2022 Kia Carens - Driven

The seven-seater Kia Carens is mighty impressive, but is that enough to take down its Korean compatriot in the Hyundai Alcazar? Well here’s what we think

Kia is going to focus exclusively on SUVs and MPVs in India. After the very premium Carnival MPV, Kia will bring a mass-segment car to take on the likes of Maruti Suzuki Ertiga and challenge the more expensive products like the Hyundai Alcazar.

Love it

• * Carens is very spacious
• * Practical features
• * Feels upmarket

Leave it

• * Confusing crossover design
• * One middle seat is fixed and cannot be adjusted
• * Too much chrome (for some)

2022 Kia Carens – Driven

• Year: 2022
• Make: Kia
• Model: Carens
• Horsepower @ RPM: 140
• Torque @ RPM: 242
• Displacement: 1353 cc
• Price: INR 1200000 (Est.)
• Price: Affordable
• car segment: MPV
• car fuel: diesel cars
• size: Full-Size
• Purpose: Family Cars
• body style: minivans vans

The South Korean automobile giant is starting 2022 with a giant leap. After unveiling the all-new Carens in December last year, Kia will announce prices for the Carens next month. But before that, we got a chance to sample the car to find out what it’s like out on the road.

2022 Kia Carens design

The side gets a clean design with SUV-ish roofline (SWIPE UP TO KNOW MORE)

The proportions are more MPV than SUV

The Kia Carens has a mix of SUV and MPV styling. It gets all the muscular bits like a high bonnet line and a flat roofline that mimics the form of an SUV. However, take a step back and view the whole car and you’ll feel like its proportions are more MPV than SUV.

SWIPE UP to know all about the all-new Carens including its expected price!

The front end gets an electric car-like sealed gloss-black grille with 3D patterns. Lower-down, the air dam now takes the shape of the signature Tiger Nose design seen on other global Kia models.

The split LED DRLs and the all-LED headlamps do add styling character to the Carens but the front-end looks are still up for debate and you can comment below to start it.

On the side, the striking 16-inch dual-tone alloy wheels try hard to catch your attention but there is nothing more to the design. It is a clean slate with two creases that form the extension of the headlamp and tail lamp.

The split LED tail lamps look great as well

The all-LED tail lamps with the light bar look quite good on the car, especially at night. Kia has added a lot of chrome to the vehicle all around, especially in the top-end trim. Indian customers love chrome and Kia knows that.

• EV like grille
• Crossover MPV design
• Gets 16-inch alloy wheels

2022 Kia Carens cabin

Kia offers different colour themes for different variants. The top-end gets a deep blue with beige and they do not go very well with each other. Other than that, Kia has managed to pack all the equipment, gadgets, and features neatly in the layered dashboard. The 10.25-inch touchscreen is a flush fit and it gets a long list of features like newer connected technology that allows you to control the car’s engine, climate control system, central locking through a smartphone app.

Kia has provided six USB ports for each seat and five of them are C-Type. There is a wireless phone charger as well. The steering gets multiple functions and the all-digital instrument cluster changes colours if you shift to sport mode from standard.

Including speaker system from Bose

Overall, the cabin of the Carens feels premium with the ambient lighting, soft-touch materials on the parts that you touch the most. The touchscreen with ambient noises of sea waves, outdoor cafe, rain, forest, and many others add a premium feel to the Carens as well. The sounds are played through a segment-first Bose sound system that is simply the best out there.

With better air quality now becoming more crucial than ever, Kia also offers an air filter that will be very useful for the customers in urban India. Kia has packaged everything very well in the car.

• Gloss dashboard susceptible to scratches
• Feels upmarket and premium
• Ample usable and practical features

2022 Kia Carens is quite spacious

Now that flat and upright roofline comes in very handy for the most distinguishing aspect of the Carens. Third-row space.

The third row is quite easy to access, as you just have to press a button to tumble down the second-row seat. It is can’t get any easier than that. However, do note that only one of the two captain seats in the middle row tumbles down. We were surprised to find that even the third row can be reclined by a few degrees.

SWIPE UP TO KNOW SPACE IN THIRD ROW

Moving to the middle row is spacious enough and there is ample headroom but for a tall adult, finding space for the knees can be problematic. There are two C-Type USB sockets and roof-mounted vents. In the six-seat variants, the middle row gets captain seats with foldable armrests. Only one of the seats can be adjusted by sliding as the seat that tumbles down is fixed. Also, only one passenger gets a rear table. The other passenger gets a view of the air purifier that is mounted behind the driver seat.

There is ample space to keep items like water bottles and other small things all around the cabin. You would not run out of space in the Carens. But you do not get much in the boot with all the three rows up. The total space is 216 litres.

• Good amount of space
• Ample headroom in the third row
• 216-litre boot space

2022 Kia Carens powertrain and drive

The new Carens offers three options. 1.5-litre naturally-aspirated petrol, a 1.5-litre turbocharged diesel, and the most powerful 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine. The 1.5-litre engine options produce 115 PS of power. The petrol engine produces a maximum torque of 144 Nm and the diesel unit produces a maximum torque of 250 Nm.

There are multiple transmission options as well

The most powerful engine option in the Carens is the 1.4-litre turbocharged unit that produces a maximum power of 140 PS and a peak torque of 244 Nm. We drove the diesel-manual and the turbo-petrol automatic variants.

The Carens offers as many as three engine options

The turbo-petrol generates massive power and pushes the car like none of its direct competitors. There are paddle shifters to control DCT but the suspension does not hold up to the performance of the engine. The Carens throw itself around the corners and what’s the point of driving this engine with a light foot?

There are two petrol and one diesel engine

The diesel manual makes much more sense. It has an ample amount of low-end torque as well. The engine is a bit louder but it offers ample torque to give the initial push and cruise on the highways without running out of breath.

• Soft suspension does not suit the performance of a 1.4-litre turbo
• Gets paddle shifters
• Can cruise at good speeds

During our short drive, the 1.4-litre DCT variant of Kia Carens displayed an average fuel economy of 12.6 km/l while the diesel displayed 17.9 km/l.

How does it compare to the Alcazar and Ertiga?

The Carens is slightly bigger than the Alcazar and is considerably larger than the Ertiga. The Alcazar offers a lot more features and a much more powerful naturally-aspirated petrol engine. The Carens are much more spacious as well.

The cabin is very spacious

Compared to the Ertiga, the Carens offers a lot more features, performance and engine options. It is simply a better choice than the Ertiga.

Conclusion

It gets a very unique face with split headlamps

Kia will price it somewhere between the Ertiga and the Alcazar and it will serve as a perfect choice to the customers who do not want the long feature list of Alcazar and a much more spacious car than the Ertiga.

What is your guess on the price? Do let us know in the comments below.

Keyword: 2022 Kia Carens - Driven