Picanto has come a long way

NEWVOLD: MORE POWER AND UPGRADED TECH MAKE KIA'S POPULAR HATCH MORE DESIRABLE

- Gareth Cotterell

I'm not a petrolhead. I've always considered a car as merely a thing to get me from one place to another. It was partly for this reason that I decided to buy myself a second-hand Kia Picanto during the Covid lockdown.

With our movement limited, I needed a car that would fulfil the most basic of services. At the time, a woman was moving to New Zealand and needed to get rid of her car, and I jumped at the opportunity.

My Picanto LX was perfect for what I needed at the time. I've always liked a small car that can be used to nip around town. It was also cheap and easy to maintain.

So, when I was asked to drive The Citizen Motoring long-term Kia Picanto EX I assumed I would be driving a slightly updated version without the fancy features that come with most cars these days. That idea was blown out of the water as soon as I got in the vehicle. This seemed nothing like the car I've been driving.