[ptaneja]

Originally Posted by achilles101

Do you have any pictures of the one you used with SX4 for reference?

Don't have many that capture it , but these are the one's which you can reference. A very basic design available with all accessory shops. Just 4 clamps needs to be tightened after placing the carrier on top.

[ptaneja]

With 2900kms completed in Carens, a definitive trend is forming up.

City drives are giving a mileage between 12.5 to 14.5 and in highways it's always 15+.

[ptaneja]

Carens complete 3000kms mark in about 2.5 months, overall mileage of 15+

To summarise, I am satisfied with the product. Few niggles here and there, but hope that it would last me good 10 years.

[ptaneja]

Finally, the dealer was able to get hold of mud flaps.
I guess the price has increased, I saw them being quoted somewhere in the range of 500 something.

Post installation found out the size to be too small - no overhang at all, don't know if they would actually prevent any mud splashes to metal.

Also, it's not a plug and play, but rather rear tyres had to be removed for installation.

[ptaneja]

Update - 3400 kms completed.
No issues to report so far.
AC condensation workaround still holding up.

Just couple of photos to keep the thread alive.

[ptaneja]

Update !

First -
The Odometer stands at around 3945, and I have just completed one more highway run from Shogi to NCR - about 380 odd kms via Solan - Zirakpur - Western Peripheral Expressway and to Gurgaon.

Loved the mileage on the above trip - drove in between 80 to 90 on National Highway, and then between 90 to 100 in WPE.
This time did NOT used cruise control to check my own driving.
And I was surprised to see mileage figure when I filled it up on return - 20.8 with AC !!

Sample photo of awesome weather up in the hills !



Second -
Apart from the trip, witnessed it's first puncture. TPMS showed me the reading of one tire as 16 - refilled it via portable inflator, and bought it back to 35.
In couple of days, it was again down to 16, so had it checked, and it was a small nail.
Drove for about 500mtr, and TPMS gave the correct reading on all tires.
I have read a lot of people stating that engine needs to be kept ON while filling up, but I have never done it.
Reading is shown correctly as far as I have checked.



Third -
Kia organized its monsoon camp, which included some basic checks, and free washing etc.
They did a thorough check, similar to what is done in servicing - but of-course without any consumable change.






And finally, signing off shots !

[ptaneja]

A long pending update !!

As some of you are aware, I did initially note a lag or sluggishness in initial 1st and 2nd gear - but I blamed my prior diesel vehicle with initial torque missing.
After about a couple of months of purchase, and having struggled a lot with inclines in hilly areas, I became more and more assured that something is not right.
Contacted many owners, and slowly and steadily a group of disgruntled owners formed - all having the same issue.

Major Issues can be explained as -
(Applicable only for 1.4 Turbo Manual - DCT or Diesel are unaffected by these )

1. Major Lag in lower gears -
RPM drops when the car is going up the incline and as soon as we slot to 2nd gear. RPM drop is so pronounced that the car stalls unless we drop it down to 1st gear.
It lags majorly in 2nd Gear and stops/stalls on inclined surfaces which makes it an unsafe car to drive in hilly areas.
Even if we leave hilly areas apart, then also it struggles while coming out from basements of malls/societies/offices
to ground floors and stops very frequently due to which there are chances of some major mishap which till date you are not acknowledging.
Moreover, it even struggles when we try to park the car on the ramp areas of houses
and stops frequently due to which there is a hard/tough time to park the vehicle.
Driving in 2nd gear on a plain surface with potholes and speed breakers is not possible - as even after a speed breaker you would eventually have to slot to 1st gear.
Many owners who defended their purchase/Kia Turbo Engine, prompted and advised us to keep the engine in turbo range. This is not practically possible all the time
- especially when you are climbing up an incline, and have a long line of cars behind you.
You slot the car to 2nd gear at 1500 RPM or so, and it drops to 600 and the car just about stalls. For how long are you going to crawl up the incline on 1st gear / 15km limit ?

I have a demo of this issue here -

https://youtube.com/watch?v=C5ukaSBxbrw?feature=share

2. Hill Assist / Hill Hold Feature -
Second issue is the opposite of what we have in their own owners manual. Hill Hold does not release the brake when the accelerator is pressed, but it takes its own preset time of 2/3 seconds.
With this, the car stays stationary even when you press the accelerator - RPM increases, speed stays at 0.

Demo of this issue is here -

https://youtube.com/watch?v=7iGGReSfEJs?feature=share

Both the above issues can be related, or not - but this was in June / July when momentum of this issue started, and I started opening up trouble tickets with Kia.
Initially, Kia SC was adamant that there is no issue, and you need to “adapt”, “learn” on how to drive turbo engines.
But eventually, SC GM drove the car, and tried going up an incline - he immediately accepted that there was an issue. But on verbal grounds - nothing was provided on email.

At the same time, our group of affected members grew, and we started exerting pressure on Kia, by opening repeated tickets via their website, sending emails to Kia with top management in loop , phone complaints, Instagram or twitter.
People started posting their genuine feedback and displeasure of driving a 1.4 on all prominent Youtube Carens reviews.

