[Mr.Bentley]

Excellent review of a very capable "VIP" mover!
I travelled in it for >100kms during my trips to South Korea. Man, were those VIP seats good! Ride quality was superb, very good NVH, and I could see the whole world through those window glasses! And those powered sliding doors! I felt like someone else was opening the door for me!

And the thing looks gorgeous too! I've seen some Carnivals in Black clothes, with black roof top cargo boxes, tinted glasses - with all the overdose of chrome, it looked more like a DON with a lot of gold on him

Source: Google search / Gaadiwaadi

[Bibendum90949]

What Makes Kia's Cars Winners - special feature by Auto Car.

https://youtu.be/GcVwGwE4dRw

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Bibendum90949

What Makes Kia's Cars Winners - special feature by Auto Car.

Let's please not share junk content that is obviously paid for by Kia. Let other platforms revel in their "sponsored content" party. Team-BHP should refrain from even sharing such rubbish. Thanks for the support & understanding

[GTO]

My brother (who works in the pharma industry) is currently stretching my car's legs around town. Hence, the Carnival gets the Z-level rat security treatment

[karan561]

The Kia Carnival to me is a 2014 product which i feel is at the fag end of its face-lifted life cycle & launched too late in India. They should have not launched this version at all & just waited for the new gen to be developed and launch that version only. Hence not at all a fresh product. BUT it has managed to add a fresh twist to the segment. The engine/gearbox, comfort & space it offers is surely its USP & helped it sell.

However, Kia India seems to have a plan. This plan comes to notice as soon as they dropped "Grand" from their terminology. During the pre launch of Kia brand in India this car was named Kia Grand Carnival. Now with this launch they have renamed it as Kia Carnival & dropped 'Grand'. Hence IMO what Kia India intends to do is launch the new gen Carnival as Kia Grand Carnival & continue selling this current model as Kia Carnival & probably drop some price and target the travel sector (Sort of the Maruti Dzire / Dzire Tour way)

Long story short, wait for the new gen

[Mar21]

I always smile when i read that the 3rd row is best suited for children. Somehow our family manages to prove that wrong each time we get into one of the MPVs.

The extended family is 8 members strong (with the two kids children needing more space than that occupied by two adults - thus the need to fit 8 adults in comfort)

I'm waiting to go and check out the 8/9 seat versions in person.

Keen to understand if

1.The three aside seating format in the 8 seat configuration is comfortable for 3 adults in the middle and third rows

2.The 9 seat configuration provides more comfort vs. the 8 seat config for 8 adults and the trade-off involved both in terms of legroom for all the four rows and the ability to carry luggage

Any real life experiences so far on this forum? please do share.

I don't know if I would sign on the dotted line though.

Head says- Nooooo.
Heart says- Those moments together as a family will be worth it.
Head counters with- how many times are you happy at having to share your time behind the wheel with others and pop into the third row.

Anyways, here's how i'm thinking about it.

• Need to be convinced about its USP - has to really wow me with its ability to transport 8 adults in comfort (needs to be significantly better than the 8 in a Hexa or an Innova)
  
• This cannot be the only car in the family: The primary use case for this would be to travel together and in safety as a family of 8. We will continue to have the hatchbacks
  
• There are workarounds: I could potentially look to rent as a self drive for outstation trips (hoping it makes it way to that market) and continue with the 2 car model for in city trips.
  
• Too big for a daily drive: If however, it was to become my daily drive it could be considered.(though i don't see any reason why i would need a car this big as my daily drive or any one else in my family even considering it as their daily drive)
  
• Too large a ticket size for a niche use case: If it was priced lower (i don't have a point of view on whether it is value for money) could consider it as the low usage family car. At its current price point, i wouldn't want to put down that much money for a car that would be used twice a month.

