Kia Carnival Test Drive Review – Best MPV?

Performance – The Korean people mover comes powered by both petrol and diesel engines. Our test car came powered by a 2.2-litre CRDi VGT engine that produces 197 HP of power and 440 Nm of torque. The motor is very calm and smooth and gets going quickly although there is a small amount of lag lower down the rev range. That said, where the oil-burner truly shines is in the mid-range but higher in the rev band, it starts feeling breathless. All that power is fed to the front wheels via an 8-speed automatic gearbox that is fast and slick in terms of shifts. However, one needs to work around the gears for a quick overtake. Expect a mileage of around 10-11 km/l if driven sedately and the humongous tank does ensure that we’re looking at a range of 700 plus kms on a full tank.

Driving Dynamics – At over 2 tonnes, the Kia Carnival is a heavy car. The feedback from the steering is decent and it also weighs up well at triple digit speeds. The suspension setup is slightly on the softer side which leads to a good ride quality but at the cost of some body roll. High speed stability is good as the vehicle feels composed at all times. The tyres offer decent grip around the corners and don’t screech on heavy braking. The brakes offer good stopping power with ABS being well calibrated.

Safety and After Sales Service – The Kia Carnival is loaded with safety features like ABS with CBC and EBD, Traction Control, Rollover Mitigation, Autonomous Emergency Braking and multiple airbags. The vehicle has received a full 5-stars from NCAP in crash worthiness. It remains to be seen how expansive and customer-friendly will the after-sales service network of the Korean carmaker be in India.