New Kia Picanto vs Fiat 500 vs Hyundai i10

Do you struggle with parking in a multi-storey car park? Find squeezing your car down a narrow lane challenging? Does it barely fit in your garage? Ever pondered whether your car might just be too darned big?

Well, you’re not alone. Since the 1970s, cars have been growing in size, with the average car’s width increasing by 1cm (0.4in) every two years, according to non-profit organisation Transport and Environment, a leading European advocate for clean transport and energy. Factors that drive this growth include the perception that bigger cars are safer and more refined.

But is it really necessary? We’re not so sure. That’s why we’ve rounded up three of the smallest cars currently on sale for a road trip. We’ll navigate everything from the narrowest street in London to the (hopefully) faster-flowing M25 motorway, with a visit to a famous test track to keep things interesting.

The contenders

The first candidate is one of the most recognisable cars on the road today. With chic, retro, typically Italian looks, the Fiat 500 is one of the best-selling city cars in the UK, despite being launched way back in 2007.

Over the years, Fiat has made minor tweaks to the 500’s exterior and interior, with the most significant update being the introduction of a new 69bhp 1.0-litre mild hybrid engine in 2020. However, the competition in this class is far from weak, with many of its rivals having more modern underpinnings.

One such rival is the Hyundai i10. Like the 500, it was first launched in 2007, but we’ve seen two more generations since, each better than the last. It comes with a range of peppy petrol engines – including our preferred 78bhp 1.2, which we’ve lined up here – and has the added practicality of two more doors than the three-door-only 500. Its dimensions are very similar to those of the Peugeot 205 – a car that was considered a fantastic small car in the 1980s and ’90s.

The 500 and i10 are up against the Kia Picanto, which is looking particularly sharp following a recent update. In addition to a fresh exterior look, the latest Picanto benefits from technology upgrades inside (including an 8.0in touchscreen infotainment system as standard) and more safety equipment. Its 1.0-litre petrol engine is the least powerful in this test (with 62bhp), but does that really matter in a small runabout? Well, we’re about to find out.

City living

To find out how well suited these cars are to clogged city streets, we headed for central London – location of the narrowest street we could find. It’s only a journey of 15 miles from our Twickenham office to Jacksons Lane, Archway, but in rush hour, the sat-nav indicated that it would take us more than two hours. Sounds miserable, right?

Well, not when you’re behind the wheel of a Fiat 500. This is a car developed on the narrow streets of Turin, Italy, and it shows. You sit high up by city car standards (we’ll delve deeper into the driving position’s intricacies later on), and the car has ultra-short front and rear overhangs and narrow window pillars. As a result, visibility is superb all round; this can come in handy when changing lanes and pulling out of junctions. You don’t need systems like blindspot monitoring when you have no blindspots to speak of.

The 500 also has the tightest turning circle of our trio (9.3 metres, or half a metre less than the i10 and Picanto), and you can make the already light steering even lighter at the press of a button. Factor in a relatively peppy engine and an accurate six-speed manual gearbox and the 500 is a breeze to drive around town.

The same can’t be said for the Picanto. It may be only 7bhp down on the 500, but it has much less low-down grunt. We know from experience that this isn’t a problem on a country road where you have the space to rev it hard, but in the city, you want immediate forward thrust to propel you out of junctions and away from the traffic lights. Instead, the Picanto keeps you waiting until around 3500rpm before you start to make decent progress. By that point, you’ve been swamped by 50cc mopeds and overly keen Uber drivers.

The Picanto does have its strengths, though. It is the narrowest car here, allowing you to effortlessly scythe past parked taxis and delivery vans without having to deviate too far out of your lane, and while it doesn’t have the sharpest steering, there is very little body lean, which gives you the confidence to really throw it about. If only it had more grunt.

That’s not a problem in the i10, which is the liveliest car here. Put your foot down in first or second gear and it pulls strongly, with very little drama. Its engine is noticeably smoother and quieter than those in the 500 and Picanto, too. This flexibility, combined with a plusher low-speed ride than the brittle 500 and unsettled Picanto, almost makes you think you’re driving a larger and more expensive car.

True, visibility isn’t quite as panoramic as it is in the 500, given that the i10 is a physically larger car with thicker pillars. However, the i10 shares the same box-like proportions as the Picanto, so judging their extremities is a doddle – an attribute that came in handy when we finally arrived at Jacksons Lane. Despite watching in horror as the SUV in front of us struggled to navigate the 6ft 6in-wide street, kerbing its expensive alloy wheels in the process, all three of our cars made it through with relative ease.

Curiously, it was the 500 that was the hardest to place, due to its non-uniform proportions: slim up top, chunky at the bottom. With the lowest-profile tyres and the biggest wheels on test, it also ramped up the pressure on its driver not to scrape the kerbs. Mercifully, despite the fact that we went up and down Jacksons Lane a few times, no damage was done.

Town and country

Heading out of central London and onto the M25 gave us a chance to assess how these cars stack up as long-distance companions.

