The New Kia Carnival : this is the new Kia Carnival common with the old Carnival and it’s grown bigger in every Dimension it’s broader it’s longer it’s taller the wheelbase is longer too
The Styling it’s gone more aggressive more towards the SUV side of things and you can see of course right here in the front it’s got a massively wide Grill.
The Kia tiger no little indent there of course here the headlights they’re now the Ice Cube uh headlights that you have and projector lamps over there and down below of course you’ve got this little silver finished skit plate.
Exterior Design Overview
Striking Presence and Bold Proportions
now at the side you can really see and appreciate the length of the carnival and this horizontally oriented style and all of the details really gives it that sort of length and limousine like look as Kia calls it they call this the limousine plus variant I also particularly like this little indent here because it goes all across the car and nicely into the channel that you need for the sliding door and there are other neat details around the car too the cillar has a very nice textured silver finish the footboard is finished in silver and the 18-in Alloys have neat sharp and angular Cuts.
Rear Styling
now at the rear as you can see the tail lights they mimic the shape of the front as well and including the signatures of the DRL in here the styling elements it looks really nice and neat and clean and the number plate is housed in a recess that stretches neatly across the vidth and rounding off the details there’s a spoiler top and a silver finish skid plate below.
Boot Space and Practicality
since we’re here at the back let’s take a look inside the boot the tailgate is powered and boot space that’s pretty phenomenal because with all three rows up and if you see here you’ve got 600 and about 627 L of boot space that’s thanks to this large recess down here below what you can do also is fold this seat the third row and what’s nice is that it sort of sinks straight into that recess and then you can expand it to a maximum of 2,900 l so clearly a lot of cargo volume.
Engine, Performance and Driving Experience
New 2.2L Diesel Engine
time now to get going because there’s a lot new inside and under the hood too so what’s it like on the Move let’s begin with the engine 2.2 L diesel that’s what this Carnival has now that may sound familiar that’s because
the old Carnival had the same setup too but it’s a different unit the engine is new the block is all aluminium the previous one was a cast iron block Kia have done that to reduce the weight and therefore of course improve performance acceleration and efficiency but you have to watch out for sound levels because
it now misses out on the cast iron mass that helps dampen sound and vibrations so what’s this one like but you can hear the engine especially when you’re standing outside you do know it’s a diesel there’s no getting away from that but when you’re inside here it is quite hushed and Silent steady state cruising is a silent Affair but it can get quite vocal
where you can hear the engine is in the transient phases so when you are at lower RPMs and you press down and you want to get going the Drone does come through.
Power and Acceleration
in terms of specs the engine makes 193 h hpar and 441 new M of torque what does that feel like from behind the wheel well if you put your foot down like this there is a slight pause and then it begins to get going obviously this is an MPV it’s not being set up for a very sporty uh Drive although speaking of which you do have Drive modes and you’ve got of course Eco normal Sport and Auto uh Auto of course adjust according to your driving style sport mode of course improves acceleration but there’s still a small pause from the 8-speed Auto before it gets going.
Highway Overtaking and Efficiency
in terms of efficiency Kia says the government certified rating is 14.85% n km per liter now out on the highways you’re going to have to overtake slow moving traffic how does this one do well it doesn’t rocket past uh you know trucks and cars but put your foot down like this it’ll drop a gear or two and you’ll soon be by in a safe and sort of hassle-free manner you also have paddle shifters here behind the wheel to drop a gear quickly in case you think the response isn’t quick enough.
Steering and Ride Quality
the other change with the new Carnival is a switch from hydraulic to an electric assist power steering the effort at low speed parking speeds is fairly light and Easy in fact it doesn’t feel conversome the only thing you’ll have to watch out for of course is the big dimension of the car
at higher speeds in you know into slight Corners like right we are right now uh it does way up so it does give you a degree of confidence ride quality over broken surfaces and on you know a slightly unpaved or badly paved Village roads like the one we are on right now well it’s good if you keep a low steady pace
the bumps are small the larger ones though you can feel them come through the cabin like that at highp speeds body control is pretty good in fact the highway we are on does have a few slight undulations but it’s not causing the carnival to lift or float and body control at high speed Straits is pretty good.
