gear kereta

Having had my Kancil for almost a decade now, I had been thinking of replacing it (albeit with a heavy heart as it has served me so well with no major problems), so when the offer to test-drive a Kia Picanto EX landed on my desk, I didn’t think twice.

Every time this adorable looking compact car – available in two variants, the LS and higher specification EX - with its endearing doe-eyed headlights whizzed past on the road, I would give it a good, long stare, admiring its great looking body and mentally making a note to list it as a possible contender.

Looking at the external frame of this curvy 1.1l vehicle, and from the print advertisements hawking its compact cuteness directly at the female audience, it was obviously a car that was designed with the woman in mind – but I found out otherwise.

For a 1.1l vehicle I found the acceleration surprisingly sluggish as even my current Kancil EZ850 offers a stronger pick up. The engine offers 63bhp at 5,500rpm and 96Nm of torque at 2,800rpm, and the car is equipped with a four-speed automatic transmission.

When I slipped into the driver’s seat I immediately felt that the seat seemed measly. The height was awkwardly low and this has to be its biggest downside. At 160cm I measure up as an average Asian woman in height, and when I sat down and gripped the steering wheel I immediately didn’t feel comfortable as it was much lower than I would have preferred.

Reaching down for a seat height adjustor, I didn’t find one. At the end of the first day driving the Picanto, I had a backache as I was constantly pulling my body upwards so that I would have a clearer and better view of what was ahead of me.

Since I had the car for three days I solved the problem by sitting on top of a high cushion - which made the height perfect! Not exactly conventional, yes; for a car that is presumably targeted at women, the height of the seat seems like it was designed for a man or probably a tall Caucasian woman.

Next, I adjusted the distance of the chair so that my legs were comfortable enough to reach the pedals and my arms held the steering wheels at ease. After doing this, I found that as I reached for the handbrake with my left hand, the handbrake appeared to be positioned further behind.

My left arm had to battle with the protruding portion of the sides of the chair before I could grip the handbrake. Again, this is about the proportion of the features in this car that seems to be designed for a taller person.

The anti-glare flap above the driver’s seat was unusually large, and I thought it would be great to cut out the sun’s glare.

When I folded it down, it covered one third of the right side of the rearview mirror. That crucial one third of the mirror would help you detect a vehicle coming up on the right behind you. So, if the flap was put down to cut the glare, you would easily miss a car or motorbike whizzing by at top speed.

Like the Kancil, the Picanto should have had a curved cut out on the left edge of the anti-glare flap to avoid blocking the rear-view mirror.

Not having the instruction manual didn’t help, but the car sure felt like it didn’t come with an alarm, which I feel should be included as a standard feature to help you find your vehicle and as a safety alarm.

Also, another feature that left me quite baffled was the antenna. The angle of its protrusion was such that the tip of the antenna kept hitting the ceiling of at least three different car parks that I ventured into!

With a large outer body I expected this compact car to offer a larger boot space, but it wasn’t the case. The Picanto’s boot space is 95.25cm wide, 45.72cm deep and 38.1cm tall, compared to the Kancil’s 104.14cm width, 53.34cm depth and 45.72cm height, making it slightly less spacious - which is crucial as space is a precious commodity when it comes to compact cars.

The backseat for passengers offered a roomy space with reasonable legroom, and it has attempted to provide sufficient storage space on the door and in front of the front seats.

What I liked though about driving the Picanto was the smoothness and ease negotiating parking lots and tight turns, and having a power steering (a luxury that never came with the Kancil) made manoeuvring the Picanto a breeze. It drives well enough too, getting the job done without fuss or fanfare.

Priced at RM46,800 (the LS version goes for RM44,500), the Picanto is on the whole a decent offering, and in its segment should do well enough, though addressing some of the shortcomings wouldn’t be too difficult and would I think make the car a much stronger proposition for many.