Kia Carens 1.4 petrol MT: Thoughts & observations after 1700 km

The engine is very tractable. No matter how loaded the vehicle is, you won’t struggle.

BHPian sou_3749 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

I would like to add my observations for the Carens 1.4 petrol manual.

I have driven around 1700 km which is 85% highway and 15% city mix. We were 4 healthy people with 200 kg of luggage.

First the bad things:

• Head lights are so pathetic that you will loose confidence on highways. Need some help to improve.
• Insulation is good, but more than the engine noise, the outside sounds creep into the cabin. I guess this is due to the huge glass area and not so thick glass.
• Fuel tank capacity must be higher. I did own a Venue, so the Carens is a bigger Venue/Sonet with almost everything similar besides size.
• The reverse camera is just average. For this size, the wide angle view should have been more wider. This hampers in reversing with limited visibility in tight spaces.
• Front seats should have been more supportive from the ergonomic stand point.
• The clutch travel is a little more for my liking for a petrol engine. Also it’s a little harder for Hyundai/Kia standard.
• The accelerator sensitivity is not so good. I guess they have done it purposely to aid better economy.

Now the good stuff:

• Mileage is impressive. I got more than 17 kmpl combined with speeds ranging 85-115 kmph on highways. In the city, you can expect 8-12 kmpl depending on traffic and driving style. The engine spins at 1850 rpm while cruising at 100kmph. I could drive below 85kmph for some time and could extract more than 19kmpl. But with this engine, I don’t thing you can really drive that slow for long time.
• AC is a chiller. We could test it’s effectiveness at close to 40 degrees and we never had to go beyond fan speed 2.
• The ergonomics are spot on.
• The engine is very tractable. No matter how loaded the vehicle is, you won’t struggle. This is the engine to opt for if you are worried about power. Of course there is turbo lag in 2nd gear. 3rd gear is very very tall and you can literally drive from 15-100kmph.
• Space is it’s biggest USP. Only the Innova is better but this is a better package.

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