[paramesh3210]

@ChiragM - Wow... What a detailed review! Every detailed covered and explained. Like most of them asked, can you share the details on the light throw in both high and low beam please? Honestly speaking this was one of my crucial deciding factor when I chose my existing car.

[//M]

Brilliant review Chirag !

The Carnival is indeed a massive vehicle and looks so much better than the aging Innova Crysta. I was about to go to the nearest Kia dealership to see this in person just to experience the rear seats, but the lockdown happened and the visit got postponed. The comfort level of the rear seats must be the best this side of a Mercedes V Class or a Toyota Vellfire. Kia has hit the sweet spot and will definitely sweep in many buyers who would be willing to upgrade from the Innova.

There is a black Carnival in my neighborhood and it looks quite gangsta, thanks to the sheer size of the vehicle. Here's a pic that I clicked couple of weeks back when I had stepped out to buy some essentials -

[Yash98]

The Kia Carnival is a great vehicle and I really appreciate Kia's move to not tone down the offering significantly for the Indian market.

It is a truly premium offering even in the US where I have seen a lot of them on the roads. They are extremely comfortable and spacious as well as have a upmarket image since you will not find them easily in rental fleet.

Kudos to Kia for prioritizing the Indian market and launching global products like Seltos (Also sold in the US) and Carnival unlike a few other manufacturers that have been launching their versions of "cost-efficient" (read cheap) products for the Indian buyer.

[adamkathy23]

Hello Moderators, Would you please verify the Tire size, quoted below versus the size these vehicles come shod with:

[Paavan Shetty]

Don't ever disable the traction control, unless starting off on slippery surfaces like slush & snow:


Hi Chirag. Super detailed and nice review as usual. But you mentioned not to switch off TRACTION control unless starting on slippery surface. Just wanted to know what will happen if Traction control is ON on slippery surface? I haven't driven any vehicle with traction control so no experience about it. Can you please elaborate.

[Rustom Mistry]

Awesome review and extra cheers for going in depth of the details for the van. I visited Kia showroom before the lockdown and came back deeply impressed with the short test drive. Surely a Best Buy for large families with deep pockets.Thanks.

[GRAND23]

Fantastic review as always. Kudos to team.

Kia Carnival appeals perfect to my family (6 adults+3 kids). But the stopper for me is the cost. I simply can't stretch to that level of budget. But will keep eye on used car market in future.
Generally for all my new car visits, my daughter accompanies me. She accompanied me for Carnival test drive and thoroughly enjoyed the space inside the car. Good that I didn't take the other 2 kids for test drive, else dealer would have fined me for making the car dirty .

[turbo]

Originally Posted by adamkathy23

Hello Moderators, Would you please verify the Tire size, quoted below versus the size these vehicles come shod with:

Looks like you have a point. Zooming in shows it to be 235/60 R18 instead of 235/65

[dr.aviansh]

What a great review! I have seen it a couple of times on Delhi roads and believe me it really stands out in the crowd because it looks so American. An average Joe can take this car to be one of those imported American embassy cars, that’s how alienating it looks!

I’m glad there’s an AT, instead of DCT owing to long term reliability. But since most of these are going to be chauffeur driven, the need of a 6-speed manual is inevitable.

[charanreddy]

Awesome review of an awesome vehicle !

I see why the Carnival is likely to appeal to our junta, it offers so much for a customer wiling to stretch over the Crysta. I see our political class, business class, large families , senior management in private sector going for this as well as Hotels for ferrying discerning guests. The success of Crysta, fortuner tell us that there are takers at every price and a sensible product will do good numbers.

If I get to a place where I am able to afford a premium personal vehicle and a premium people mover like this with a chauffeur preferably , I see buying this with out hesitation. I suspect there are quite a few folks who are already at this stage in life and hence expect to see this succeed.

[SJQIL87]

It feels like a van than a car . With its super practicality, I feel that it be the premium choice of many 5 star hotels for commuting. But for personal use, it may not be accepted by everyone. Looks almost like Nissan Evalia.

[skendora]

Originally Posted by ChiragM

Other Points

• Lower variants get a foot-operated handbrake. Thanks to BHPian Vmv for sharing this image.

Why this monstrosity on a luxury MPV. I feel I would put a foot on that subconsciously

[nasa_hubble]

Good Review. The car is well positioned in the Indian market but I still don't think this will make much of an impact on the Innova. People don't buy a Toyota for its features per se. I really doubt if the Carnival will be able to mimic or beat the Toyota workhorse in terms of reliability and longevity. However, people do have another option to consider for upgrades.

In the "what you wont like" section there is no mention of lesser number of KIA service centres and that the long term reliability of the brand is still unknown (there were niggles with the Seltos as well).

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by skendora

Why this monstrosity on a luxury MPV. I feel I would put a foot on that subconsciously

The design was particularly common in luxury automatics, before the adoption of the brake. The first time I heard of this arrangement was in a Mercedes nonetheless.

[headbanger]

Originally Posted by skendora

Why this monstrosity on a luxury MPV. I feel I would put a foot on that subconsciously

Another point is that the feel and effort needed to push this pedal is vastly different from how we operate the other pedals. It needs effort to operate.