[#drivingFreak]

Hello everyone, not sure if this has been mentioned before but here's some interesting news on the Carens.
I attended spaces meet on Twitter hosted by Sidharth Vinayak Patankar from car and bike. It was about how Kia was able to price the Carens so aggressively and the reason is that the Carens is based upon the K1 platform that underpins cars like i10 nios and Santro in India. On the other hand, the Hyundai Alcazar is underpinned by the K2 platform and hence the huge price gap between the two cars. So unlike what was earlier speculated, Carens is not Kia's version of the Alcazar. This is the same strategy used by Maruti for Ertiga and XL6 which are based on the swift's platform and similarly, the Honda Mobilio was based upon the Brio and Amaze's platform.

https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1YpKkZeVQpAxj

[TorqueyTechie]

Originally Posted by #drivingFreak

So just attended spaces meet on Twitter hosted by Sidharth Vinayak Patankar from Car and bike. It was about how Kia was able to price the Carens at such a low price and the reason is that the Carens is based upon the modified version of the K1 flatform which underpins the cars like Hyundai i10 nios and Santro in India.

Originally Posted by #drivingFreak

Hello everyone, not sure if this has been mentioned before but here's some interesting news on the Carens.
I attended spaces meet on Twitter hosted by Sidharth Vinayak Patankar from car and bike.

Going OT here. I believe you have posted the same message twice within an hour. Maybe because you were confused when your post didn't show up first. Being a newbie, your post will need moderator approval and hence takes some time to show up.

[msk_kapoor]

The smartstream Prestige variant looks VFM with all safety features. Can someone tell me the engine performance on this and why this variant is kind of 3L less than other engine variants with same feature list?

[shekjsk]

Originally Posted by chirag08

we are also confused between the 7 seater and the 6 seater version, all the TD cars were 6 seaters, can anyone who has TDed the 7 seater confirm if there is any major difference in seating comfort.

Autocar India has done a detailed review of both 6 and 7 seater versions as well as both MT and AT variants of Petrol and Diesel. You can find the reviews on their Youtube channel.

[turbowhistle]

Originally Posted by Aakash118

Great pricing guys, you have left me in big confuion. I have a Venue SX(O) brought in August 19. I was thinking of upgrading to a MUV after Venue completes it’s 4 years. But now with such attractive pricing of Carens, should I change my car 1 year earlier? I think if I wait for 2 more years, I will miss onto this attractive pricing.

I'd say go ahead with the booking since the delivery time is 15-20 weeks, you can find a nice home for Venue. Used cars have good values these days, combine it with introductory prices of Carens and it becomes a sweet deal.

I also have Venue SX(O) and definitely Carens is a much better product that it.

[Kaus2002]

6 Seater version is available only in Luxury (Top) Model, that's close to 20 Lakhs on road.
Someone who likes captain seats has to go for top model only.

[k_gpatel]

Awesome Pricing by Kia

If I am right, this would be the cheapest car in any segment with 6 Airbags plus other safety features.

Interiors look good, cabin is practical, this would be the most VFM option if it gets a 4* rating!

Compared to base versions of other 6 seaters, Carens feels miles ahead. Great One Kia, other than safety Kia seems to be heading in the right direction to dominate Indian Automotive Sector.

[luvDriving]

Very aggressive pricing from Kia. Additionally they are offering value right from the base variant onwards in terms of safety alone.

I have booked the Hector but now I am confused that should I cancel that and go for the Carens ? I will save a couple of lakh on the top model ( I have booked the Sharp version in Hector). Yes I will miss out on a couple of features like 360 degrees camera but looking at the package including the additional useable extra 2 seats, I am very tempted.

What do bhpians think ? Help me out of this quandry.

[RoadTiger]

Originally Posted by #drivingFreak

Hello everyone, not sure if this has been mentioned before but here's some interesting news on the Carens.
I attended spaces meet on Twitter hosted by Sidharth Vinayak Patankar from car and bike. It was about how Kia was able to price the Carens so aggressively and the reason is that the Carens is based upon the K1 platform that underpins cars like i10 nios and Santro in India. On the other hand, the Hyundai Alcazar is underpinned by the K2 platform and hence the huge price gap between the two cars. So unlike what was earlier speculated, Carens is not Kia's version of the Alcazar. This is the same strategy used by Maruti for Ertiga and XL6 which are based on the swift's platform and similarly, the Honda Mobilio was based upon the Brio and Amaze's platform.

https://twitter.com/i/spaces/1YpKkZeVQpAxj

I was intrigued - so did a quick google search that showed up this team-bhp thread where RSR has explained about this - essentially, his point is the 1.5 diesel engine cannot be accomodated in the K1 platform and and that is one among many reasons that all such rumours of Venue/ Sonet etc on the K1 platform are unfounded / propogated by ill-informed journalists. Not commenting on either point of view. I am no expert on this topic - just wanted to provide this link

https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...i-venue-5.html (Understanding car platforms, starting with the Hyundai Venue)

[prajwalmr62]

Originally Posted by #drivingFreak

I attended spaces meet on Twitter hosted by Sidharth Vinayak Patankar from car and bike. It was about how Kia was able to price the Carens so aggressively and the reason is that the Carens is based upon the K1 platform that underpins cars like i10 nios and Santro in India.

