2022 Kia Carnival review: A party on wheels

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The new Carnival appears to be like a ton far more rugged than the Sedona it replaces. 


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Kia is out of the minivan business enterprise — properly, depending on who you question. The unpopular Sedona relatives-hauler is gone, supplanted by the colorfully named 2022 Kia Carnival, which is billed as a multipurpose car or truck, or MPV for quick. The South Korean automaker is trying to fill a vaguely outlined white place with this merchandise, which occurs to be a tall and boxy equipment with 3 rows of seats, cavernous interior place and a sliding doorway on every aspect. What form of car or truck does that describe? Arrive on, Kia: Embrace the minivan, specifically because the Carnival is so good.

Like

  • Ideal transmission functionality
  • Open, ethereal interior
  • Pleasant tech

Really don’t Like

  • To some degree noisy at pace
  • Piano-black trim
  • Unsettled journey

What ever you truly feel like contacting it, the 2022 Carnival is created on Kia’s 3rd-technology N3 platform, which underpins other automobiles like the handsome Sorento SUV and avant-garde K5 sedan. Offering it noticeably sturdier styling than the outdated Sedona, which was rounded in comparison, the Carnival features a modernized model of the brand’s signature tiger-nose grille, comprehensive with unique sculpting and tasteful brightwork. For a far more rugged search, the wheel arches are accentuated, in addition the hood is increased and flatter than what you are going to come across on other minivans. This is also the to start with Kia in The usa to attribute the brand’s revamped emblem, which is present day and angular, or as Roadshow assessments editor Antuan Goodwin explained it in a photo caption, “K-backwards-N.” What has been seen simply cannot be unseen.

Thanks to these design attributes, the Carnival appears to be like far more sturdy than its rivals, particularly the billowy Chrysler Pacifica. But you can find only so much you can do with visual sleight-of-hand. This Kia is still undeniably a minivan, as evinced by its imposing two-box sort. Size-clever, the Carnival is in lockstep with rivals — its 121.7-inch wheelbase may well be the longest of the bunch, but it’s just .1 inches greater than the Chrysler’s. At 203 inches from grille to liftgate, it’s an inch or two shorter than its rivals, with the Honda Odyssey being the longest of the team (if only just).

That generous measurement presents the Carnival a good deal of interior place. Powering its 60/forty-split 3rd-row seat, which manually folds into the floor with the pull of a pair handles and a major downward shove, you get forty.2 cubic feet of storage place. Powering the next-row chairs it provides 86.9 cubic feet so you get up to a hundred forty five.1 cubes to play with, far more than in all but the voluminous Odyssey.

Aside from capaciousness, convenience is a different a single of the Carnival’s sturdy satisfies in this midrange EX design. The Slide-Flex next-row chairs are a good deal at ease and supportive, in addition they easily move fore and aft by a sizeable total, while they do not fold into the floor like Chrysler’s ingenious Stow ‘n Go technique. For greatest cargo place, you’ve bought to take away them and hope you really don’t pull a muscle in your back. Making certain passengers have obtain to power, USB ports are built-in into the entrance seatbacks. Mirroring the Toyota Sienna, the vary-topping SX Status design features twin VIP lounge seats, which slide, recline and have built-in ottomans for added luxurious. They also offer you power controls as properly as heating and air flow for all-time convenience. The Carnival’s 3rd-row seat is accommodating with a good deal of place as well, even for lanky grownups. As with the next row, passengers in steerage have obtain to a pair of USB ports. No matter where you’re sitting, you can find almost adequate headroom in this car or truck for Shaquille O’Neal to bolt upright even though donning a major hat.

What do you assume of Kia’s new emblem?


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Spacious and at ease, the Carnival’s interior is attractive and properly created. The dashboard is uncomplicated and cleanly laid out. The local climate controls, which are partly comprised of physical switches and touch-sensitive buttons, are plainly labeled and quick to work. Aside from there being a little as well much piano-black trim (a magnet for dust and fingerprints) in this EX design, the components utilised are of high good quality, anything is assembled with painstaking precision and very little is loose or usually cheap feeling.

