Snackable Review: Kia Carnival

PLUS

• We couldn’t talk about the Carnival without bowing down to its abundance of space. The boot is big, and by big we mean massive. Even with all three rows set up, it’s worth singing about. So just imagine what you could do with all that space once you put the back seats down.
  
• With all that space comes storage. Storage galore. 10 cup holders, seriously! I guess this makes sense when you consider what this bus is in its prime when transporting an army of children!
• The seats are versatile. You can do whatever you like, almost. Three rows, two rows, side seats with a catwalk down the centre. Just another day in the Carnival.
• Kia may have dropped the ‘Grand’ from the name and left it at just ‘Carnival’ but we’re loving the new SUV-ish styling. With the boxier front, it looks more like your average SUV – from the front anyway. The side and back still look like a bus, but trust us, it’s better.
• The safety features included in the top spec models are impressive: Blind spot monitoring, active cruise, lane departure warning and forward collision warnings. So if price is no object, then you’ll be rapt.

MINUS

• It’s more refined, it’s boxier and it has space. But you can’t put a dinosaur in a tutu and pretend it’s a ballerina. It looks better, but a bus is still a bus and the Carnival still drives that way.
• Parking. It’s not like we didn’t know parking a car this size would be hard.
• The price. Being so big, you want all the beeping and alerts you could ask for in a car, just so you can park the darn thing. But on a family’s budget, the Platinum (which comes with all the bells and whistles) is a bit of a tough ask!
• The suspension works a treat when the vehicle is loaded, but unladed it’s a bit firm – meaning you feel the bumps.

Click here to read the full review on the Kia Carnival.