I'm not sure if the 1.5L diesel and 1.4L petrol engines can be accommodated in K1 platform in the first place. AFAIK max wheelbase for K1 was 2500. Whereas K2 is designed for up-to 3 row seating.

I would take this dialog with a bag load of salt.


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kia_Carens

[achintatri]

I am happy with the pricing, having cancelled the ERTIGA ZXi AT booking last month (When Carens was launched). I test drove DCT 1.4 Luxury Plus at Aman Motors Yerawada (Nagar Road), Pune. Here are my 2 cents especially from a family point of view:

1. It drove well (took load properly) with 5 adults (including the driver) and one child (9 years old) even while climbing up two basement levels.
2. While going down and up also it held on to the hill hold feature.
3. Drive modes worked well.
4. Seating was spot on, very comfortable with good under thigh support (max height in my family is 5'8").
5. Best thing is the right side second row seat/bench tumbles up (unlike XUV700/Safari where only left side second row tumbles up) and this gives advantage to put a car seat on the left side and still use right seat to enter the third row.
6. Braking was Spongy however not scary (I think should be taken care by service team).
7. Ride was spot on from first and second rows however not 100% great in the third row (reason can be almost 40-42 psi in the demo car, car was just one day old), I am sure changing the tires to Michelin/Yoko and with the right amount of air pressure, it would settle.
8. Bose Music System (luxury plus model) - Sound was pathetic, din't believe it was Bose (despite Bose written on the Door Speakers).
9. Visibility from every seat was spot on.
10. Legroom/Headroom from every seat is spot on (Again 5'8" is the height reference).
11. Recline for every seat is great.
12. Since I drive automatics only, DCT 1.4 Prestige Plus (starting automatic model) looks to be the most value for money model considering I don't need the moonroof, Bose system (just for namesake), ventilated seats (Since AC is a chiller and in Pune unlike North you don't need ventilated seats) + Paddle Shifters in a 7 seater is more of a risk, looks best on coupes and sedans.
13. Horn was adequate.
14. If one slots gear from 'N' to 'R', the car starts moving backward that could be risky since unlike my current Dzire ZDI AMT, you need to press brake to engage either forward or reverse for the car to move accordingly and there is no risk if your kid moves the gear lever since you have control through foot brake.
15. The above issue is not there if one moves from 'P' to 'R' since you need to press the brake to do that.

P.S. The speedometer display was OFF (SA told me that it is disabled since the car is not registered yet) and so my perception of the driving was based on switches/gear changes and the corresponding response e.g. Drive Modes/Gears/Hill Hold etc. but considering that the car was performing accordingly, I am assuming that there would be proper display.

I did not book one today as I was not clear on the Color (80% it would be blue) + was not getting the required price for my existing car.

Will check tomorrow with Dhone Kia, Hadapsar and do the needful.

Thanks for reading!

Best Regards,
Achint

[84.monsoon]

For those worried about acceleration and highway performance of the Carens, the following should put your fears to rest:

The latest Autocar issue has done a detailed acceleration test of 4 powertrains of the Carens of and the results are attached. The Diesel manual does 0-100 in 10.09 seconds and the 1.4 petrol manual manages this in 9.71 seconds. The auto versions are slightly slower with the diesel auto taking 12.55 seconds and the DCT has a much smaller penalty compared to its manual counterpart at 10.18 seconds.

The diesels are actually faster than the equivalent Seltos versions. According to Autocar, the Seltos Diesel manual does 0-100 in 11.67 seconds and the diesel auto does this in 12.91 seconds. When it comes to the 1.4 GDI engine, the Seltos is a tad bit faster, with the manual doing the dash in 8.96 seconds and the DCT in 9.72 seconds.

Autocar did not test the NA petrol version of the Carens, but I remember reading this engine did 0-100 somewhere around 12.5 seconds in the Creta with an MT, so it should not do too badly in comparison to the segment on the Carens.The Ertiga does the dash in 12.1 seconds with the MT and in 13.95 seconds with the old school AT.

BTW, the in-gear acceleration times of the 1.4 GDI MT are really impressive! The 11 lakh Carens 1.4 GDI MT Premium variant will leave much more expensive cars in the dust.

[ashis89]

Originally Posted by 84.monsoon

For those worried about acceleration and highway performance of the Carens, the following should put your fears to rest.

I am afraid, this wouldn't give the true picture as we need a "full load" for a 6/7-seater.

PS: Seltos 1.5 NA petrol was marginally slower than the diesel MT, in 0-100 kmph runs. Can't seem to find the link now.

[jetsetgo08]

Carens is for those who wanted a BR-V but couldn't get one

Post 2020 the demand for max. seating capacity has gone up, so undoubtedly this will sell. And as an occasional 6-7 seater, people would be fine with the not so impressive power figures.

Also, I would tend to believe auto-journalists on the platform used for Carens as it heavily undercuts the Alcazar. They must have pro-actively bumped up the safety quotient by using more airbags. However, only a crash test result would reveal further.

[SinghShu]

Pricing out for carens: