NARROW ESCAPE
BBC TopGear India|June 2024
Just us or is everything getting fatter these days? Well here comes the new Kia Picanto flying the flag for a leaner, simpler approach to modern life
TOM FORD
NARROW ESCAPE

It began as an idle conversation bout what ‘small’ means when applied to cars, but it ended with my torso wedged into Europe’s narrowest street (and possibly the world’s... it depends on whom you ask), with a French man laughing, making circular motions around his belly and pointing at my midriff. Certainly not something one expects on the usual Thursday. But to get to the latter, we must first address the former. And it began in London, with a little, sorry ‘small’, car.

The car in question is a Kia Picanto, and therefore undoubtedly at the bijou end of the automotive scale. The kind you can park immediately without parking sensors or fish eyed cameras, ending up adrift in a sea of clearance in even the most modest of spaces. It has space for multiple humans – just about – a boot, all the accoutrements of a larger vehicle, albeit one with a modest 77bhp and a five-speed manual gearbox. Which is less than some bicycles. This is the latest generation, sporting design cues from Kia’s more modern – and much larger – progeny, giving it the air of a kitten with overly large teeth. Cute, yes, but worrying. It works best in a city, scythes through the urban environment, plucking gaps from marginal leeway, laughing at width restrictors and those medieval car parks with spiralling ramps and alloy abusing kerbs. It’s... great.

Why is it so suited? Because life has got a bit... plump. Everything is bigger, fatter, extra. People, portions, places, prices, ambitions. The cult of go large. None more so than in the world of cars. Mid-sized SUVs the size of postcodes, large SUVs the size of counties, sports cars so wide they dwarf their ancestors with extra lard. Obesity as an epidemic, the UK’s average automotive silhouette morphed into a fatter, taller car with ground clearance cobwebbed from lack of use. A genuinely little car feels like a cheat code in town. There are reasons, of course.

Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av BBC TopGear India.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra June 2024-utgaven av BBC TopGear India.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA BBC TOPGEAR INDIASe alt
Does It Fly?
BBC TopGear India

Does It Fly?

2024 TVS APACHE RR 310 ₹2.75 Lakh - ₹2.97 Lakh (ex-showroom)

time-read
7 mins  |
October 2024
Is It A Scooter? Is It A Bike? No! It Is The BMW CE 02
BBC TopGear India

Is It A Scooter? Is It A Bike? No! It Is The BMW CE 02

It is rare when you come across a moment where a company brings out a vehicle into the market without knowing who exactly they want to sell it to.

time-read
4 mins  |
October 2024
Aston Martin Valkyrie
BBC TopGear India

Aston Martin Valkyrie

The Aston Martin Valkyrie still looks like nothing else on four wheels. Probably because it isn’t.

time-read
1 min  |
October 2024
ONE-MAN BAND
BBC TopGear India

ONE-MAN BAND

We are a cynical bunch of people as we try our best to narrow down our vision and focus on the things that are lacking.

time-read
6 mins  |
October 2024
CRISIS AVERTED! THE EXISTENTIAL KIND
BBC TopGear India

CRISIS AVERTED! THE EXISTENTIAL KIND

Finally, the Yezdi Adventure won’t be suffering from an existential crisis anymore.

time-read
3 mins  |
October 2024
ROYAL ENFIELD HIMALAYAN
BBC TopGear India

ROYAL ENFIELD HIMALAYAN

ALTHOUGH IT IS A PERENNIAL ORDEAL FOR ANY MOTORCYCLIST to feel sad while parting ways with a motorcycle, it became even sadder for me this time around.

time-read
1 min  |
October 2024
TVS APACHE RTR 310
BBC TopGear India

TVS APACHE RTR 310

THE FIRST THING I WANT TO SAY IS - “IT IS A MENACE ON WHEELS”.

time-read
1 min  |
October 2024
ACE OF BASE
BBC TopGear India

ACE OF BASE

What happens when you take Porsche's old school entry level model and give it a very not entry level upgrade? This is a 914 as you've never seen it before

time-read
5 mins  |
October 2024
MOMS KNOW BEST
BBC TopGear India

MOMS KNOW BEST

Volvo's XC90 was the stereotypical Soccer Mom car. So how will the all-electric EX90 be received among the soccer pitches of Orange County?

time-read
7 mins  |
October 2024
THE THEORYOF EVOLUTION
BBC TopGear India

THE THEORYOF EVOLUTION

Ridged bladder seats, an inflating steering wheel and an AI track day coach... has Lotus hit on the supercar’s future, or gone mad’?

time-read
6 mins  |
October 2024