Collected the car last Thursday and have just completed 500 miles, which in itself should give an indication of my view of the car. The car is red with a wrapped black vinyl roof and to me looks really nice. A bit of history may add perspective here. I am 68 years old and had been a keen motorcyclist for 50 years until giving it up last year due to a combination of factors which when taken in the round made continuing just too dangerous in my judgement. I have also been a keen driver during this time as a bit of a serial car changer the last car being a Mini Cooper “S”. I must qualify this in as much as the Mini was bought at my wife’s behest as I have a dislike of all things BMW (Big Motoring Worries). Anyway, to cut to the chase I was mightily impressed with my wife’s new Kia Picanto GT Line so bought myself a new Picanto GT Line “S”. I am delighted with it. We live in a little village at the foot of the North Pennines and therefore the roads around are tight nadgery “B” roads and the Picanto is an absolute hoot. It’s nippy, not fast but it feels quicker than it really is whilst emitting a lovely but not intrusive soundtrack as you surf the not insignificant torque developed by the delightful 3 pot motor. I would also venture that the build quality is right up there and possibly even exceeding that of many others including German offerings. I appreciate that this is very subjective but I have owned many such cars and I really believe this to be so. Possibly one of the more amazing things achieved by the car is that it does not feel like the tiny car that it is and just how planted it feels at speed. The car is very comfortable for me and has more than enough toys to keep me happy. We had a run to the coast yesterday, a round trip of 100 miles on various roads and the fuel consumption was 50.1 mpg which on a still new relatively tight motor is pretty impressive. I intended to remap the car (yes I would have informed the insurance company) but when also taking into account the compromising of the warranty and just how pleased I am with the car's performance out of the box I think we will park that plan for the moment. So we have two cracking cars on the drive for about the same price as the Mini. A service plan covering both cars for £22 per month (an oil and filter with pollen filter change for the Mini was £295, I kid you not) what's not to like. Well one thing, the armrest that's not an armrest, too bad, how sad, never mind.
Picanto GT Line "S" The First 500 Miles.
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Really pleased you're liking it Ting Tong. I'm a year younger than you and also live in a rural area (but gave up on motor bikes since falling off one in my 20's). I tend to hang on to my cars but had a 1970 1275 mini cooper S for a couple of years as well as a Saab 99 turbo later on. This Picanto 1.0 Gtdi has really put the fun back into driving for me too and I actually grin most of the time I'm driving it. I would not want very much more power though without sorting the chassis and suspension first. There are times when it's stock 66bhp suspension shows through 
. I've no plans to change it any time soon however as it's such good fun!
. I've no plans to change it any time soon however as it's such good fun!
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Glad you like it Ting Ting- I am also 68year old with over 50 years on motorcycles, thought thinking of selling last bike soon.
Yes they do feel solid, much more than diminutive size would suggest and great fun to drive. I added some soundproofing to my Picanto and that has further improved the driving experience.
If you ever feel the need to increase power, I am sure Edd at Bluespark would help, as he needs a current model car, to develop chip for our new version of engine.
Yes they do feel solid, much more than diminutive size would suggest and great fun to drive. I added some soundproofing to my Picanto and that has further improved the driving experience.
If you ever feel the need to increase power, I am sure Edd at Bluespark would help, as he needs a current model car, to develop chip for our new version of engine.
I wo
I would be very interested in how you did the increased soundproofing. I would suspect that it would be the spare wheel well as it looks to me as if it acts as a resonance chamber for rear-wheel generated road noise.
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349 Posts
Yeah had mine 2 weeks now and have to say I love it. was disappointed with my old gt line that had the 1.25 engine but this one is awesome with the 1ltr blown lump, just so easy to drive and a hoon when the loud "ish" pedal is deployed and the blower kicks in.
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128 Posts
Done several techniques Best result for effort is simply acoustic foam under the carpet/ cover in boot
Sound levels - MY 21 Picanto GT ( 1.0 Turbo) Interior...
Wow, this is some dedicated project you have going - well done! Send your results to Kia so they can add this to the factory cars from next MY. OK, I know they won't but I wish they would. What I find with inexpensive cars is that it wouldn't take much to make them a lot nicer but I guess when...
www.kiaownersclub.co.uk
I purchased the My21 face lift Picanto GT Line S for the other half, its now just over 4 months old with 1200 miles on the clock. Before we ordered it we borrowed the Rio GT Line 118 BHP for a week and to be honest power wise there is no difference between the 118 bhp and the 99bhp due to the power to weight. A friend of mine put the Picanto on his rolling road and it was showing 108 bhp with 200 N of torque at stock, but I do know other owners who have had there's in the region of 105 to 110 bhp and 185 to 200 N of torque at stock. I always tend to use Shell V power 99 ron and it tends to run very smooth on this. At the moment due to a design upgrade in the engine between the old GT Line S and the new 21 plate GT Line S there is no remapping of the new engines available. The car is averaging between 50 to 60 mpg which is good and there don't seem to be any power loss / turbo lag between 1500 revs onwards. Its now got fully wireless apple / android, they are 4 seaters instead of the 5 seater which makes the car lighter and it no longer as the 2 tier boot which makes the car lighter. It is a nice nippy car around town and its a good little cruiser on the motorway with plenty of pull for overtaking. All in all its a car worth purchasing
My 71 plate GT Line S appears not to have Apple Car Play wireless connectivity yet my wife's 71 plate GT Line does, how very strange.
Hi,
My 71 plate GT "S" delivered 3rd Sept does not have wireless android car play either, I was informed at the point of ordering that it would have, this all seems a bit of pot luck as to if it will be wireless or not, does anyone know if an update is planned to sort this out ?
T
The logic behind this is nuts, my wife's GT Line has Car Play wireless connectivity but requires a cable to charge it whereas my GT Line S has a charging pad but requires a cable to connect Car Play, go figure. Both cars are 71 platers.
My 21 plate GT Line S does have the wireless Apple Car Play and it works fine and the wireless Android auto works ok as well. There was some minor glitches in the system which was discovered and Kia sorted these out.
No logic to this at all, I still have the 17 plate GT Line S for work with the wireless charging pad but a cable is needed for the Apple Car Play, Android auto. The my 21 plate GT Line S my partner uses as the wireless charging pad, wireless Apple Car Play / Android auto and no cables are needed at all. We borrowed a 21 plate GT Line S Rio and a cable was needed to charge your phone and use Apple Car Play / Android auto.
If you have to top up your engine oil on the my 21 GT Line S / my 71 GT Line S or all 21 plates moving forward with the new upgraded Kappa (K) T - GDI engine the oil used is now 0W20 and not the 0W30 that was used in the previous T-GDI engines from 2018 to 2020. This is apparently to try and reduce the carbon build up and help the oil flow more quickly from a cold start
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That's interesting, the next question is how to check, mine works with the cable but not a clue how to connect it via wireless.
This is getting stranger by the minute. I contacted Kia Customer Services yesterday and they called me last night. The chap I spoke to was very upfront saying he did not understand this but would speak with the relevant department and get back to me.
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349 Posts
well i just checked mine now and in the phone connection menus i have bluetooth, AA and Apple car play.
If i had wireless i should see a menu for phone projection after a quick look on the internet,
If i had wireless i should see a menu for phone projection after a quick look on the internet,
Anglia 105e do you have a 7" display or a 8" display and do you have nav on your head unit, i know you say 21 plate gt line S but just trying to see why there is a difference...
KevG57
I have the new 8" screen with Satnav which is fully wireless with no cable connections on the 21 plate TGDI GT Line S and I have the 7" screen with Satnav on the 17 plate 1.25 GT Line S with wireless charging pad, but cable required for the Apple Car Play and Android Auto
The Kia dealer set up the wireless 8" screen - Satnav for the Apple Car Play / Android auto for both phones being my phone and my partners phone and no cable is needed for either phone
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Thats really strange, can you take a pic of your connections screen please. and your system info firmware screens.
I am seeing Kia on Saturday so I will get him to write down the connection process and take the pictures needed to be able to set up the phone / Apple Car Play - Android auto without the use of a cable. The phones we have connected are the Apple 12 mini and the Samsung S9. I will also have a look later when my partner gets home from work with the car and see what pictures and process I can see / take from the system info and firmware
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AA & ACP are "Phone Projection" even when connected by wire.
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