An 8-inch touchscreen is standard devices in the foundation LX design, comprehensive with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. EX and increased styles, on the other hand, come with a much bigger 12.3-inch exhibit, which is household to a swanky infotainment technique. This multimedia array is incredibly snappy, responding to finger inputs nearly instantaneously, in addition it’s a cakewalk to use, with nearly zero mastering curve. This can make the Carnival a single of those automobiles you can soar ideal in and start out applying with out getting to thumb by the owner’s guide or squander time figuring out how points function. This infotainment technique also appears to be like amazing. Icons on the household display screen resemble little neon signs and the radio tuner is styled like nixie tubes, a playful touch. EX and increased styles also come standard with a wireless charging plate and both cabin camera and intercom units — so the driver can continue to keep tabs on and connect with passengers in the back seats.

The Carnival is powered by a 3.five-liter V6 that belts out 290 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque. This Kia has a couple far more horses in its stable than the Pacifica and Odyssey, but unexpectedly, all 3 of these minivans have an similar total of torque. The Carnival’s motor is peaceful and easy, the little tingles developed by all V6s are properly attenuated, with little vibration being felt within. Acceleration is good, the van pulling properly when you punch it, a functionality aided by the tremendous-responsive eight-pace automatic transmission. As gearboxes go, this a single is fantastic: imperceptibly easy, fast-witted and keen to downshift when you want far more oomph. What far more could you question for?

The Carnival’s cabin is roomy, properly created and particularly at ease. 


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Gas financial state is ideal in line with the Carnival’s major rivals. The Kia stickers at 19 mpg metropolis and 26 mpg highway. Put together, it’s rated at 22 mpg, similar to a entrance-wheel push, non-plug-in Pacifica or the Honda Odyssey. Normally, the hybrid-only Sienna blows this Kia away like topsoil in the course of the Dust Bowl with its across-the-board score of up to 36 mpg (as does the pricier Pacifica plug-in hybrid, which returns eighty two MPGe when operating exclusively on electrical power). If greatest gas financial state issues, get the Toyota. If towing prowess tops your chart, nab the Chrysler, as it’s rated to drag up to 3,600 lbs, a hundred far more than the Carnival, Odyssey or Sienna.

The Carnival’s steering is mild and reasonably fast, which will help this minivan truly feel nimble and a little bit smaller sized than it is. The standard lane-maintaining support engineering is exceptionally good, in no way sawing at the wheel or darting for the ditch when a line receives interrupted. The accessible adaptive cruise handle is effective a handle, as well. Normal driver aids consist of blind-place monitoring, rear cross-targeted traffic alert, lane-maintaining support and reverse parking sensors.

Dynamic downsides are couple, but the Carnival’s largest weakness is its unsettled journey. Choppy, noisy and on the floaty aspect, this relatives-hauler can truly feel a little bit uneasy at situations. A total load of kiddies and cargo would almost certainly settle points down, but the unladen tuning needs a little far more function to really get points dialed in. Commotion from the tires and wind is also noticeable at pace, possible exacerbated by the cavernous interior.  

Minivan or MPV, it really would not matter what you phone the 2022 Kia Carnival mainly because it’s a good car or truck.


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An eye-catching and properly-rounded providing, the 2022 Kia Carnival is accessible in four trim ranges: LX, EX, SX and SX Status. Foundation cost for this not-so-mini van is 33 major types and modify, such as $1,one hundred seventy five in supply fees. As it sits, the EX design revealed listed here checks out for a not-unreasonable $38,775.

If you’re procuring for a minivan, thank you! Far more drivers would be clever to take into consideration a single of these versatility all-stars in excess of the SUVs everybody is obsessed with these times. Building the decision even less complicated (or perhaps more difficult), you won’t be able to buy a lousy minivan. All the major players are good in their personal way. The gas-sipping Toyota Sienna is fingers down the most economical design with out a plug Chrysler’s Pacifica appears to be like the nicest as Stow ‘n Go still blows the levels of competition away and the Honda Odyssey is the most properly-rounded of the bunch and possible the ideal to push. As for the Carnival, it’s as fantastic an option as any, and has no difficulties going toe-to-toe not just with other minivans, but with 3-row SUVs, as well.