► Kia Picanto X-Line
► SUV’d city car
► Frankfurt 2017-bound
Do you hanker for a city car with the rugged off-road looks of a mud-plugging SUV? Yes? You’re in luck, as Kia has announced details of the Picanto X-Line um, crossover city car thing. Think of it as a Sportage-Sorento-Picanto hybrid and you’re just about there.
As well as boasting a raised ground clearance (15mm higher than the standard Picanto), the X-Line will wear ‘SUV-style bumpers’, metal-look skidplates at the front and rear, black cladding around the wheel arches and some zingy lime green highlights added to the grille and fog lamp surrounds (said highlights are also available in silver).
Will it be made available with four-wheel drive?
Nope. The jacked-up ride height is all the extra off-roading kit on offer, so don’t expect to see the Picanto X-Line on mountain rescue duties anytime soon.
What you do get, however, is first dibs on the 99bhp 1.0-litre T-GDI engine only previously available in Kia Cee’d and Rio models (GT-Line Picantos will also now be offered with the engine, too). As a result, 0-60mph is done-and-dusted in 10.1 seconds and fuel economy is a claimed 62.8mpg.
How much equipment will it come with?
The X-Line is to be treated as a trim level in its own right – and a premium one at that – meaning there’s plenty of niceties fitted as standard.
The kit list includes keyless entry, a 7.0-inch touchscreen with sat-nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, plus a rear-view camera to ensure those funky SUV-style bumpers stay the same shape as they came out of the factory.
Anything else I need to know?
It’ll be on sale from the start of Q4 2017 with pricing details yet to be announced.
Read our 2017 Kia Picanto GT-Line review here