2023 Kia Carnival SX Status in Astra Blue (a $495 coloration possibility)
2023 Kia Carnival SX Status
Class: Minivan
Colour: Astra Blue
Miles pushed: 150
| CG Report Card | |
|---|---|
| Room and Consolation | A- |
| Energy and Efficiency | B |
| Match and End | A- |
| Gasoline Economic system | A- |
| Worth | B+ |
| Report-card grades are derived from a consensus of test-driver evaluations. All grades are versus different autos in the identical class. Worth grade is for particular trim stage evaluated, and should not mirror Shopper Information’s impressions of your entire mannequin lineup. | |
| Large & Tall Consolation | |
| Large Man | A |
| Tall Man | A |
| Large & Tall consolation scores are for entrance seats solely. “Large” score based mostly on male tester weighing roughly 350 kilos, “Tall” score based mostly on 6’6″-tall male tester. | |
| Drivetrain | |
| Engine Specs | 290-hp 3.5 liter |
| Engine Kind | V6 |
| Transmission | 8-speed automated |
| Drive Wheels | Entrance-wheel drive |
Noticed gasoline economic system: 18.6 mpg
Driving combine: 70% metropolis, 30% freeway
EPA-estimated gasoline economic system: 19/26/22 (mpg metropolis/freeway/mixed)
Gasoline kind: Common gasoline
Snow efficiency: N/A
Base worth: $45,700 (not together with $1295 vacation spot cost)
Choices on check automobile: Rear Seat Leisure Package deal ($1000), SX Status Seat Package deal (no value), particular paint ($495)
Worth as examined: $48,690
Fast Hits
The good: Glorious passenger room and luxury; satisfying acceleration; very respectable freeway gasoline economic system for a automobile of this dimension and energy
The nice: Distinctive styling; upscale trim in and out; broad array of consolation and comfort options
The not so good: Second-row reclining “lounge” seats are of doubtful worth and may’t be eliminated; hybrid and/or all-wheel-drive powertrains not accessible
Tom Appel:
Let’s be trustworthy about one thing proper up entrance: Each minivan in the marketplace right this moment is fairly good. Actually good, really. For 2023 Shopper Information named the Chrysler Pacifica its minivan Greatest Purchase—this primarily for the automobile’s deft mix of utility and luxurious—however we nonetheless advocate significantly that customers check drive all 4 autos within the class.
2023 Kia Carnival SX Status
We recognize the Honda Odyssey for its stout drivetrain and sporty dealing with, the Toyota Sienna for its glorious gasoline economic system and accessible AWD, and the Kia Carnival as a result of it’s cool. Severely. The Carnival doesn’t fairly match the utility or drivetrain sophistication of the opposite minivans on the market within the U.S., nevertheless it does trump all comers on the subject of presentation, and the Carnival presents properly.
Check Drive Gallery: 2022 Kia Carnival SX
2023 Kia Carnival SX Status
Kia desires prospects to think about the Carnival as a substitute for the minivan, and never a minivan itself. Kia goes as far as to keep away from utilizing the phrase minivan by itself web site. Test it out. If you’ll find the phrase van wherever on this website, please tell us. As a substitute, Kia refers back to the Carnival as an MPV (Multi-Function Automobile). Nobody is being fooled.
Check Drive Gallery: 2022 Toyota Sienna XSE
2023 Kia Carnival SX Status
That’s okay, we all know the reality. And, the reality is, name it a van or not, there’s an terrible lot to love concerning the Carnival. As a public service, now we have recognized the perfect purchaser for the Carnival, and that’s a divorced man with younger children who’s nonetheless within the relationship sport. As such, dad will get the total utility of a minivan when he has the children, and an aesthetic luxurious trip when he’s out in town. Name Carnival the bachelor dad social gathering pad, and also you get the thought.
