Kia Carnival 2015 Review - International

Since its first public outing at the New York motor show earlier this year, the all-new third-generation Kia Carnival has drawn plenty of praise from prospective buyers and motoring critics alike. Even the motoring.com.au crew thought it was a handsome devil.

With improved safety standards — including full-length curtain airbags and three-point seatbelts for all occupants for the first time — a comprehensive array of electronic driver aids, greater infotainment and amenity levels, and a choice of modern direct-injected petrol or turbo-diesel engines, the new Carnival is a giant leap forward for van-kind.

Styled under the direction of former Audi designer Peter Schreyer, the 'European-inspired' look of the new Carnival adopts Kia's now-familiar corporate Tiger Nose front-end, a flat yet elegant profile and SUV-like backside.

It's a positive move away from the former model's styling which, although updated with new engines and equipment just over two years ago, was essentially unchanged since its global debut back in 2007.

Dimensionally the Carnival is unchanged in width at 1985mm, but shrinks in length to 5115mm (-15mm) and height to 1740mm (-20mm). Kerb weight is yet to be revealed, but for reference the current model is listed at 2046kg (diesel) and 2117kg (petrol).

The interior, too, has undergone a comprehensive makeover. Visual and tactile improvements are obvious, as are those to the Carnival's ergonomics and newly configurable rear-seat packaging.

A longer wheelbase at 3060mm (+40mm) and a cab-forward cockpit extracts more space between the first- and (longitudinally-adjustable) second-row, while the third-row's clever fold-away 60/40-split seating elicits even more carrying capacity to 912 litres (+29 litres) in two-row mode. The second row’s centre seat is removable.

For the Australian market, an eight-set (three-row) configuration will be offered, foregoing the 11-seat (four-row) model sold in some markets.

Kia has gone to great pains to extract more legroom in all three rows (+14mm, +5mm and +21mm respectively), but has lost some shoulder room in the last two rows (-58mm and -16mm), although the hip point of the back seats is higher to provide a more natural seating position.

With a lower ceiling, however, headroom decreases in the first and second rows (-10mm) but grows slightly in the third (+14mm).

The Carnival’s eight seating positions are all fitted with three-point seatbelts, curtain airbags, air-conditioning ventilation outlets, cup-holders and assorted oddment storage. As a bonus, the centre-row windows are (electrically) retractable.

Upholstery and trim quality has also undergone an upmarket renovation. The family-friendly cloth seats offer stain-repelling and anti-microbial protection from the little ones' spills, and anti-static protection to combat electrical friction shocks, while the increased use of padded and soft-touch materials adds greater comfort and appears on smaller, often forgotten areas (such as armrests).

Higher-spec variants will be offered standard with soft, chromium-free Nappa leather seating surfaces, with electric adjustment and folding, position memory and heating and ventilation functionality (front seats only).

The cabin is also bestowed with Kia's next-generation UVO Infotainment & Telematics system. The system's full functionality is unlikely to be fully operable Down Under (owing to the extensive networking infrastructure it requires), but in South Korea and parts of the US it is capable of providing a host of eServices including geo-fencing, speed alert, curfew alert and (eco) driving score.

Additionally, the Carnival's infotainment array will offer access to the Kia app store via Google Play or Apple iTunes. The system currently provides for streaming applications such as Pandora, iHeart Radio and Yelp, and is expected to expand to offer even more entertainment and service features as they're made available. Siri "Eyes Free" technology, Sirius XM Travel Link and satellite radio and Google's Local Search concierge program are also available (in some markets).

Optional driver assist technology will include vehicle stability management, a forward collision warning system, radar-based cruise control, blind-spot detection and rear cross-traffic alert (which detects cars and motorcycles). It is expected Kia will bundle these technologies within a pack and/or offer it in conjunction with the high-grade model for the Australian market.

Amenity levels are also improved with high-power USB charging ports, a 115-volt power outlet (in some markets) and a number of 12-volt outlets throughout. The dual-lid glovebox offers a cooled lower storage area for drinks, while a surround-view camera makes parking a breeze.

Finally, door-handle illumination (puddle lights), retractable mirrors and a hands-free Smart Tailgate (like that found on the new Hyundai Santa Fe) aim to make life at the car park as easy as possible.

But Kia hasn't just loaded the Carnival with a plush interior and a heap of tech, it has also reworked the people-mover's chassis and mechanical package entirely.

