A facelift of the small city car Kia Picanto has arrived. And with just 62 horsepower, it is frighteningly honest from 0 to 100 km/h. It takes 18.5 seconds.
When was the last time you sat in a car that takes 18 seconds to go from 0 to 100 km/h? Yes, we actually thought that kind of thing was a thing of the past too.
But no. Because that is the reality of the facelifted Kia Picanto. Because even though the car weighs just 985 kilos, the 1-litre, three-cylinder petrol engine does not make much difference.
In fact, Kia states that the new Picanto with automatic transmission should take 18.2 seconds more precisely for that distance. Among other things, because the small engine makes do with 63 horsepower.
But it's not quite as bad as it might sound. Because even if it takes half a morning to reach 100 km/h in the facelifted Picanto, Kia promises solid fuel economy.
READ ALSO: Yet another municipality prohibits cars from speeding over 40 km/h
As much as 18.5 kilometers per liter can officially be achieved according to the WLTP norm. But the standard, which should otherwise be much more fair than the old NEDC provision, has not surprisingly proven to be particularly flawed.
On the other hand, upcoming tightening of the WLTP norm may prove to be the end of hybrid cars. At least in Europe. Read more about why here .
And now that we're done with the hybrid cars, which the little Kia is not among, it's something the car manufacturers are increasingly focusing on. However, there are also those car brands that do not understand that the competitors ignore synthetic petrol and diesel.
Until recently, Koenigsegg had plans for an electric car with up to 2,000 horsepower. But customer feedback has made the Swedes drop the idea. At the factory in Ängelholm, they also claim that synthetic petrol and diesel are a much better solution.
Back at Kia, the facelift of the Picanto is still so new that at least the Danish importer does not yet have a price in place. Boosted follows suit.
Read more exciting news from and about the world of cars right here