Interior Quality and Cabin Experience
Dashboard and Displays
time now to take a look around the cabin which of course is nothing like the previous car the color mix of black and tan works very well and gives the cabin a nice and inviting atmosphere and looks premium and there’s just the right
amount of chrome trim though some would like the ambient lighting to be a little more elaborate in terms of the displays they’re both quite legible not very very high resolution and
super sharp but absolutely clear to read and get your information the IP panel here can be customized you’ve got a digital display what they call simple and then you have Circle which is the traditional dials and that’s something I really like to see.
Features and Technology
the carnival is also really well equipped they have increased the price in fact it’s gone up significantly from the earlier Carnival so what they’ve done though is added a whole lot of features so you’ve got a three Zone climate control you’ve
got a dual uh not a dual pain in fact they’re just two sunroofs one for the frontier and one for the rear uh you’ve got uh the B surround sound system uh the HUD of course uh and both rows the front and the second row have
powered seats with heating and ventilation too the other big feature addition is an Adas Suite in fact the carnival has a whole host of uh you know all your Adas features including you know a stop and go function to the cruise controls and this is the list of all the major equipment on the Carnival.
Front Seat Comfort
in terms of comfort so far I’ve been driving for a while and the front seats no complaints they’re very well shaped to my back and I think in fact larger frames should find it comfy too because there is some Gap to the bolstering on both sides for my narrower frame so uh I don’t think someone with a broader frame should find this too tight or too snug.
Second Row – The Real Highlight
Luxury and Adjustability
hello and welcome to what is definitely the most important seat in the KIA Carnival it’s a second row this was a car made for the chauffeur driven and boy have they put in a lot of effort here there are a few things that return from before
and some things that are new as before this seat moves in ways that you never thought a seat could move in fact it’s got way more adjustment than the seats up front for one it goes from left to right manually and it slides back and forth manually as well takes a little bit more effort but it’s not as simple as just doing a bit of origami there is a purpose
everything in fact the leftmost position is to Aid Ingress and egress and also to let passengers for the third row slip between these two rows over here that’s how you access the third row.
Seat Controls and Comfort Features
but if you want to get this seats full sliding reclining potential you have to tuck it into the inside with this lever here because now you can recline it to its fullest the reason being there is a bit of an obstruction when you have all the way to the left and that is now free once you’re in the cente
r yes it moves you quite close close to your Co passenger in the second row but that’s okay and interestingly the manual controls are on the left hand side and the power controls are on the right hand side over here it’s a bit counterintuitive to lean down but once you get the hang of it it’s okay.
Creature Comforts
when the two seats are very close yeah they are quite hard to reach but you can recline the seat quite a lot you can even get a bit of height adjust and seat base angle and there is a fold out ottoman now before I get into the full movement of
these seats I’m going to tell you a bit about the Creature Comforts back here this huge window lets in a lot of light but you can shut that away with this sun blind the thing
about it is even though it’s so vast there is a little sliver like a quarter glass that lets in some light right here onto your face but all things considered it does block out most of the light the seats are heated and ventilated there is a sunroof a second sunroof for the back over here and there is a third climate zone for the second and third rows.
Third Row Experience
stepping into the KIA Carnival is really easy thanks to the wide opening sliding doors one thing that you have to keep in mind is that these middle seats do not tumble forward so you need to ensure that they are in their outermost position
so that you have a wide enough Corridor to enter smoothly once you’re seated here you’ll notice that even for someone of my height I’m 5 9 in tall there’s enough space there’s
enough knee room in the middle setting which Gavin is in right now and there’s decent enough of Headroom as well what’s also nice is that the seat base is slightly angled so even though you are in a KN up position you still have some amount of high Support.
Final Verdict
then is the new Kia Carnival clearly a big step up over the previous car there are bits that need addressing though like the ride should have been plusher and the engine quieter but beyond that there’s a lot to like it looks a lot more modern
and Strikes the right balance between elegance and ruggedness inside it’s very well equipped and the cabin is very inviting looks premium and comfy too and the all important second row has everything you’d want from a sat
the third row too is spacious and there’s plenty of of storage for an outstation holiday with all three rows occupied too with the new Carnival then there’s clearly a whole lot of car that you get just be prepared though to Shell out a whole lot of money too.