Now (essentially) based on the same platform as the next-generation Sorento, the Carnival is more torsionally rigid (+36 per cent), thanks to the greater use of ultra high strength steel (now 76 per cent of the body), and offers improved collision protection and structural durability.

Kia says the Carnival's new isolated rear sub-frame will not only improve vehicle stability and dynamism, but also reduce cabin NVH, while new cross-member bushings, 'amplitude selected dampers', reinforced strut mounts and longer rear trailing arms will improve ride/handling characteristics.

The front-end, like the Sorento's, features a revised MacPherson strut set-up, but is unique to the Carnival thanks to engine-specific spring and damper rates and electric steering tune.

Under the bonnet, Kia has installed its new Lambda II direct-injected 3.3-litre petrol V6, and will also offer the carry-over 2.2-litre R-Series four-cylinder turbo-diesel.

The petrol unit replaces the 3.5-litre V6 offered previously and, thanks to a three-stage variable induction system and dual continuously variable valve timing, provides 205kW at 6000rpm (+3kW/-300rpm) and 336Nm at 5200rpm (unchanged/+700Nm), while the oiler continues to make 143kW at 3800rpm and 429Nm at 2000rpm.

Both are mated to a Hyundai/Kia-developed six-speed automatic transmission (also carried over).

We don't have fuel consumption averages for the Australian market at this time. However, in the South Korean market, the Carnival is listed as consuming 7.7L/100km on the combined cycle for the diesel (-0.4) and 11.6L/100km for the petrol (+0.7). 0-100km/h figures are quoted at 13.6sec and 8.5sec respectively.

On the road the Carnival is a pleasure to drive. Its high, SUV-like driving position is easy to access and provides easy reach to all primary controls (including the loathed foot-operating park brake) and ancillary functions. The instrument panel is vivid and easy to read at a glance, while the climate-control and audio functionality is likewise intuitive.

We drove the diesel-powered model on Korean roads and found that aside from a light rattle and vibration at idle, the engine is otherwise quite refined. It offers accessible torque with minimal step-off lag, and is punchy enough in its middle reaches for confident highway passing.

The six-speed auto shifts cleanly and is decisive when asked to kick-down. There is a manual mode offered via the shifter, though on the smooth surfaces and long radius corners of the highways surrounding Seoul, this function was surplus to requirements.

Kia says its additional wheel-house padding, double-sealed sliding doors and extensive sound deadening material has made the cabin quiet enough to conduct a conversation at highway speeds. And while this may be true if you’re sat in the same row, we did find that communicating between the first and last row did require one to raise their voice (we measured cabin noise at 77dbA at 100km/h in the second row).

The noise levels may alter once Australian-spec suspension and tyres are fitted, which will also affect the Carnival’s handling. Sufficed to say we didn’t really have the opportunity to sample the vehicle’s dynamics (our drive loop was restricted to smooth, highway roads), but can report a level of ride comfort and steering response in line with better models in the class (ie: Honda Odyssey and Citroen Grand C4 Picasso).

This is rather irrelevant anyway, considering Australian models will feature different spring and damping rates, and a reconfigured (electric) steering and sway bar set-up.

On test we averaged 8.6L/100km, though this figure too will no-doubt rise with mixed driving. It’s still a fair result, especially considering the vehicle we sampled had only 190km on the odometer when we set off; and if our tests of this engine in vehicles including the Sorento and Hyundai Santa Fe are anything to go by, it’s not far off the mark.

The Kia Carnival's comprehensive list of improvements and added refinement should serve only to extend the model's popularity in the Australian market. To the end of October (2014) the Carnival found 1419 homes to hold an 18 per cent share of its 14-vehicle-strong segment, in which it lies third behind the all-new Odyssey (2053 units) and Hyundai's ageing, commercial van-based iMax (1766 units).

Now more than ever the Carnival is a value proposition family buyers should find difficult to ignore, and with better flexibility and amenity levels that put some SUVs to shame — plus Kia's exemplary after-sales support — makes not only more sense from a practicality viewpoint, but on the hip-pocket too.

Kia is set to confirm local trim, specification, pricing, safety rating, fuel consumption and emissions figures closer to the model's launch here in March next year.

2015 Kia Carnival pricing and specifications:
Price: TBA
Engine: 3.3-litre petrol; 2.2-litre turbo-diesel
Output: 205kW/336Nm; 143kW/429Nm
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.7L/100km; 11.6L/100km (combined, in Korea)
Safety rating: (Five-star ANCAP expected)
On sale: March 2015