretty close to the claim nonetheless.
The Picanto has a 35-litre fuel tank – enabling a theoretical driving range of 648km – and happily drinks base-grade 91RON unleaded fuel.
Honda Civic
Honda's official testing suggets a combined cycle figure of 6.3L/100km which is lower than the 1.8-litre, a nice bonus when you have all that extra power to play with. My week with the Civic was mostly suburb-bound and I scored a respectable (indicated) 8.2L/100km.
Driving
Kia Picanto
You've got low power, a pretty low-tech engine and transmission, but this little Kia is still great fun to drive.
For a start, you can have it as a manual that lets you wring the best out of the little engine, which is easygoing but lacklustre with the four-speed auto.
To be clear, it's not a great manual - usually when you get a brand new manual in 2024 it's one of those fancy performance ones with nice damping and notchy gates, but as simple as it is, it also gives the car a raw mechanical nature which keeps it engaging to drive. There are real consequences for choosing the wrong gear and it takes a touch of skill to get used to, a lost art of the all-encompassing drive which is a welcome change of pace compared to a lot of cars today.
The Picanto also has keen steering helping the organic feel, and it has a firm ride, too, which makes it surprisingly sporty in the corners, but it's lightweight nature and firm suspension gave it a crashy and bouncy feel on some of the inconsistent Sydney streets I exposed it to.
It's also a bit noisy in the cabin, both in terms of engine noise (you have to rev the thing to get it going) and tyre roar on anything but the finest tarmac. This issue increases with your speed, and reminds you of its city-car intention when you're on the freeway.
Still, the city is where it's best suited to, and it's a joy to easily dart down alleyways which take a degree of caution in the usual mid-size SUVs you see around the place, and the fact you can park it anywhere can be a real blessing.
The visibility is great, too, which means multi-lane situations aren't a nightmare, and the full suite of manual adjustment for the stereo and air conditioning are super easy to use when you're on the go (who has time to adjust a touchscreen when you have a manual transmission to worry about?)
In conclusion then, the Picanto isn't to be underestimated. This is a spritely fun little thing which makes the most of its limited hardware, but it truly is best suited for the confines of a city, and gets less impressive as you get it out on the open road.
Honda Civic
This iteration of the Civic has been with us for a while now. I wasn't absolutely sure about it when I first drove it – that was partly down to the less-than-stellar 1.8 and an at-times doughy CVT.
Over the years I've been very lucky to drop my posterior into two, three or even four Civics per year. During that time I have noted some subtle changes, such as the CVT's more attentive nature and the progressive improvement of the ride on particularly bumpy surfaces, such as Sydney's concreted arterial roads.
The RS itself is no different mechanically to the other 1.5-litre turbo-engined cars in the range (it's an entire engine's worth of power short of the madcap Type R) but over the years, that has meant good things. I've always liked the low-set driving position, it's lower than many hot hatches. You sit in and down in the Civic and it feels quite sporty.
Turn the wheel and it's all very positive, with a very pleasant ride and handling balance. The CVT is still a CVT but, especially in the turbo, it has more grab off the line and doesn't indulge in flaring as you'd find in a Subaru, turbo or not. It's actually fun to drive, especially if you draft in the paddles to do some work.
But it's also a car you need never provoke to enjoy driving. The comfortable ride and secure handling make it the kind of car anyone can like. The steering wheel is just right, the controls all feel really nice to use and touch. There's nothing particularly flashy about the Civic apart from its looks, but it's such a comfortable car with a super-solid feel to its engineering.
The main advantage of the turbo engine is that it doesn't have to work as hard as the 1.8 to keep the Civic moving. The extra torque is always there and makes it a much more relaxed car around town than the 1.8-powered Civics, while giving you the extra grunt to push out into traffic, or pull off a tricky overtake.
Safety
Kia Picanto
The other great thing about this Picanto is its surprisingly thorough suite of active safety items. It gets auto emergency braking, lane-keep assist and lane departure warning, as well as blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert.
Again, its limited array of rivals like the MG3 and Suzuki Ignis can't compare.
The Picanto has an array of six airbags (dual front, side, and curtain), although it is not currently rated by ANCAP.
Honda Civic
All Civics come with six airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls.
The Honda Sense package adds forward collision warning, forward AEB (high and low speed), lane departure warning and lane keep assist.
One of my favourite Honda quirks is LaneWatch. Flick the indicator for a left-hand turn and the media screen displays the output of a camera pointed down the left-hand side of the car. It's still too bright at night, but you can disable it or tap the button on the end of the indicator stalk to cancel it.
You also get two ISOFIX anchors and three top-tether points.
The Civic sedan was last assessed by ANCAP in April 2017 and scored five stars.
Ownership
Kia Picanto
Kia's stand-out seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty isn't as stand-out as it once was, but is still the standard to beat for this segment, and is especially impressive considering the up-front cost of the Picanto.
You also get seven years of roadside assist included and a seven-year capped-price servicing program.
Over those seven years the price averages out to $438 annually, which is not as cheap as it could be, especially considering many Toyotas cost about $250 a year to keep on the road for their (shorter) warranty period.
The Picanto needs to visit a workshop once every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.
Honda Civic
Hondas ship with a five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, which is competitive as more and more manufacturers consider this a minimum.Â
The "Tailored Servicing" program caps nine of the first 10 services at $281, with just one service jumping to $310. That's reasonable value for a turbo engine, except servicing is every 12 months or 10,000km. That means more than one trip per year to the dealer if you drive more than 10,000km per year.