For those with growing families or just growing children, it can be hard to find a vehicle that has a combination of room, comfort and drivability, Kia thought so too so they developed the Carnival. Replacing the Sedona, the Carnival is a tricked-out minivan with plenty of room for people and cargo. If you don’t pay attention to the sliding doors, the Carnival looks more like an SUV than the ubiquitous minivan.
I took the Carnival on a mini-vacation to San Diego. We had more than enough room to stow our luggage behind the third-row seat. We found the minivan a comfortable ride and easy to drive. We had plenty of gas to make it there and back with more to spare.
The Carnival is available in four trims: LX, EX, SX, and SX Prestige. This review will focus on the EX trim level.
With the EX trim Kia gives the driver: a rear camera monitoring system, wireless smartphone charging station, eight speaker stereo, 19-inch wheels, hands-free power tailgate, rear cabin intercom (“stop hitting your brother”), larger 12.3-inch touchscreen with NAV, adaptive cruise control, and upgraded forward collision mitigation.
Powered by a 3.5-liter V6, the Carnival pulls 290 horses and 262 lb-ft of torque. The engine is paired with an eight speed automatic transmission. The Carnival is available only in front-wheel drive. Expect to get 19/city, 26/highway and 22/combined MPG.
A roomy interior greets passengers with legroom aplenty. The climate system heats and cools the cavernous space effectively. There are plenty of USB ports around to keep the kids at bay. The drive in the Carnival can be a bit rough at times, it tends to give a shake when going over particularly rough roads, but those cushy seats will help to smooth that out.
The V6 engine delivers a good amount of power, but it’s not particularly quick, but the Carnival is a MINIVAN and as such is plenty quick enough. Steering is reliable but again there is that Minivan thing going on, so don’t expect it to glide around sharp turns at a high rate of speed. The cabin is pretty quiet, from road noise that is. The Carnival can’t keep the kids quiet!
