Safety & Security

Sophisticated kit makes Picanto ´best-in-class´

Kia is determined to offer its customers the highest levels of safety when travelling in one of the company´s products - from the smallest to the largest of its vehicles. Extensive research and development into structural design and vehicle behaviour in real-world accidents, has resulted in Picanto providing excellent occupant protection for an A-Segment car.

The best way to protect occupants is to help the driver avoid hazardous situations. Picanto´s line up of active-safety features includes good visibility, agile handling, responsive power steering and a highly effective braking system.

Unusually for this class of vehicle, Picanto comes with disc brakes all round - ventilated 241 mm diameter 18 mm thick discs at the front and 234 mm solid 10 mm thick discs at the rear. The four-disc system is backed up by state-of-the-art ABS anti-lock and EBD (electronic brake force distributor). The ABS system allows the driver to apply maximum brake force to all four wheels without locking them, to retain steering control and avoid excessive understeer.

EBD can sense different passenger and cargo loads, and helps to distribute braking force evenly front-to-rear, to maximise the effectiveness of the braking system, and achieve the shortest possible stopping distances. This system enables the Picanto to come to a complete stop from 100 kph in just 41 metres.

Eight features to enhance passive safety

The first line of defence during an accident is the actual structure of the car. Kia has employed the very latest finite element analysis techniques to create a bodyshell for Picanto that combined compact dimensions and light weight with a robust passenger survival-cell and crush zones. Such elements enable the shell to deform in a controlled manner to ensure impact forces are distributed widely and with the least possible transfer of forces to the occupants.

As well as the inherent strength of the bodyshell, Picanto is equipped with high-tensile steel beams in each door to resist and disperse side impact forces, reinforced front and rear bumpers (that can absorb 4.0 kph impacts without deformation), and child safety locks on the rear doors. Warning lights in the instrument panel alert the driver if any door or the tailgate is not properly shut.

Seatbelts are both simple and effective safety aids, and the Picanto is fitted with three-point seatbelts for all five occupants in the five-seat version. The front seatbelts have height-adjustable top mounts (for greater security and a more comfortable fit), and pretensioners with load limiters (to tighten the seat belt in the event of a collision and maintain consistent loading to minimise g-force peaks and occupant bruising). An ISOFIX anchorage point for a child safety seat is fitted in the rear seats cushion.

Driver and passenger front airbags are installed as standard, while side airbags mounted in both front seats are also available. Sensors gauge the severity of a frontal impact before deploying the airbags. This ensures that the airbags are not triggered by low impact collisions during parking manoeuvres or by stresses not caused by impact, such as hitting a pothole at high speed.

Additional sensors in the central B-pillars control deployment of the side airbags. In the event that a side impact is registered, a signal is also relayed to the front airbags and the seatbelt pretensioners, ensuring that all the car´s safety systems work in an integrated fashion to provide full occupant protection.

Security while using Picanto is enhanced by the fitting of central locking and remote releases for both the tailgate and the fuel filler flap. To ensure the Picanto remains secure when parked, it also comes with an engine immobiliser and (as an option) keyless entry and an anti-theft alarm.

The car´s electronic control module (ECM) uses a special encryption algorithm to check that the key inserted in the ignition carries the correct coding that matches the code stored within the ECM. If the codes do not match, the engine will not start.

Editors´ note
Please note that technical and equipment specifications and options availability for the Picanto LX and EX models, may vary country by country. Please check with your local Kia Distributor for final details and prices.