The Carnival debuted as a 2022 mannequin, changing the stodgy Sedona within the Korean maker’s lineup. The van was—and is–a revelation style-wise, proving that even a big, slab-sided van can sport a horny look if designers imagine strongly sufficient within the challenge. The Carnival is little modified for 2023. The massive information is that the entry-level LXS trim has been dropped from the lineup, and the twond-row captain’s chairs, beforehand customary on high trim ranges, at the moment are a no-cost possibility.
For ’23, the Carnival is accessible in entry LX, midlevel EX, well-equipped SX, and luxury-level SX Status trim ranges. Base costs vary from round $35,000 to round $48,000. Our check SX Status got here to $48,690, together with the now optionally available 2nd-row captain’s chairs—dubbed VIP Lounge Seats–which restrict seating capability to seven occupants.
So, how luxurious is an almost $50,000 minivan, and the way impressed will bachelor dad’s perspective second wives be? The reply to each questions is “very.”
Our check van arrived in stylish Astra Blue with Tuscan Umber leather-based seating, with steel-gray accents. As a substitute of wooden trim, the Carnival options brushed hammered-aluminum accents, in addition to black-lacquer console and sprint trim. The look is recent, slightly aggressive, however in the end good-looking.
Check Drive: 2022 Kia Carnival SX Status
By way of passenger area, Carnival trails the voluminous Sienna, however affords about the identical quantity of passenger and cargo room because the Odyssey and Pacifica. However until to plan to repeatedly fill the van to its limits, you’ll discover the cabin open, ethereal, and many roomy.
The front-row seats are loads comfy, as are the reclining 2nd-row VIP chairs. As the twond-row seats slide each side-to-side in addition to for-and-aft, entry to the threerd-row is fairly straightforward. The far-back seat is roomy sufficient for midsize adults, however the knees-up seating place will doubtless show fatiguing for bigger occupants on longer journeys. Observe, too, the VIP seats can’t be eliminated, one thing to contemplating when checking that possibility field.
Additionally value noting that for nearly $50,000, the Carnival will not be accessible with power-folding 3rd-row seats, one thing all the competitors affords. Folding the seats manually, nonetheless, will not be a crushing chore.
The dashboard and management structure will really feel acquainted to Kia—and Hyundai—loyalists, and is solely and elegantly organized. The configurable instrument panel consists of Kia’s glorious Blind-Spot View Monitor (BVM). The turn-signal activated system offers a blind-spot digicam view on the instrument-panel of the lane you’re signaling into. The system works for each left and proper lane modifications, and is extremely helpful in heavy site visitors.
And, for date evening, the 12-speaker Bose audio system customary on the SX Status ought to impress. After a dinner of shrimp de jonghe paired with a bottle of Terlano Terlaner Classico, a high-fidelity Spyro Gyra jam ought to be simply the factor to assist underscore our bachelor’s erudite credentials.
Check Drive: 2021 Honda Odyssey Elite
2023 Kia Carnival SX Status
On the highway the Carnival acquits itself properly. We had famous our appreciation for the graceful energy supply of the Honda Odyssey, however the Carnival is not any slouch by way of acceleration or refined drivetrain habits. Plus, the engine makes good noises when pushed, however is in any other case principally unheard.
2023 Kia Carnival SX PrestigeRide high quality can be good—long-haul highway journey good—although cabin noise ranges on the highway are considerably increased than within the different vans. Dealing with is one other shiny spot. Whereas nobody would significantly name the Carnival, or some other minivan, sporty, the Kia comes shut, with moderately fast strikes in site visitors, and decently managed roll in quick corners.
The Carnival is EPA rated at a mixed 22 mpg. We bought nearer to town estimate of 19 mpg in driving biased considerably in direction of metropolis operation.
So, let’s say you’re not a bachelor dad on the prowl. As a substitute, you simply want a sensible household hauler and also you’d choose your automobile not appear like each different van on the highway. We strongly counsel you are taking the Carnival for a check drive. Whereas it’s rather less purposeful than the competitors, and may’t be had with AWD, it’s, frankly, the best minivan, and maybe the one van with actual character.
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2023 Kia Carnival SX Status
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2023 Kia Carnival SX Status Gallery
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