[sivaselvam]

Dear Carnival-owners and other enthusiasts,

I got Carnival about two months back and barely driven 100KM. I sorely miss the front-parking camera due to tight parking in my home, which needs taking a few 90 degrees turns and parking between multiple pillars, both while parking and taking the car out. I am disappointed that for a car priced so high and so long, they have not given front camera option and the sensor is not very helpful. Any workable aftermarket options for this? Will fender mirror help in alleviating this problem and is it possible to fit them on Carnival? Thanks, for replies and suggestions.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by Mar21

The 9 seat configuration provides more comfort vs. the 8 seat config for 8 adults and the trade-off involved both in terms of legroom for all the four rows and the ability to carry luggage

From the pictures, it appears that the 9 seater can accommodate 6 adults in comfort and their luggage (with the last row collapsed, it may still have 400 L of boot space. Also remember that there is some space left to keep small bags in between the captain seats in 2 rows. ) All 9 seats are usable only for a city usage perhaps.
8 seater comes in only the lower trim and the last row would never be as comfortable as the captain seats.

[FlyingSpur]

Originally Posted by Mar21

I always smile when i read that the 3rd row is best suited for children. Somehow our family manages to prove that wrong each time we get into one of the MPVs.

The Kia Sedona (same thing) I had for a week in 2015 in Los Angeles was the best roadtrip car I've driven in the US, by far. In the several years that I've lived here, I've rented multiple sedans, sports cars, SUVs and minivans for various trips. At the time, I was working with Kia for the summer and they gave me a different Kia each week to use. The week that I had the Sedona SXL (top variant), I decided to pile in five friends and drove 8 hours straight from Orange County to Zion. It was effortless, and we only took one break. The cruise control with distance monitoring, active lane control, heated and ventilated seats all around, electric everything, and most importantly, the sheer comfort blew me away. I'm not sure what equipment has made it to India, but the third row of seats has made it as is and I'm glad for it. I'm over 6' tall and near 100kg, and I spent about 2 hours in that third row in comfort. And the Innova doesn't even compare in terms of space, unless Toyota has dramatically changed the product since 2018. This is probably my next recommendation to my family back home!

[GTO]

I have always spoken of how German cars impress you with the little touches, which you realise only once you live with them. Even as an owner of a luxury German sedan, I can tell you the Carnival is no less. See this prompt I saw on the weekend. Every car warns you about low fuel, but this one even offers to search for petrol pumps nearby? Incorrect language used though:

[five46]

Originally Posted by GTO

I have always spoken of how German cars impress you with the little touches

Completely agree.

Originally Posted by GTO

but this one even offers to search for petrol pumps nearby?

However, me thinks, this particular feature has been there in all Hyundai ICE units offering Android Auto and Apple Carplay connectivity. Wouldn't be surprised if they have taken cue from the Germans only.

[Bibendum90949]

Originally Posted by GTO

I have always spoken of how German cars impress you with the little touches, which you realise only once you live with them.

I would say we realise the value of those little touches when we live without them, probably in another car . Germans always ball us over with those utile knickknacks.

[drmohitg]

Great review as always. Impressive car but I would still say this is not going to work in our country like the way Innova does. It is just too huge to be practical. Yes a few select buyers who would have ample parking space both at home and work may live with this. But from an everyday usage scenario, this is impractical on our narrow roads with small parking places. The Innova itself is difficult to park many a times ( I owned one for 10 years) and it's size was just about hovering at the edge of tolerability. I can recount numerous occasions when I parked and then as second thought decided to find another spot simply because the car (Innova) was invading into the road space and could become an easy target for someone to make a dent. The Carnival is significantly bigger!

On the other hand buyers who are looking at Fortuner and Endeavour which still may be compared to this size wise, although they are also smaller, would not consider this as this is a plain jane van which doesn't have that SUV character.

So we are talking about a very niche segment of buyers here and hence after the initial launch enthusiasm dies down, I have my reservations about the number of units this will sell every day.

Nevertheless Kudos to Kia for having the courage to try out something new.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Delivery didn't go as planned for this Carnival owner. May be new to an automatic? (Just an assumption).

https://youtu.be/2wVHnt0OY_c

[wheelguy]

Originally Posted by CrAzY dRiVeR

May be new to an automatic? (Just an assumption).

Most probably, he must be new to automatic.