New Kia Carnival First Impressions & Review

The Korean car maker company’s Kia carnival has been rebooted to be 15mm shorter and 55mm lower along with more features and some enhanced safety measures. The ‘grand’ tag has been removed and people will see the old Carnival from now on. For the S model, the range for the Carnival starts from USD 41,490 which is around 2000 dollars higher than the previous model it replaced. It comes with features like rear parking sensors, reversing camera, dual-zone air-conditioning, Bluetooth, cruise control and 17 inches steel wheels with plastic cladding. And for any other colour except white is USD 695 costlier.

There is also a string of improved safety features such as forward collision warning, the blind spot warning and lane departure warning but auto braking has yet to arrive in the vehicle. Additionally curtain airbags providing the protection to all the three rows- it has been the first time for a Carnival model to have that feature and in all the eight positions lap-shash belts are here to make the trip safer and comfortable. But one slight hitch is that the belt reminder for the rear seats is yet to be installed which is quite common in cars now a days and a necessary safety feature to ensure safety of the kids.

Other than that slight problem the safety features are world class. The NCAP crash testing revealed that the there is a potential for the injury on the driver’s leg in an offset test for collision. However, the test wasn’t conducted on the diesel model but V6. It’s quite understandable that Kia is working on some good improvements on the safety features and is expected to arrive with the model later this year.

Despite the fact that in the new modification the size has been reduced but still the interiors are quite spacious. There are a total of 8 seats inside the vehicle, 2 at the front and 3 each on the second row and the third row and enough headroom is provided for the adults for a comfortable driving experience. Other than 8 set there is a deep and wide space of 960 litres. It is one of those rare cars which can carry eight people and quite a good amount of luggage at the very same time. The space in the dual glove compartment, a handy storage packet and a huge central console is also quite good along which makes the car a good deal for storing a large number of small and big household items.

Now about the engine, a 3.6 litre V6 engine works quite smoothly but the fuel consumption level is very high which is then rectified by the 2.2 litre engine. It’s pretty strong maximum torque which is 440 Nm is perfectly suited for the two tonnes heavy vehicle which effortlessly carries out heavy duty works with ease. The six speed automatic transmission gels with it in style.

Finally, our conclusion is that the vehicle is quite decent when it comes to the big family getaways and does a commendable job otherwise.