When our daughter decided on a destination wedding, she and my wife swung into gear with the planning. By the time most of the details were set (and we realized the amount of stuff needed), it was obvious that my wife and I would need an impressive vehicle to get us from San Diego to the tiny spot in Oregon that our daughter found. How lucky that we were able to road test a Kia Carnival. Not only was the car a delight to drive, it provided an amazing amount of comfort and capacity, all wrapped around very thoughtful design decisions.
As to first impressions, there is a very wide sense of visibility as you sit in the cockpit. The design of a broad windshield and tall front seat windows is quite effective from the interior, but is not overbearing from the exterior. The steering wheel seems somewhat smaller than found on cars of this size, which provides not only an especially sporty feeling, but improves the wide visibility design aesthetic. The steering wheel telescopes and adjusts vertically to customize and maximize the pilot’s ergonomics.
We appreciated the very thoughtful placement for the expected accoutrements of cupholders, mobile phones and charging array.
We almost brought a cat to help with the wedding details.
After packing an incredible amount of wedding ceremony and reception stuff into the Carnival’s 145 cubic ft. capacity, we headed north from San Diego. Rather quickly I liked the very clever functionality when engaging the turn signal: a side camera provides the view equivalent to the rear view mirror (Blind-Spot View Monitor). Having this perspective on the instrument cluster was very helpful, as my vision remained closer to the road ahead.
Also helpful when you’re about to back up and you have shifted in reverse gear, any obstacles behind you trigger not only an audible warning, but a physical stuttering in the steering wheel. This is an intuitive and effective warning.
Likewise effective is the haptic lane feature. On the long road through California’s Central Coast I tuned the settings for one of the easiest freeway tours in years. By setting the cruise control, the Lane Following Assist and the Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist features I was able to eschew the annoying hopscotch challenge that cars play mile after mile. But the Kia engineers have struck the right balance between comfort and safety; if you let your hands loosen on the steering wheel, the safety feature kicks in to nudge you to firmly tighten your grip. Also on alert is a system that monitors for diminished driver attention, which I was pleased not to encounter (but was comforted by its silent presence).
You can customize the dashboard layout, and one mode adjusts the realistic horizon in real time to the movement of the sun. As we approached Redding at sunset, a similar image was shown on the dashboard.
It is a standard joke about turning down the volume when you’re backing up, undoubtedly to diminish the sensory input. With the Carnival, it happens automatically. This is a nice touch.
The tall trees offered shade in the Pacific Northwest, but the open stretches of Central California were far hotter.
There are many great things about Oregon, but at least two involve gas stations: they pump your gas at no extra charge and the gas prices are quite low if you’re coming from California. On the highway we averaged between 27 and 30 MPG in the Carnival, making the cost of the road trip less than expected. After watching the wedding bills fly by, this mileage was a pleasant surprise.
Once we arrived at the wedding destination, I was impressed that the groomsmen swung immediately into gear unpacking the Carnival. There was lots to unpack, and I was again impressed by the car’s capacity. Once all this stuff was in place for the wedding activities, I was glad we did not have to leave any of it behind due to lack of space…everyone concurred the wedding was a smashing success.
The ride in the Carnival was smooth, surprising for such a relatively large vehicle. The Drive Mode Integrated Control System lets the driver toggle through four choices (normal, eco, sport and smart).
The interior was luxurious, most notably for my mother-in-law who joined us on the trip south. She was able to kick back in the second row with VIP Lounge Seats: fully reclining and powered footrests, letting her imagine business class air travel. Had we been more adventuresome we would have deployed the Slide-Flex seating mode to fold into a table for dining or rounds of Rummikub or Monopoly Deal.
Dad checks out the comfort of the second row.
The first time I encountered seat cooling functionality was a decade ago in the Kia Optima, and the great experience has been refined since then. Indeed, the cabin temperature in the Carnival remained consistently comfortable regardless of which direction the sun beat down on us across record setting mercury readings.
The 3.5-liter V-6 engine delivers a powerful 287 horsepower output. The car is backed up by a comforting and industry-leading 10-year/100,000-mile limited warranty.
We have been pleased with various other car brands, but each time we do a road trip with a Kia we come back for more. That is pretty great consistency. Grandkids are probably a ways down the road, but I could foresee myriad Kia roadtrips on the horizon.
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