Car Review: 2019 Kia Carnival Platinum Petrol
This Car Review Is About:
The 2019 model year Kia Carnival Platinum with 3.3L V6 engine. It’s also available with a torquey 2.2L diesel. The car reviewed was priced at $60,290, plus $695 for premium paint, plus on road costs.
Under The Bonnet Is:
Kia’s well sorted and rorty 3.3L V6. It produces 206kW at 6,000rpm, and will twist out 336Nm at 5,200rpm. The diesel, in comparison, has 147kW, and 440Nm, with the latter on tap between 1,750rpm and 2,750rpm. Economy is rated as 10.8L of regular unleaded from the 80L tank for every 100 kilometres on the combined cycle. Urban and highway are 14.5L and 8.7L per 100 kilometres for the 2,094 kilogram machine before fuel and passengers. Towing is 2,000 kilos, braked.
Transmission is also well sorted, with eight forward cogs. Although not quite as smooth overall as General Motors’ ripper nine speed, it’s not that far behind in overall refinement.
On The Inside Is:
What a proper people mover should be all about. With the rise of faux people movers masquerading as SUVs, Kia’s Carnival shows them how it’s done. Two up front, three in the middle on sliding seats, and three in the rear, and still with room enough. Overall length of 5,115mm starts the party and continues with a 3,060mm wheelbase.
Storage is 960L with all three rows of seats up, with 2,220L or 4,022L depending on second and third row seats being folded down. Access is via a powered tailgate or powered sliding doors, with the remote key fob opening and closing either. The rear and centre row seats aren’t quite as intuitively friendly to operate as some others, ditching a pullstrap style at the rear in favour of a more complicated handle pull and lift arrangement, with the centre a little more fussy in operation also.
Front and second row seats are vented and heated, for good measure. Kia’s brochure doesn’t specifically mention head/leg/shoulder room, but there’s more than enough space for anyone not named Dwayne Johnson.
The seat material was a mix of black and light grey leather which matched the upper and lower trim colours. Rear and centre row seats have independent aircon controls and vents. Smart devices have 3 USB ports and 3 12V sockets from which to be charged from, however there is no separate wireless charge pad.
Kia says there are ten cup holders, with two up front, in the centre, and two on the centre row seat back, with four more for the third row. The front and sliding doors have a bottle holder each. The centre console also has a link to the aircon system with a coolbox there.
The Kia Carnival has ditched the seven inch touchscreen for an eight inch. It houses satnav, DAB, Bluetooth streaming, and the apps for additional features via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The safety menu has a wide array of information assistance including school zone awareness and narrow roads. All can be disabled should the slightly strident voice become too overbearing.
The driver gets a polished wood trim look and leather tiller, with the hub holding Kia’s standard rollers and tabs to access ound and 3.5 inch centre dash screen info. Unusually the Platinum version stays with a full analogue dial display, with that centre screen the only digital part.
Ergonomics are pretty much Kia’s normal quality, that is to say “instinctive”. Auto headlights and dusk sensing wipers are standard also. What is also standard is a 360 degree camera system, allowing a selection of views around the big machine.
What About Safety?
Blind Spot Detection with Lane Change Assist, Autonomous Emergency Braking with Forward Collision Warning are standard. Rear Cross Traffic Alert adds to the overall package nicely. There are roof mounted, side mounted, and front mounted airbags but no driver’s kneebag. There are three ISOFIX mounts for child seats along with the older tether type.
The Outside Has:
Not changed for a few years now. It’s still a handsome beast, with a broad, stocky look. The exterior colours are few, with just six to choose from. Deep Chroma Blue was the provided colour, with Clear White, Panthera Metal, Silky Silver, Snow White Pearl, and Aurora Black available. Carnival Platinum rolls on easy clean chrome alloys, with 235/55/19 the dimensions and rubber from Nexen.
Quad cased LED driving lights in the lower front corners along with standard LED driving lights that wrap around the headlights balance LED tail lights.
On The Road It’s:
Starting to show a little bit of age. As good and as supple the suspension is, it’s noticeably unsettled by lateral movements thanks to road expansion joints. The MacPherson strut/multi-link combo is fine in a straight line, will deal with being thrown into corners (considering the two tonne plus mass), but as long as there are no imperfections, it’s a very good gripper. It’s predictable in its handling across all sorts of driving situations, and will understeer on a nicely consistent, easily controllable, basis.
Like all weighty petrol fed cars, it needs a good poking to get moving. When a hasty departure isn’t required it will quietly purr away from the line but with the solid hint there’s mass to pull around. Amp it up and the muted snarl gets a little fiercer, a little angrier, and the metallic keen gets more noticeable as the spinning numbers get higher.
The auto is mostly en pointe, but is prone to some lurching between gears, an occasional bang as the foot comes off the accelerator and momentarily has the electronics vagued out. There was some dithering between gears on light to moderate acceleration, and changes aren’t as silky smooth as expected, with minor but noticeable body movement fore and aft as they changed.
A positive is the wind resistance; with the flat, broad, sheetmetal, cross breezes would be fairly expected to move the Carnival around. In a brewing storm, perhaps, but with some stiff breezes encountered the Carnival remained stable on road.
The Warranty Is:
Kia’s seven year warranty and service costs package. First service is 15,000 kilometres or one year and is priced at $356.00. Year four is $689.00 and year six the other big one at $679.00. Check with your Kia dealer about associated services for warranty and serving issues.
At The End Of The Drive.
There is a possible update for the Carnival allegedly due in late 2019. If the facelifts to Cerato are any indication, it’ll further enhance the already not unattractive looks of the Carnival. Where it really wins is in the slowly growing “why buy a SUV when there are people movers?” movement. It’s a proper eight seater, even if row three might be a bit cramped depending on who sits there. There’s plenty of room, and tech,and plenty of street appeal.
Kia’s Carnival continues to win awards, but more importantly continues to win hearts. Here is where you can find more about the 2019 Kia Carnival.
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