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-   -   Kia Carens Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/247446-kia-carens-review-10.html)

Checked out the Carens over the weekend. A few observations:

1. Looks better in real life than pictures
2. With both rake and reach adjustment, finding a comfy driving position was not a challenge (ofcourse, no ride was actually provided!!)
3. Seats are comfortable for a 5'7" person and their family. Better half and 2 kids were a comfortable fit in the middle row. Better half and self were a good fit in the third row (knee room, under thigh support and head room were decent; leg room is a little underwhelming). Third row recline is excellent. Will have to wait for a TD to figure out how third / second row ride comfort is.
4. With better half seated comfortably in first row, second row seat tumbled without a need for folding the headrest
5. Ingress and egress for senior citizens in the second row was very comfortable
6. On an absolute basis, found the seat bolstering on Safari to be superior to Carens. But ease of ingress, boot space as well as 3rd row space is superior in Carens. Anyone, who has a need for a genuine 3 row car should definitely check this car out.
7. Dealership experience has been great. Have been very patient and transparent in addressing queries, were aware of BH registration, confirmed that no roof rack can be set up (were not aware but checked and reverted back) and sent home the Seltos 1.4 DCT for a test drive.

I think headlights of late have become more ornamental than driver aids, these days, they're almost placed at the angle where the face and front fender's meet and is more vulnerable to damage. I see base variants come dangerously close to not only the Seltos but also may threaten the XL 6 and Ertiga brigade. I think Kia is going for the jugular as always with it's 'introductory' Karens pricing. I think the third row seating comfort is also good for average built persons as seen from certain reviews.

Got a call from the SA saying that the expected price of Carens is going to be 13-19 Lakhs ex showroom.

What's this ? Curious to know.

Got a call from Kia today. Vehicles are ready for test drives now.

Got a chance to drive the KIA CARENS 1.5 Diesel manual in the city and highway.
•1.5 Diesel is just about adequate and even with only three passengers the car felt slightly underpowered.
•The Diesel engine has no mid range punch( I drive a 1.5 Diesel Creta)
•MID was showing an average of 15KMPL for a 15km drive. ( The car was brand new with less than 100kms on the odo)
•Suspension setup is on the softer side and my friend sitting in the middle row felt comfortable even on bad patches of road.
•Clutch is on the softer side coupled with a smooth gearbox.
•SA hints that the car will be priced around 12-18lacs ex showroom.
•Overall the car looked better in person than in photos. But the rear part looks almost like a hatchback.
Coming to the interior part
•Space management is excellent. I am 5’10 and I could easily sit in the last row even for a long trip.
•Interior design looks better than the Alcazar. Use of piano black inserts in the dashboard and the steering mounted buttons looks upmarket.
•One touch button tumble mechanism looks a lot better than the traditional ones used in most of the 7 seaters.
•Offering all the safety equipment from the base variant is a big plus.
•360 camera and electrically adjustable seat has been given a miss compared to the similarly priced Seltos.

Which showroom is this? PPS mysore road keeps telling me that test drives will commence only post price announcement on 15 Feb

This is Naara Kia, JP Nagar.

Kia Carens vs Hyundai Alcazar

https://youtu.be/_XoSPpXAaEk

Driving the diesel is too dull considering this is supposed to be a people mover. With 6 folks, this is extremely sluggish, on inclines even more so. People who pick the diesel will definitely not for the driving pleasure.

On the other hand, ride quality is surprisingly decent in 2nd / 3rd rows. Not Tucson level but better than the Alcazar. I think the shoes it wears makes the primary difference.

How much heavier is the Carens than the Seltos? I wonder if the sluggish performance is due to a different tuning of the engine for Carens.

I have taken the Seltos D MT on several trips to the Western ghats. With 4 adults, 1 kid and boot full of luggage, it has been as lively as it should be. I am surprised two additional passengers making such a stark difference to the car (have seen similar feedback on Alcazar diesel as well).

Kia will never reveal kerb weights, because then identical cars built for different markets around the world can be compared to understand the grade of steel used. However, even assuming the weights of the two cars - Carens and Seltos, are exactly the same, engine tuning has to consider that a fully loaded Carens will weigh approximately 150 kilos more than a similarly loaded Seltos. The engine tuning has to necessarily run the engine at higher RPM at the same speed, to maintain the same power & torque, or deliver less torque and power from the engine maintaining the same RPM. I suspect Kia has gone for the latter to maintain fuel efficiency, which might make the engine feel more sluggish.

Test drove the Petrol DCT today for a very short while as the car had just arrived at the showroom and the SA said all the mandatory checks were pending to take a full blown TD

1. The DCT feels very good to drive and I didnt feel any lag during pick up or while accelarating in Normal Mode,the car felt extremely smooth over all kinds of road with hardly any bumps being felt in the cabin.

2. In Eco mode there is literally no power and you really have to press the accelerator to get the car moving. I dont think I would ever drive in Eco Mode

3. There is a very obvious change in performance in Sports Mode with the car being quick to accelerate without any major input.

4. The brakes seemed fine to me, I drive an I20 currently so I am probably used to Hyundai/Kia brakes.

5. The mileage shown on the MID was between 5.8 kmpl and 6.5 kmpl , surprisingly I got the highest mileage in Sports Mode,while Normal mode gave the least mileage, but it was too short a TD to really get an idea of real world mileage.

The SA said that from the inputs they have received from Kia the car is going to be priced extremely competitively and will be priced lower than the Alcazar.

Got WhatsApp message from PPS Mysore road that diesel car is now available for test drive.
No mention about the transmission.

I too received that whatsapp message and they have Diesel Manual available for test drive since yesterday. I am planning to do the TD tomorrow. If the Diesel feels sluggish, i might go for Turbo petrol.

Apparently TD of petrol/auto variants will be offered post price announcement on 15 Feb