[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by nairrk

Meet The All-New Kia Carens - New TVC

Dear god.
I wonder how many biscuits and how many cups of tea were consumed, to result in this phrase.

[zeus_700]

Excellent review again. Thanks Mods.

I feel this car + renaissance vehicle has a disproportionate angle viewed head on. I somehow remember Qualis in Carens's stance. May be its just me.

Nevertheless, Kia has a winner again. People just look at the features these days and do not much care about the engines and safety. If they get a 5 star GNCAP rating then it is a game changer in the segment with all these loads of features that they offer.

[praveenkkr]

Originally Posted by ant_vas

When i was there yesterday, i saw that the 1 touch tumble working well even with the headrest not retracted and i was actually impressed that there was enough space in the 2nd row foot well to accommodate the extended head rest.

I first sat in the front seat and adjusted it to my height. Then, sat in the 2nd row again adjusted seat and headrest to my height. After that, I tried the one-touch tumble. I tried 2 times and both the times it got stuck.
I came back home and observed this in few review videos (Autocar, Zigwheels, V3 Cars etc.) and the headrests were all slided down .
In Carwale review, the headrests will be pushed down before using the one-touch button (observe at time 10:15 in this video)

Carwale Review

Originally Posted by ant_vas

Did you try the middle seat of the 2nd row?

Yes, but it is not comfortable. Better suited for kids. I would prefer 3rd row.

Originally Posted by ant_vas

Did the executive mention anything about the test drives? i was told they would begin as soon as they get temporary registrations and should be ready by the coming weekend

I got the same answer.

One more observation is regarding the sunroof. Is it placed at proper position? Don't think anyone can stand and put their head outside.
Anyhow, having booked the Prestige Plus, I'm not much worried.

[chirag08]

I had gone to check out the Carens since the Kia showroom is just a lane away from where I stay, I know I said the car is supremely ugly but somehow in person the car does not look as bad as it does in the videos and has decent road presence, my dad and wife were really impressed with the interiors and boot space and my wife was surprised when I could sit in the 3rd row with decent comfort ( I am 5 ft 11 and on the heavier side) with both the 1st and 2nd row seats adjusted for my height.

I have already booked the XUV700 as we are looking for a premium 6/7 seater and may go for the Carens if the savings are substantial.

The SA said it will be priced 2 lakhs above the Seltos top end which according to him would be 22-23 Lakhs OTR while I overheard another SA mention 15 Lakhs,so I am assuming no one had any idea,but if the top end petrol automatic ends up being around 18-19 lakhs OTR then I will go ahead with the Carens, at 23 Lakhs OTR I'd rather pay 3-4 Lakhs more and get the XUV, since the waiting period is not an issue for me.

[sweetvar26]

For those who know, how's the suspension on this one compared to the Seltos?

I'm unhappy with the suspension that I have on the Seltos in Hyderabad roads, had an issue and the service center clearly screwed up their job no matter how many times I've sent the car back to get it fixed.

[Raghu M]

With all the features, I don't expect this to be a competitor to the Ertiga. It will definitely demand a premium of over 2L. Given Kia's pricing, it will be the highest in the segment (below Innova of course). Everything looked alright, the air purifier has got to find a better place. I mean seriously, behind the driver seat? I am also wary of the crash ratings. Since, it comes with 6 airbags standard and Kia's reluctance to get their products crash tested, there is always ambiguity. Pricing will not be competitive, period!

[chirag08]

Originally Posted by chirag08

my wife was surprised when I could sit in the 3rd row with decent comfort ( I am 5 ft 11 and on the heavier side) with both the 1st and 2nd row seats adjusted for my height.

Just adding to the above, the only issue I found with the Carens was the 2nd row seats offer very little or no shoulder support for tall passengers

For anyone above 5 ft 8" it is akin to sitting on those old single screen theatre seats which only went uptill just below your shoulders, although the head rest does help but still it isnt as comfortable as a full length seat.

It is something people who are chauffered around should really keep in mind.

[volkman10]

Kia Carens Fuel Economy And 0-100KMPH Acceleration:

-The diesel-manual combination is obviously the most fuel efficient, followed by the diesel-AT.

-The turbo-petrol engine is more efficient than the naturally aspirated petrol engine. Although, there’s hardly any difference (0.5kmpl to 0.8 kmpl).

-The DCT variants are slightly more efficient than the turbo-petrol’s manual variants.

Link

[praveenkkr]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Kia Carens Fuel Economy And 0-100KMPH Acceleration:

Attachment 2268208
Attachment 2268211
Attachment 2268210
Attachment 2268209

Link

How can a car heavier (considering extra seats and length) have more or even same economy compared to its ligher counterpart?
Does it mean that 6 airbags are standard because they have reduced the weight (some metal part in the body) in Carens??
Or is that, the standalone engine is tested for efficiency without the car??

[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by praveenkkr

How can a car heavier (considering extra seats and length) have more or even same economy compared to its ligher counterpart?
Does it mean that 6 airbags are standard because they have reduced the weight (some metal part in the body) in Carens??

As usual, Kia is silent about the Kerb weight. So it is not possible to tell if it indeed heavier than Seltos.

