Road test review: Kia Carnival Premium

Friday, 30 April 2021

Kia's all-new Carnival people mover is a big (very big) player in a small segment. But it is also deeply impressive.

KIA CARNIVAL PREMIUM
Base price: $74,990
Powertrain and economy: 2.2-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder, 148kW/440Nm, 8-speed automatic, FWD, combined economy 6.5L/100km, CO2 169g/km (source: RightCar).

Wait... aren’t people movers supposed to look awful? Why does the Kia Carnival look absolutely awesome then?

Vital statistics: 5155mm long, 1995mm wide, 1775mm high, 3090mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 627/2785 litres, 19-inch alloy wheels.
We like: Fantastic looks, brilliant and comfortable interior, actually good to drive.

Kia is really nailing the whole styling thing these days, with adventurous, modern design that also looks great.

We don't like: A nice high-tech plug-in hybrid engine would suit it better, it is a big lad to park.

Kia certainly is nailing the whole styling thing these days, but does its slick, futuristic-looking people mover tick the right boxes to succeed in a niche segment?

There isn’t an angle that the Carnival looks awkward from – a first for a people mover.

So why would you buy something like this when there are seven-seat SUVs around?

The answer to that question becomes extremely apparent as you get close to the Carnival – this thing is enormous. You buy it for the space, baby!

**READ MORE:

The Carnival packs a hugely roomy and high quality interior as well.

* Road Test Review: Kia Sorento Premium

* Kia confirms local Sorento hybrid and PHEV pricing

While the Carnival’s diesel engine is very good indeed, something a bit more high-tech would be more fitting.

* Hyundai's largest SUV is here

* Road test review: Honda Odyssey Premium

This is driven home when you take a peek inside and see that all three rows have simply massive amounts of legroom and passenger space, making the third row of an SUV look like the dismal and embarrassing joke that it is. In serious people moving terms, that is.

The Carnival shows three-row SUVs exactly why people movers are better at moving people, with huge amounts of leg room in every row.

The new Carnival is 5155mm long, 1995mm wide and packs an impressive 627 litres of cargo space with the seats up and a truly cavernous 2785 litres with them down.

Yes, the Carnival is freakin’ massive, and it is totally proud of that fact. A full-blown eight-seater (no captain’s chairs like the recently reviewed Honda Odyssey here) that is solely concerned with transporting as many people as possible in as much comfort as possible. Oh, and looking pretty damn sharp with it.

It does look good. Why does it look good? Aren’t people movers supposed to look dorky?

I don’t think there was ever a rule that said that, but they generally did anyway. Even the relatively handsome Honda mentioned earlier had a slight air of “oh, I don’t know, it’s just a car” about it.

But not the Carnival – it takes the sharp, modern design language that started with the Seltos small SUV, was refined with the Sorento large SUV and has now been stretched to its glorious extreme here.

The Carnival’s long, low, wide proportions are reminiscent of the 3rd-generation Honda Odyssey and the fantastic US-market Ford Flex (but not as brilliantly boxy), but with a slick layer of Kia’s edgy design language and a slightly more cab-forward attitude. It almost looks like someone has squashed a Range Rover and, while that may sound like an insult, it isn’t.

On the inside things are as slickly modern as the outside. Not quite as adventurous as the Sorento, but still fresh, modern and satisfyingly well laid out.

It’s superbly comfortable too, with the big, nicely supportive seats and enormous amounts of space around the driver and front passenger offering a pleasingly airy feel to the cabin, while the quality materials in varying shades of cream and grey (with some lovely aluminium-style trim) are pleasant to look at, but more importantly also pleasant to touch.

The Premium top-spec model we drove was also packed with equipment and the latest technology, including a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen and a thumping Bose audio system, as well as all of Kia’s latest driver assists that are standard across the Carnival range.

This is probably only a secondary question when it comes to people movers, but what’s it like to drive?

Yeah, sparkling driving dynamics certainly aren’t at the top of the list in the people mover market, but it has to be said that the Carnival is actually rather good here too.

Boasting an impressively comfortable ride and a surprising lack of body roll, the Carnival is unlikely to make any motion sickness susceptible small people in the back experience sudden and unexpected regurgitation due to a wayward ride.

Hauling around an unladen weight of 2,082kg and pumping 440Nm of turbo diesel torque through the front wheels means there is a degree of wheelspin if you hit the throttle too sharply, but that is really the sole extent of any unruly behaviour from the Carnival, and it is generally a very pleasing and surprisingly brisk thing both around town and on the open road.

Kia claims an ADR combined fuel consumption figure of 6.5L/100km for the Carnival, but in reality it drinks a bit harder than that, although we did manage to get it into single digits (albeit mid-to-high 9s) during our time with it.

Is this just your weird soft spot for people movers, or is the Carnival actually a good thing?

All weird fondness for dorky cars aside, the Kia Carnival is an exceptionally good thing, sharing most of the exceptionally good aspects of its platform-mate, the Sorento large SUV.

But it does share the one irritation I also had with the Sorento – the diesel engine, while excellent, feels a bit out of place and almost anachronistic in such a modern looking and feeling vehicle. The Sorento now has a petrol plug-in hybrid option that we are getting our clammy hands on very soon and that would be absolutely perfect here as well…

Another thing we’re not entirely convinced about is the need for the $5k jump to the Premium models hefty asking price over the Deluxe model. While the $10k jump from the entry Carnival’s $59,990 to the Deluxe’s $69,990 is easily accounted for by all the extra kit you get, the Premium’s extra $5k gets you ventilated front seats, a heated steering wheel with paddle shifters, the Bose audio system and fancier LED projection headlights (all Carnivals get LED headlights though). Whether that is actually worth the extra or not is debatable.

Any other cars I should consider?

There is really only the Honda Odyssey that tops out with its Premium model at the Kia’s entry price ($59,990), but the Kia packs more tech and equipment, as well as higher quality materials and a way more modern look and feel.

If you don’t need the cavernous space and extra permanent seats, then a large seven-seat SUV like the excellent Sorento would be a fine option, but no SUV can match the Carnival’s sheer people moving power.