Finally, got a response from Kia’s management sent an email to all, stating that we are working on a solution. The solution, though was not mentioned in email, was given to us by Kia regional heads over phone - that Kia Korea is in the process of developing a software patch to solve this, and expected date of release is Oct 2022.

To my surprise and pleasure, the software was developed before time, took approvals by government regulators like ARAI etc, and it reached SC in the first week of Sep 2022.



The patches are provided to affected individuals only - to only those who complain.

I have just recently got the software updated, and my findings are -

1. The initial sluggishness is solved about 80% easily. There is no lag while picking up the car, one can drive easily in 2nd gear over speed breakers/potholes without pressing the clutch and accelerator.
The car is finally driving as expected.

2. Hill Assist still needs a bit of work - I have not tested this extensively, but just for a couple of instances. Hill Assist does not leave the brake for a good 1 or 2 seconds even after you press the accelerator.

3. Idle RPM is still the same as before - car starts with 1100 RPM which drops to 700 after 2/3 seconds.

Software Patch is composed of two files - one for Engine, and another for ABS/ESP.

Firmware Details -



The process of upgrading is pretty standard, just plug their connector to the OBD port, use their tablet/software and do a scan.
It will detect the newer version available and will install it.
The whole process will take a max of 20 mins.

With the above fix, I can conclude that -

- Kia listened, and provided a fix. Though this should not have happened in the first place, but still.
- Where was Kia’s QA team who did the testing ? !
- Customer Satisfaction Rule - Provided a fix before a tentative timeline.
- Customer support is a joke - you open up tickets, and they’ll keep on closing them without your consent.
- There is no escalation matrix for Kia. First time I am seeing a public dealing MNC, but without ANY form of escalation or grievance redressal mechanism posted on their site.
All you have is a global email address, where you’ll get standard copy paste responses.
- Kia should have come out in the open and declared publicly the issue and solution. Till date they are quiet about it, and just doing the patches on each customer basis.
If someone complains, do it, else let it be. Better would have been a recall !!
- For owners who still think that their car is perfect, and not facing this issue, need not patch it. Or better still drive SC’s demo vehicle and see the difference.
- SC is doing this patch in their new cars present in stockyard - so probably those who buy now will already have this patched.
- For all 1.4 owners who still feel a lag, or as others say “not in turbo range”, please get the software installed.
- Would have loved Kia to fix HA too, but that's still manageable by using handbrake.

[Rimfire]

Originally Posted by ptaneja

A long pending update !!

As some of you are aware, I did initially note a lag or sluggishness in initial 1st and 2nd gea
=====
- Would have loved Kia to fix HA too, but that's still manageable by using handbrake.

I own the same model 1.4 Turbo petrol MT. Experiencing the same 2nd gear lag. I continuously have to shift down to 1st gear. Especially in Bangalore's b2b traffic. Such a tedious job. When I try to keep the rpm levels above 1500 (where the turbocharger activates), it's a good feeling for a driver but not so for the passengers.

Please guide me on how to approach the Service centre on this issue.
Should I directly ask them to install the patch or just inform them about the issue.

There are 2 more issues I'm facing. As follows
1. Both the headlights are fogging up
2. While it's raining outside, if I turn on the AC, a condensation is forming on the front windshield from the outside. I could hardly see anything on the road. I had to resort to temporary fix of turning on wipers every 10 seconds. That was little scary on the road.

Fellow Carens owners, suggestions are welcome.

[UD17]

Originally Posted by ptaneja

[b]
- SC is doing this patch in their new cars present in stockyard - so probably those who buy now will already have this patched.
- For all 1.4 owners who still feel a lag, or as others say “not in turbo range”, please get the software installed.

Thanks for your elaboration on this major issue. Did this software updates changed the behavior of your car? Did you a seen a substantial change on incline surfaces (with 2nd gear)?

I echo with your thoughts that Kia should have recalled the vehicle and rectified already sold vehicles and it was much easier so because 1.4 might not be selling in large umbers.

[SKU]

Thanks Ptaneja on this update. New engine mapping is an eye opener

I have a 1.4CRDI Verna, I used to face the similar issue of car stalling in incline when newly purchased, I was given the same reason by Hyundai ASS that I have to adopt to driving diesel engine from petrol (Santro was my earlier car)
I believed them & started using high revvs in incline to keep the engine in turbo band. I got used to it now (7 years that Verna is with me now)

[vRSiva27]

Thank you for posting this info here ptaneja , this is an eye-opener.

To put things into perspective, I am coming from a 2019 Honda Amaze VX CVT. I am a fairly new owner of Kia Carens 1.4 Petrol DCT, got my car delivered last week and I was having the same feeling of lag when I press the A pedal.

Scenario 1 - Driving in Bangalore Traffic: In stop-go traffic, in Eco mode, the car never seemed to shift down from D2 to D1 and on D2, it felt like forever to make a move and I was constantly standing on the A pedal to make a move. I felt that this was how the response was supposed to be, since I haven't driven a lot of DCT (Had short bursts on Polo DSG a couple of years back but never felt the same lack of response)

Scenario 2 - Driving in Open Highway: To confirm my understanding, I drove in the highway too on a short 200km journey and I felt that the D2 mode was still not providing the response that I was expecting (in Eco). I switched to Normal mode and I felt the same on Normal too. Switching to Sports fixed the issue but I did not try this mode out much since I was trying to figure if it was me or the car.