Hyundai and Kia do not reveal the kerb weight of their cars in their brochures. If they did it would become easier to compare weights of the same car available in various global markets and start to guess if there has been a dilution of material used in the chassis across various markets - example substitution of ultra-high-strength steel with high-strength steel etc.

My guess is that the Carens is lighter than Seltos even though it is physically bigger. This might come down to the gauge of steel used, the smaller wheels (16 inch), seat build/thickness which may have been thinned down to accommodate 3 rows, shorter front bonnet (and therefore less metal) due to the minivan type build etc.

[venkyhere]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

My guess is that the Carens is lighter than Seltos even though it is physically bigger.

You are making a big assumption. The assumption that somehow Seltos uses 'tougher'/'better' steel compared to Carens, or that Kia has two grades of steel to be used on these two models. I seriously doubt it. They give a damn to such things, because despite the crash test rating fiasco, sales have been booming. Customers don't care, company don't care. My guess is that it's the same material used shaped differently according to the design.

[ron178]

Don't bash me for sharing any misinformation because as with any claims of manufacturers' internal testing this should be read with caution (very often there are performance flaws in actual production cars which they don't even notice), and the source is unverified anyway, but here's something CarDekho reports about the Kia Carens' internal safety testing.

Source: CarDekho: "Exclusive: Kia Wants Nothing Less Than A 4-Star Safety Rating For The Carens"

Image credit: CarDekho:


I think it is interesting but I would not advise consumers to use it to make a buying decision. I look forward to Kia sponsoring a test if they are confident of a good rating. And making an official recommendation for child seats, for goodness' sake. I also hope they've done not just a frontal offset test but the full battery of internal testing (side impact, ESC, and importantly a pole test) they would need for a good rating under the upcoming Global NCAP protocol, especially considering that it has six airbags as standard and good pole test performance would definitely be desirable. I also hope they've actually taken random cars from production and done physical tests on them, because the way the expected rating is presented, it looks like they might be relying on simulations (which can end up badly).

I'm also curious about whether they've fixed that unstable head contact on both airbags or not.

P. S. Does anyone know what "Comp. E" means?

P. P. S. this really reminds me of the time they had to make improvements to the Carnival after its "low" 4-star ANCAP rating with just a little more than 10 out of 16 in the frontal offset test with footwell rupture and excessive pedal intrusion, much the same issues the Indian Seltos faced. The updated Australian Carnival had then scored much better - more than 14 out of 16 - in the frontal offset test and overall 5 stars. Will the Carens be able to achieve a performance anywhere near that? Only Global NCAP can answer.

[Torque_Curve]

Originally Posted by ron178

Image credit: CarDekho:
Attachment 2268252


P. S. Does anyone know what "Comp. E" means?

My guess is that E would stand for Ertiga

[TT-S]

It is much tougher to get a higher safety rating when the number of seats inside the vehicle increases. Especially since the curtain airbags in the Carens don't seem to cover the third row fully, from the images released so far. In this scenario, even 4 star rating seems like an ambitious target.

How many 5+ seater cars got 5 star safety ratings from Euro NCAP/GNCAP? Only Luxury products like Volvo XC90 come to mind.

[ron178]

Originally Posted by TT-S

It is much tougher to get a higher safety rating when the number of seats inside the vehicle increases. Especially since the curtain airbags in the Carens don't seem to cover the third row fully, from the images released so far. In this scenario, even 4 star rating seems like an ambitious target.

Under the current GNCAP protocol (which, if you must know, is far more basic than Euro NCAP's) you definitely do not need a third-row curtain airbag to score any rating.

The test configuration for Global NCAP's frontal offset test is: two 50th percentile adult male dummies in the driver and front passenger seats, a 3 year-old child on the right-hand second row seat and an 18 month-old child on the left-hand second row seat (both in child seats nominated by the car manufacturer). Even if the vehicle is equipped with a third row, no dummy is placed in it for the test.

The side impact test (where the curtain airbags make a difference) that is currently necessary for five stars is the UN Regulation No. 95 test, which only has one dummy in the front seat on the side struck by the barrier.

Even with Global NCAP's updated protocol, scheduled to come into force this July for India and Africa, you only need a side impact head protection device (eg. a curtain airbag) for the driver and the front passenger. The lateral pole test is aimed squarely at the driver's head (both figuratively and literally).

Euro NCAP, I agree. Though they do the oblique pole test only for the driver, they also have a rather large penalty for not having a head protection device for any outboard occupant, including a third row if available. There is no pole test for these occupants but rather just a static deployment test followed by a geometric evaluation of the area covered by the head protection device.

Originally Posted by TT-S

How many 5+ seater cars got 5 star safety ratings from Euro NCAP/GNCAP? Only Luxury products like Volvo XC90 come to mind.

GNCAP: Mahindra XUV700, and back when Latin NCAP used the same protocol, the LHD versions of the Mitsubishi Montero Sport and Toyota Fortuner.
Euro NCAP: many. Off the top of my head, the new Australian Kia Carnival (ANCAP and Euro NCAP protocols are identical), which does have third-row coverage of the curtain airbag.

Originally Posted by Torque_Curve

My guess is that E would stand for Ertiga

Thanks, I did not think of that. I was fixating on it somehow relating to whatever architecture the Kia Seltos is based on.