Frankfurt, Germany - Kia has given its A-segment Picanto an attitude adjustment (as in more of it, dude!) in the shape of the Picanto X-Line, due to debut at the Frankfurt motor show, just nine days away.
The fashionable ‘high rider’ looks come courtesy of 15mm extra ground clearanc e (up to 156mm), black cladding around the wheel arches to ward off the attention of marauding shopping trolleys, and deeper, SUV-style bumpers with metal-look skid-plates at both ends, while the grille and fog-light surrounds are finished with lime green highlights (relax, you can ask for plain silver if that’s a bit too much for you).
The X-Line comes with a sporty flat-bottom steering wheel, as well as all the best bits of the new Picanto, recently released in South Africa, including 16 inch alloy wheels, aluminium pedals, LED daytime running lights and fog-lights, an 18cm touchscreen for navigation with 3D maps, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and keyless entry.
More importantly, the X-Line is the first Picanto to get Kia’s new lightweight, direct-injection, one-litre turbopetrol three, rated for 74kW at 4500 revs and 172Nm from 1500-4000rpm. That makes it the most powerful Picanto yet, capable of hitting 100km/h off a standing start in a fraction more than 10 seconds.
The same engine will also be offered in the upcoming sports-inspired Picanto GT-Line, with the same outputs and performance - we’ll bring you more details about that variant when we get them.
The Picanto X-Line is slated for release in Europe during the fourth quarter of 2017; there’s no news yet as to whether or when it will come to South Africa.