The facelifted Kia Carnival was introduced in January, and one of the biggest stories was the retainment of the 2.2 litre turbodiesel engine, despite the current high prices of the fuel. During the recent media drive for the MPV, we pressed Kia Sales Malaysia (KSM) on the car being recommended to use B7 biodiesel, which is 20 sen more expensive than B10 biodiesel, currently priced at RM3.19 per litre. As listed in the owner’s manual, the use of a blend of up to 7% biodiesel is “highly recommended”, despite the engine said to be capable of running up to B30 biodiesel. A KSM spokesperson reiterated this when asked but added that the use of the cheaper B10 grade will not void the five-year/150,000 km warranty. The hard cap of B30 biodiesel is interesting given that Indonesia – which also gets the Carnival in oil-burner form – is already running on B40 biodiesel and had planned to move to B50 biodiesel this year before concerns of the fuel’s effect on engine led to delays. The spokesperson said the archipelago could be utilising a Euro 2 version of the engine that accepts higher biodiesel blends, but has yet to confirm this. Anyway, our specification of the Carnival features a diesel particulate filter (DPF) integrated into the catalytic converter. This is thanks to our fuel being Euro 5 compliant since April 2021, but there is a concern that the filter could become clogged with particulates in stop-start traffic, requiring driving on highways for extended periods to unclog it. The same spokesperson said this is effectively a non-issue for the Carnival, as burning up accumulated particulates requires only driving above 60 km/h. He advised owners to include some highway driving in their use patterns to ensure this is achieved. As a refresher, the 2.2 litre turbo four-cylinder produces 202 PS at 3,800 rpm and 440 Nm of torque from 1,750 to 2,750 rpm. It drives the front wheels via an eight-speed automatic gearbox, and Kia claims an NEDC-rated fuel consumption figure of 6.5 litres per 100 km and, with a 72 litre fuel tank, a real-world range of 900 km. The Carnival is priced at RM188,888 for the 11-seater and RM248,888 for the more well-equipped seven-seater, and you can read more about it in our in-depth launch report. GALLERY: 2026 Kia Carnival 2.2D 11-seater facelift in Malaysia GALLERY: 2026 Kia Carnival 2.2D 7-seater facelift in Malaysia Compare prices between different insurer providers to save the most on your car insurance renewal compared to other competing services. Many payment method supported and you can pay with instalment using Atome, Grab PayLater or Shopee SPayLater.
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