Given that the slowest car here can reach 90mph, it’s hardly surprising that they can all cruise at the national speed limit. However, this doesn’t mean it’s an effortless experience. All of these cars require you to look far ahead, predict the movements of other road users and plan your line carefully. With so little power on tap, you simply don’t want to lose any momentum.

This issue is most acute in the 500 and Picanto. If you have to slow down to 60mph due to an overtaking vehicle or a traffic bottleneck, you often need to drop down a gear of two and floor the accelerator pedal. Even then, you’re likely to have an SUV breathing down your neck.

You’re less likely to feel out of your depth in the i10. While it doesn’t have a power-boosting turbocharger like, say, a Dacia Sandero, it has just enough low-end grunt to cope with the ebb and flow of faster-moving UK traffic.

The i10 is also the quietest motorway cruiser by quite some margin. The three-cylinder engines in the 500 and Picanto thrum away at higher speeds, but the four-cylinder unit in the i10 is noticeably more subdued. What’s more, the 500 and Picanto generate quite a lot of wind noise, but ultimately it’s the former that’s the loudest cruiser, with a surprising amount of road roar as well. It’s loud enough that you wish the 500 had a more powerful stereo.

To compound matters, the 500 is the most unsettled car at these speeds, bouncing and shuddering over expansion joints and pitted surfaces. The i10 and Picanto aren’t as troubled by such obstacles, but there’s no escaping the fact that the latter has a firmer, less forgiving ride. While the i10 is supple enough to soak up most imperfections, they make themselves felt in the Picanto – not in a harsh way, but enough to become tiring on longer trips.

But what about the comfort offered by their driving positions? Well, the i10 and Picanto are hard to fault. With well-aligned pedals and a driver’s seat that is adjustable for height, getting comfortable (and staying that way) is easy. And while their steering wheels adjust only for height, not reach, none of our testers found this to be a big problem, because each steering wheel naturally sits a good distance out from the dashboard.

This is not the case with the 500, a car that is crying out for telescopic steering wheel adjustment. With the wheel mounted both too high and too close to the dashboard, you’re forced to adopt either the posture of a 17-year-old learner driver – towering over the steering wheel with your legs crushed against the bottom of the dashboard – or a gangsta-lean pose, where your legs sit in a natural position but you have to stretch out to reach the wheel. To add insult to injury, the seat doesn’t adjust for height (in Top trim, you can adjust only the angle of the seat base), and the footwell is cramped, with little space for your left foot.

The 500 does fight back, however, with a trendy, eye-catching interior design. Yes, there is plenty of hard plastic on show, but the body-coloured dashboard looks superb, and there are lots of ’60s-inspired design details such as chrome door handles and lozenge-shaped physical buttons. The only element that really lets it down is a 7.0in infotainment screen that has slow response times, poor resolution and small icons that are hard to hit on the move.

The i10, meanwhile, occupies the other end of the interior design spectrum. With its interior consisting of different shades of grey plastic, it’s as dour as a winter’s day in Glasgow. True, it’s well built and the 8.0in touchscreen is a breeze to navigate, but it’s not exactly a welcoming environment.

Which is where the Picanto comes in. Although it doesn’t feature any more soft-touch materials than the i10, the plastics have been textured in such a way that they don’t look or feel cheap. All the buttons and switches feel nicely damped, and even the physical air-con knobs benefit from a grippy, more premium-feeling surface. What’s more, as in the i10, the Picanto’s infotainment system is straightforward and intuitive to use, with an 8.0in touchscreen and physical shortcut buttons, while Android Auto and Apple CarPlay phone mirroring is standard.

Lounging around

Diving off the M25 and into leafy Surrey gave us the chance to pull over and inspect the rear seating situation.

Unsurprisingly, the 500 is the least accommodating, forcing passengers to climb through a narrow aperture to access a pair of cramped seats. And we mean cramped. If you and the front occupant are taller than 5ft 7in, you’ll find your knees brushing the back of the seat in front, and you’ll need to tilt your head to fit under the tapering roofline.

Unlike the 500, the i10 and Picanto can each accommodate three passengers in the rear if necessary, immediately making them more versatile than their rival. However, the i10 has significantly more leg room than the Picanto, so if you travel with four (or five) passengers regularly, the former is your best bet.

When it comes to luggage capacity, things are a bit less clear cut. The i10 has a 252-litre boot, which is not far short of the Picanto’s impressive 255-litre capacity. However, unlike the Picanto, it doesn’t have a height-adjustable boot floor. The upside is that we found it easier to fit three carry-on suitcases under the i10’s parcel shelf, because the sides of the boot are uniform in shape (in the Picanto, the brackets for the adjustable boot floor can get in the way). The downside is that when you fold the rear seatbacks down, you’re stuck with a step in the extended load bay floor.

The 500 trails the other two in terms of outright capacity, with just 185 litres on offer. But that number is deceiving, because the 500’s boot is surprisingly deep and broad, allowing us to fit three carry-on suitcases under its tonneau cover. The only real downside is that, with a sizeable load lip at the entrance, removing heavy luggage can be a bit of a struggle.

