KIA Grand Carnival

Overview

The flagship passenger car from Kia Motors, the Grand Carnival, has earned quite a reputation for itself as one of the largest and most premium multi-utility vehicles in its category. The Grand Carnival, with its very promising sense of space and premium appeal, has given itself an edge over its competitors in terms of desirability. The Kia Grand Carnival is available in three different variants – 11-seater standard, 7-seater standard, and 7-seater LS, with a total of seven color options to choose from – Snow White Pearl, Silky Silver, Platinum Graphite, Aurora Black, Titanium Brown, Deep Chroma Blue, and BlackBerry.

Interior & Features

On the inside too, things are kept in an XXL fashion, with the Grand Carnival offering tremendously spacious cabin. While the base variant of the Grand Carnival offers an enormous seating capacity of  11 passengers, the upper two variants offer a seating capacity of seven passengers.

The dashboard looks quite simple yet elegant, without lacking any kind of flair – something that's rarely seen on an MUV. The steering comes with a rounded theme and is integrated with audio, Bluetooth, and cruise control buttons. The instrument console looks well-designed and is pretty informative as well, with a large MID display at the centre showing up all the essential data on the go. The instrument console has been designed in a unison manner, including the centre console on the right-hand side with a piano black finish around it and a large touchscreen infotainment system taking the centre stage.

In terms of features, the Kia Grand Carnival is loaded with features like dual-zone climate control, touchscreen infotainment system with reverse camera and audio system, six speakers, rear AC vents, leather upholstery, electrically adjustable and foldable rear view mirrors, height adjustable driver’s seat, push-button start with keyless entry and so on. The seats in all the three rows offer quite a good amount of knee room, legroom, and shoulder room too, making the Grand Carnival the most spacious MUV in the segment.

Exterior

On the outside, the Kia Grand Carnival is designed to impress just by its sheer size, thus giving it a tremendous road presence. The long wheelbase gives it a sense of a big vehicle, which surely makes it look premium.

At the front, the Kia Grand Carnival comes with the company’s traditional “tiger nose” chrome grille, albeit in a rounded form from the upper and lower surfaces. The sleek looking sweptback headlamps look blingy, thanks to daytime running LEDs and projector units within them. The addition of chrome garnish around the LED fog lamps further enhances the premium appeal of the frontal stance of the Grand Carnival.

The side profile of the Grand Carnival looks quite elongated, thanks to the long wheelbase of the vehicle. The large side windows get chrome surround, and the alloy wheels are machined units. The kink rising beyond the C-pillar adds some character to the otherwise conventionally styled side profile.

At the rear, the Kia Grand Carnival is a bit staid, with small rounded-rectangular tail lamps and large rear windshield continuing the sense of a large vehicle when viewed from the rear.

Ride & Handling

Riding on large 18-inch alloy wheels, the Kia Grand Carnival gets MacPherson Strut with Stabilizer and Multi-link at the front and gas type shock absorbers at the rear. The Grand Carnival also gets 17-inch disc brakes at both the front and rear.

Engine & Fuel Consumption

For the Grand Carnival, Kia has employed a 2.2-litre turbocharged four-cylinder diesel engine from its flagship SUV, the Sorento. The engine, coupled to a 6-speed automatic gearbox, is capable of putting up 300 PS of maximum power and 450 Nm of peak torque output.

Braking & Safety

For a vehicle of this size and price, the Kia Grand Carnival is quite under-equipped in terms of safety features. The MUV misses out on many sophisticated new-age safety features and gets only the basics at the place, such as dual front airbags, ABS, reverse parking camera with sensors and ISOFIX child seat mounts.

Verdict

The Kia Grand Carnival has a large road presence and a premium design, which positions it as a premium MUV. However, we would have loved to see a longer comfort, convenience, and safety feature list to make sure it complements its premium design. The spacious cabin, as well as supple ride quality, only adds to the overall plush experience of the Grand Carnival.