Do you know if this issue persists only on the manual or if it is synonymous in DCT as well?

[ptaneja]

Originally Posted by Rimfire

I own the same model 1.4 Turbo petrol MT. Experiencing the same 2nd gear lag.
Please guide me on how to approach the Service centre on this issue.

Hey! Open up a ticket with SC, and have them upgrade the software. There is no need for them to test it out - its a known fact, and almost all major SC have already done this.
With regards to condensation, I have not faced it in both situations - headlight or front windshield.

Originally Posted by UD17

Thanks for your elaboration on this major issue. Did this software updates changed the behavior of your car? Did you a seen a substantial change on incline surfaces (with 2nd gear)?

The immediate behavior change is peppiness in 1st gear - the car kind of leaps forward if clutch is left in a sudden. 2nd gear drivability is a lot lot better - I was able to move around in traffic and bad roads by just keeping the car in 2nd with no accelerator input. Car picks up fine from around 7km/8km /hr speed on 2nd easily now.
Couldn't get a chance to head out to mountains and check, will update if there is an improvement.

Originally Posted by SKU

Thanks Ptaneja on this update. New engine mapping is an eye opener.

Diesel if a lot easier to drive on inclines by their nature. Wish govt had not imposed that stupid 10 year diesel ban in NCR, else my choice would have been a lot different.

Originally Posted by vRSiva27

Thank you for posting this info here ptaneja , this is an eye-opener.
To put things into perspective, I am coming from a 2019 Honda Amaze VX CVT. I am a fairly new owner of Kia Carens 1.4 Petrol DCT, got my car delivered last week and I was having the same feeling of lag when I press the A pedal.
Do you know if this issue persists only on the manual or if it is synonymous in DCT as well?

For now, in all my contacts and in my known social media groups - no one has complained about lag in DCT gearbox - its 1.4 mated with manual that's causing this sluggishness. And the update is also only for manual gearbox. Please get the vehicle checked at SC, maybe there is something more to the story.

[KuvamBansal]

Originally Posted by ptaneja

A long pending update !!



Finally, got a response from Kia’s management sent an email to all, stating that we are working on a solution. The solution, though was not mentioned in email, was given to us by Kia regional heads over phone - that Kia Korea is in the process of developing a software patch to solve this, and expected date of release is Oct 2022.

To my surprise and pleasure, the software was developed before time, took approvals by government regulators like ARAI etc, and it reached SC in the first week of Sep 2022.

Good to see the manufacturer working on this on priority and resolving the issue. Probably Skoda/VW could learn a thing or two from the Koreans. We disgruntled owners have been looking for a satisfactory solution to the AC issue, but to no avail.

[Sumanyu17]

Originally Posted by ptaneja

A long pending update !!
2. Hill Assist / Hill Hold Feature -
Second issue is the opposite of what we have in their own owners manual. Hill Hold does not release the brake when the accelerator is pressed, but it takes its own preset time of 2/3 seconds.

I have also noticed similar behavior on a Kia Sonet 1.0 turbo iMT. When moving on an incline from standstill the hill hold takes its own sweet time to disengage while the revs build up, then it hurls you forward.
I guess kia engineers have repurposed launch control under the guise of hill hold assist .

[ptaneja]

Multiple Updates !!

ODO stands at 6000+ kms.

1. Performance post patch installation mentioned above -
As I said in my initial post, the car is a lot more responsive, and a lot more agile overall - specifically on plains.
I am able to move around in 2nd gear comfortably.
On hills, even though it's still far from perfect, I was able to go up the same inclines on which 2nd gear was not possible earlier. Definitely an improvement.

Couple of points worth mentioning post update -
( a ) the above feedback is my personal review specific to my car.
There are still many people in my known group who are struggling with this car post update.
Of course they'll be coordinating with Kia for further remedy,

(b) Hill Assist is still messed up. It waits till a predetermined time of 2/3 seconds and then
only releases the brake. In the meantime if you try to pick up the car, it would stall. Workaround is to
use Handbrake, which temporarily disables HA.


2. ACU Update !
As you must have read in various forums, and even news articles, Kia have released a patch for Airbag Module.
I have personally not got this installed, and am waiting it out for some feedback.
As per discussion with SC GM, the patch is only to improve communication between Airbag Sensor and ECU -
it would fix random airbag lights which lit up for couple of seconds on a few cars randomly.
( I have not seen this so far - the firmware version screenshot is from someone else)

Link - Newspaper Link






3. Mileage - have for sure increased post update of software.
Within city driving have been in excess of 14+ per liter, which was not possible earlier.
On highways, I was able to extract a mileage of 22.xx with tank-to-tank refill method.
(Tire pressure at 35, speed in the range of 75 to 90, 70:30 ratio between plains/hills, and with 50% AC usage )

If MID is to be believed, here is one for you - it won't cross 99.9 !!




And signing off with random pictures !