Drag queens

After taking in some of Surrey’s scenic roads, where once again the i10 impressed us with its crisp steering, positive gearbox and sprightly performance, we arrived at Dunsfold Aerodrome for what might just be the slowest drag race of all time.

Now, you might be thinking, why drag race three city cars? Well, first, drag race videos are popular on YouTube. And who are we to deny our audience that simple pleasure? And second (and more important), it allowed us to see if our road impressions were accurate.

As it turns out, they were. We conducted three drag races back to back (on a slightly uphill runway), and each time the result was the same. The i10 edged ahead, while the 500 just managed to pip the Picanto. But don’t go thinking the i10 is some sort of hot hatch. We timed it from 0-60mph in 15.4sec. That’s respectable, but not massively quicker than the 500’s 16.0sec and the Picanto’s 16.8sec.

The money

When it comes to specifying your city car, we recommend opting for one of the cheaper trims available. Otherwise, the costs quickly climb to the point where you might as well step up to a bigger, more polished model, such as a Renault Clio or Skoda Fabia.

Hyundai is well aware of this, and that’s why both the 1.0-litre and 1.2-litre engines are available in conjunction with entry-level Advance trim. This is not the case with the Picanto, which requires you to step up to Shadow trim (£18,745) if you want 1.2-litre power. So, in reality, you’re getting a much stronger engine in the i10 (£16,830) for much the same money as the Picanto (£16,745 in our favourite GT-Line trim) and 500 (£16,800); in fact, after discounts have been factored in, the i10 is cheaper than the Picanto.

But won’t a 1.2-litre engine be less economical, you might ask? Well, yes, but not by a huge margin. On our mixed test route, the i10 averaged 47.4mpg, versus 48.8mpg for the 500 and 52.6mpg for the Picanto. And the i10 compensates with slower depreciation than its rivals; in the end, it and the Picanto will cost much the same to own over three years. The fact that the 500 sheds value the fastest makes it the priciest over the same period.

What about if you were to go down the PCP finance route? The i10 still looks tempting, at £236 a month, versus £247 for the Picanto, but it’s impossible to ignore the 500. Assuming a £2000 initial deposit and an annual limit of 10,000 miles, you’ll pay just £209 per month for the 500 – a figure Fiat has achieved by offering buyers a £2000 deposit contribution (£1500 more than Hyundai and Kia) and a much lower interest rate of 5.7% APR.

None of these cars is poorly equipped. They all come with alloy wheels, manual air-con, electric windows and cruise control. But the Picanto stands out with faux leather seats, LED headlights and electrically adjustable, folding and heated door mirrors. Strangely, rear parking sensors aren’t standard on the 500 (well worth adding for £201), whereas it’s the only car here that includes a sunroof as standard.

If safety is a priority, you might want to avoid the 500, because it doesn’t get automatic emergency braking or lane-keeping assistance,  both of which are standard on its rivals. The Euro NCAP ratings for the 500 and Picanto have expired; the i10 was awarded three stars in 2020.

Our verdict

The 500 comes last in this test, although it does have some strengths. Its retro styling and colourful dashboard are endearing, plus the peppy mild hybrid engine is effective in urban driving.

Sadly, the 500 is let down by its lack of refinement and poor driving position. It’s also hard to recommend a car that lacks some important safety features.

The competition between the i10 and Picanto is much closer. Both are genuinely capable cars that are good to drive, with sound driving positions and competitive pricing. However, the i10 edges ahead with its more spacious interior, plusher ride and the fact that you can get a stronger engine for the same money. Factor in its relatively slow depreciation and the i10 proves that it’s still possible, in 2024, to buy a fantastic all-rounder that won’t break the bank.

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Specifications: Kia Picanto 1.0 GT-Line

List price £16,745
Target Price £16,115
Power 62bhp at 5000rpm
Torque 69lb ft at 3750rpm
Gearbox 5-spd manual
0-60mph 16.8sec (on test)
Top speed 90mph
Official economy 54.3mpg
Test economy 52.6mpg
CO2, tax band 121g/km, 29%

Specifications: Fiat 500 1.0 Mild Hybrid 70HP

Price £16,800
Engine 3cyl, 999cc, petrol
Power 69bhp at 6000rpm
Torque 68lb ft at 3500pm
Gearbox 6-spd manual
0-60mph 16.0sec (on test)
Top speed 104mph
Official economy 61.4mpg
Test economy 48.8mpg
CO2, tax band 109g/km, 26%

Specifications: Hyundai i10 1.2 Advance

Price £16,830
Engine 4cyl, 1197cc, petrol
Power 78bhp at 6000rpm
Torque 87lb ft at 4200pm
Gearbox 5-spd manual
0-60mph 15.4sec (on test)
Top speed 97mph
Official economy 53.2mpg
Test economy 47.4mpg
CO2, tax band 119g/km, 28%

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