5 Reasons Why The Kia Carnival 8-Seater High is The Best ‘Balik Kampung’ MPV

‘Balik kampung’ roadtrips are one of the few affairs that many Malaysians have partake in, especially during festive seasons like 'Hari Raya'.

With this massive annual exodus typically resulting in heavy traffic congestion through unpredictable conditions at times, we’d reckon a comfortable and capable ride would make this journey a little bit less painful and daunting, especially for a larger family.

We've got our hands on the newly-updated 2024 Kia Carnival CKD in its 8-Seater High form during the previous 'Hari Raya' festivities.

This is where we think big luxury MPVs like the recently-updated 2024 Kia Carnival 8-Seater High can shine, with said Korean MPV featuring tonnes of amenities that will make any long-haul journey pleasant and safe. Not to forget, large MPVs like the Carnival also allow you to ferry up to eight passengers in one go, eliminating the need to fleet an extra vehicle for this traffic-laden trip.

Having said that, here are five reasons why we think the 2024 Kia Carnival 8-Seater High is the ultimate MPV for your ‘balik kampung’ trips…

1. Handsome Design For An MPV

Although not as radical as its facelifted twin, which debuted in Singapore earlier this year, the updated 2024 Kia Carnival is still a looker, featuring a more conventional MPV-esque look than its boxy Japanese rival.

Up front lies its commanding ‘Tiger Nose’, featuring a massive front grille flanked by LED headlights with L-shaped DRL strips. These are matched with full-width LED taillights that feature matching light signatures as the front DRLs.

Special for the 2024MY update are the new 19-inch gloss black alloy wheels the Carnival rides on.

Special for the 2024 updated model are the new 19-inch alloy wheels finished in gloss black, replacing the old 18-inch unit used prior. Aside from the new alloys, the Carnival remains the same as the pre-update version.

The Carnival is noticeably longer and wider compared to the Alphard, although the Japanese MPV still stood taller than the Korean beast.

What’s certain too is that the Carnival is a pretty huge car, measuring 5,155 MM long, 1,955 MM wide, 1,740 MM tall, and with a wheelbase of 3,090 MM. This makes Kia’s flagship MPV slightly bigger than both the new Toyota Alphard and Vellfire, while being on par with its other Korean twin, the Hyundai Staria.

All in all, the Kia Carnival boasts a very commanding and handsome stature, thanks to its massive size and a slew of sharp styling cues. But more importantly, its massive size also makes the Carnival excel in other, more important fronts…

2. Very Spacious & Luxurious Interior That Fits 8 Adults

The term ‘bigger is better’ fits the Kia Carnival perfectly. What stems from its massive stature is one of the most spacious cabins in the segment.

All of the Carnival's eight seats are wrapped in premium leatherette upholstery material, while featuring decent space to ferry eight adults at the same time.

This is especially true for the 8-Seater High variant we tested during the recent Hari Raya festivities. Featuring a 2-3-3 seating layout, the Carnival can ferry eight adults at any time in a pretty comfortable manner, with each of them wrapped in premium leatherette upholstery material.

The Carnival's standard 627 litres boot space can be further expanded to more than 2,000 litres once you folded down the third-row seats.

More importantly, despite its 8-seater layout, the Carnival can still offer up a decently large cargo space without needing to fold the third row down. Measuring 627 litres, there’s enough space to accommodate the luggage for all 8 passengers, thus making the Carnival a perfect MPV for your ‘balik kampung' trip.

Unlike the stowable third-row seats, the Carnival's second-row seats can be fully-removed!

Unique to the 8-seater variant of the Carnival are the second-row seats, which not only can both fold down and rotate around, they can be removed entirely. Coupled with the stowable third-row seats, this means that you can technically transform your Carnival into a commercial-style panel van for maximum cargo loading capacity – perfect for those annual IKEA trips, in fact.

Tech amenities present here include the dual 12.3-inch screens crowning above the Carnival's front dash, which is hooked up to a 12-speaker Bose premium audio setup.

On top of the spacious cabin, the Carnival also comes with a slew of tech and luxury amenities. Starting up front, the car comes standard with a dual 12.3-inch display, with the infotainment half supporting both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay wirelessly, which hooks up to a 12-speaker Bose premium audio system.

Elsewhere, the two front seats are now both powered and ventilated, while the central console houses a wireless charging pad, multiple USB charging ports, and a 12-volt socket for your charging convenience.

Not only the rear passengers get their own dedicated A/C control and multiple USB ports, they also have their own panoramic sunroof and sun blinds for each of the windows at the back.

As for rear passengers, the spacious second and third-row seats are complemented with multiple A/C vents with a separate control panel, plus a slew of USB charging ports present in each row. Each of the windows at the back comes equipped with built-in sun shades, not to mention the two panoramic sunroofs present at the front and rear parts of the cabin.

To summarise, the Kia Carnival 8-Seater High’s cabin space is not only spacious enough to ferry eight passengers, said real estate it matched with tech and comfort amenities that help make ‘balik kampung’ journeys more comfortable and enjoyable.

3. Peppy Yet Frugal Turbodiesel Powertrain

Modern turbo-diesel mills are such an impressive engineering feat, capable of providing significant torque output over their petrol counterparts, while at the same time being almost as economical as some hybrids.

Rated at 199 HP and 440 NM, Hyundai's proprietary 2.2-litre 4-cyl SmartStream turbodiesel engine makes the Carnival the peppiest model in its segment.

And this is no exception for the 2024 Kia Carnival, as it harnesses a 2.2-litre 4-cyl SmartStream turbo-diesel mill, which is the same unit used by the Kia Sorento SUV. Rated at 199 HP and 440 NM, this turbodiesel unit developed by Hyundai is the peppiest in segment, even when compared to the larger 2.4-litre turbo petrol unit used in the rivalling Toyota Alphard.

Thanks to its sheer torque output, the enormous, 2,129 KG-heavy Carnival is able to accelerate and glide on the road with relative ease, with its smooth 8-speed automatic gearbox also playing a vital role. On top of that, its decent 199 HP top-end power allows this MPV to cruise at higher speeds in a pretty comfortable and easy manner.

If we were to nitpick, perhaps we might point out that the Carnival is still susceptible to some minor torque steers, with all of its hefty torque being sent directly to its front wheels (FWD). However, this is only noticeable when driving on a wet surface (i.e. concrete surfaces) or when passing, so there’s nothing alarming to worry about here.

The smooth power delivery provided by the turbo-diesel mill also grants the Carnival a comfortable yet confident drive. Coupled with both its light steering and soft suspension tune, at times you don’t even feel like you’re driving a two-tonne MPV measuring over five metres in length.

The SmartStream turbodiesel engine runs at its most optimum on the premium Euro 5 B7 diesel fuel.

What’s more impressive is the decent fuel economy provided by this SmartStream oil-burner. Kia claims the Carnival sips as low as 6.5 litres/100 KM. Provided that you’re running the MPV on Euro 5 B7 diesel fuel, this claimed figure is attainable, although the same can’t be said during our traffic-laden ‘balik kampung’ trip as we were bogged down by stop-go traffic.

But nonetheless, the Carnival’s mammoth facade is being complemented nicely by its turbo-diesel mill, which not only delivers an effortless and smooth driving experience to this large MPV, but is also quite frugal on the fuel economy front.

4. Segment-Leading Safety Features

Long-haul trips like ‘balik kampung’ can be rather arduous and dangerous, and having a car with a full-swing of active and passive safety features is definitely a godsend.

First seen on the new Sorento SUV, the Blind-Spot View Monitor helps less-experienced drivers to feel more confident when they're behind the wheel of the massive Carnival.

This is exactly the case for the Kia Carnival, with the latest update granted by Kia adding the new Blind-Spot View Monitor function to its full active safety suite, which already includes Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB), Blind-Spot Monitoring (BSM), Rear Cross-Traffic Alert (RCTA), Lane-Keep Assist (LKA), Lane Follow Assist (LFA), and more.

Not to mention, Kia's Smart Cruise Control (SCC) system, as its name suggests, is both smart and intuitive.  Integrated with both the LKA and Steering Assist functions, the SCC also works impressively during slow and crawling traffic—a feature that this writer truly appreciated during his 20-hour return journey from Kota Bharu, Kelantan, to Kuala Lumpur during the recent Hari Raya break.

As for the passive safety features, the Carnival is brimmed with all the bells and whistles you expect to see in any modern car. Highlights here include seven airbags, as well as three-point seat belts for all eight seats. These ensure that all occupants of the Carnival will be safe and secured throughout any long-haul ‘balik kampung’ trips.

Despite its already spacious cargo and cabin spaces, the Carnival still boasts enough room to house a space-saver spare wheel!

Closing off the safety topic is the presence of both the Tyre Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) and a space-saver spare wheel on the Carnival, with the latter one sadly becoming quite a rare sight in many cars nowadays. But then again, this shows that the Kia Carnival is well-equipped with tonnes of active and passive safety features that help it become the ultimate MPV for long-haul trips like ‘balik kampung’.

5. Easily The Best-Value Luxury MPV On Sale Now!

With what’s said above, the recently-updated 2024 Kia Carnival 8-Seater High is not only the ultimate MPV for your ‘balik kampung’ trips, it’s also arguably the best-value luxury MPV you can buy in the market today.

With a tantalising price tag of RM247,228.80 on-the-road, this makes the 8-seater Carnival almost half the price of both the new Toyota Alphard and Vellfire. This is only achievable due to the localisation (CKD) efforts taken by Dinamikjaya Motors and its parent company Bermaz Auto (BAuto) for the Carnival’s assembly.

Included with the Carnival's price tag is the standard 5-year/100,000 KM warranty & free scheduled service

Although some may argue that the grey import market offers better and cheaper alternatives, we’d argue these aren’t exactly fair apple-to-apple comparisons. This is simply because the Kia Carnival is a new-new car that comes with BAuto’s comprehensive 5-year or 100,000 KM vehicle warranty plus free scheduled maintenance.

To wrap things up, it is rather hard to deny the stellar job both BAuto and Dinamikjaya Motors did at packaging the 2024 Kia Carnival 8-Seater High, so much so that we'd reckon it is simply the best-value luxury MPV you can buy in the market today.

So, What Do You Think?

Handsomely-styled, richly-kitted cabin with tonnes of space, a peppy yet frugal diesel powertrain, plus accessible price tag with comprehensive warranty coverage, the 2024 Kia Carnival 8-Seater High truly ticks all the right boxes for an ultimate luxury MPV for your family.

But then again, those are just our thoughts. So, what do you think of the new Kia Carnival here? Would you prefer this Korean gentle giant over its more popular Japanese counterparts? As always, don’t forget to leave your thoughts in the comments below…

SPECIFICATIONS

2024 KIA CARNIVAL 8-SEATER HIGH CKD