[praveenkkr]

Originally Posted by Torque_Curve

My guess is that E would stand for Ertiga

Good Guess.
Since they are considering Comp.E for comparision, the price should also be comparable to Comp.E and not Comp.I.C

[One]

Checked out the Carens today, will try to highlight points which have not been mentioned enough before. But before that, must talk about what everyone is talking- the space across three rows is simply amazing. Moving on:

- There is full underthigh support in the third row for a person upto 5'5" in height and this is amongst the best I have seen.
- in the second row, even in the forward most seat position, there is enough knee room for average height folks
- Excellent design elements like:
-----Small touches like usb charging points for each passenger in 3rd row
-----The seating position and height in all three rows is such that everyone has a good all round view in the car
----- In the seven seater version, once the middle handrest of second row is brought down, the view from third row opens up (similar view to what people in third row will get if second row has captain seats) leading to further airy feel in the car.

Having said that, there are a few issues I thought - the fit and finish did not seem as it was high quality. I don't think it might last long:
- The violence with which the seats tumble
- The stitching alignment
- The way the handrest is pulled out
- Shoulder/ neck support in 2nd row
- Middle seat in 2nd row

Built to a cost but very well built to the cost like Maruti has perfected was my impression - this could easily be an improved car from the Maruti stable if it were continuing the evolution of finesse from Ertiga to XL6 to something like this.

Was told ex showroom is going to be around 12-19 lakhs. It will move numbers if that's the case.

[Bazooka]

I checked out the Carens today. Here are some points:

1. I am 6'1" but I did not feel the air purifier eating into the leg space. It is placed above the knees, so not really a hindrance when seated.
2. Second and third row space is good. I would say it is on par with Ertiga/XL6 but not as roomy as Marazzo or Innova.
3. The boot looked spacious in the photos in this review, but it didn't feel that way in real. It probably lacks depth. However, it is still decent.
4. Salesman said price probably would be in the 12L-18L range.
5. Test drives and prices would be ready on 14th.
6. I would go with Prestige Plus if it is priced around 14L ex-Bengaluru.
7. Salesman had no clear answer when asked why lower variants offer wireless Android auto whereas higher variants don't. He simply said system doesn't support

[praveenkkr]

Originally Posted by Bazooka

7. Salesman had no clear answer when asked why lower variants offer wireless Android auto whereas higher variants don't. He simply said system doesn't support

There is some confusion going on w.r.t the wireless Android Auto/Carplay.
Looks like there was a goof-up done by Kia.

In the initial versions of Carens brochure, it was mentioned that the Wireless AA and Carplay are supported on all trims from Prestige onwards.

Even the hard copy of the brochure handed over to me in the showroom few weeks has same info.

But, if we download the latest brochure, the Wireless feature has been removed for Luxury, retaining it only for Prestige


I've attached both versions of the brochures here.
Kia_Carens_Brochure_Old.pdf
Kia_Carens_Brochure_New.pdf

Even in few Seltos TBHP threads, it is mentioned that the feature is supported only in 8" units of Seltos as well!
Link (Kia Seltos : Official Review)

This seems to be the story with all Kia and Hyundai cars supporting wireless AA/Carplay.

So, we can assume that wireless feature is not supported in Luxury, atleast for now.
There seems to be some limitation in their 10" units or incompatibility with the Kia Connect.

Not sure what other corrections are made in the brochure, need to go through the brochure all over again

[Venkatesh]

Kia India dispatched 575 units of Carens in January 2022.



Source : Autopunditz

[Emvi]

I have a feeling that Kia might price Carens on par with Seltos, especially the lower variants. I won't be surprised even if the top variant is priced a shade lower than the Seltos top variant (GT Line). I don't think Kia will mind the Carens eating up Seltos' numbers, which IMO will be a negligible figure. Overall, if Carens + Seltos can give them a sales volume of 15k to 18k cars per month consistently, which I believe is a genuine possibility, Kia would be mighty pleased.

[furyrider]

Originally Posted by One

Was told ex showroom is going to be around 12-19 lakhs. It will move numbers if that's the case.

Originally Posted by Bazooka

4. Salesman said price probably would be in the 12L-18L range.

So, if 2 different sales guys have quoted the same price range, I am inclined to believe that the Carens will indeed start where the XL6 ends (Alpha auto is 12L).

However, given how new cars have launched at the so-called "Introductory prices" and steadily increased in price every other month (XVU700, Astor, etc), Carens, especially the luxury trims, might look a bit overpriced for what it offers by the end of this year. I really hope Kia prices the Carens aggressively at least for the initial few months. Wishful thinking I guess!

[Venkatesh]

Kia India has announced that the Carens will be launched on 15th February.



Link

[Harjot37]

Checked out the Carens today. First one in Chandigarh, as per Joshi Kia. Waiting period of 8 weeks on some variants already!
Have to say, I'm mighty impressed with the vehicle. Much better packaged and more comfortable seating than the Innova.
Plastics are scratchy and, umm, Maruti-esque? But the upholstery is good. Even the seatbacks of the 2nd row are leatherette-wrapped. The blue shade of the interior doesn't look tacky. Couldn't try out every feature due to shortage of time, but barring the safety concerns, this is a good family car south of 20 lacs.
I absolutely abhor the dashboard! Didn't even like the speedo. Flimsy sun blinds and visors. But, the soft-close and felt-lined sunglasses holder and the cooled cup holders get a big thumbs up Kia did a Skoda with the clever packaging and storage spaces.
Sunroof should've been given a miss. Paint shade is bluish, rather than purplish as in the photos.
I'm 5'8", light build, and all the seats were adjusted according to my height. My knees didn't brush up against the air purifier (but it is an eyesore). Had ample of knee room, and a good range of seat adjustment. One thing- the armrest moves along with the seatback, which is weird. It is easy to move to the last row, especially with the one-touch tumble seat.
I'll let the pictures do the talking now.

[srikanthmadhava]

Originally Posted by ron178

And making an official recommendation for child seats, for goodness' sake.

Sorry, this is a bit out of topic.

1. Why do some manufacturers not make this recommendation.
What do they gain or loose here?

2. Does it require them getting some certification for the recommendation or do they need to add additional equipment and costs?

3. If this is a low hanging fruit, why not pluck it? How important is this recommendation for GNCAP scoring?

[vinitadikonda]

Yesterday I had a good long TD of the Carens, dropped by Kia showroom at Raidurgam, Hyderabad.

Drove the Diesel Manual/Diesel Auto.

Diesel manual astonishingly smooth and couldn’t even hear the engine noise inside the cabin. The suspension was nice and smooth compared to Sonet (I own) and Seltos (my brother owns). Didn’t really seem like I was driving a ‘big’ car. I am 5”9 and I could actually spend some good time in the third row.

I was surprised driving the Diesel Auto, there was a lot of engine growl creeping into the cabin especially during accelerations, definitely didn’t seem as refined as Sonet/Seltos Diesel Auto.

The Sales Exec was hinting Luxury Plus Automatic models might be priced lower than Seltos top-end, not sure if that would be the case. If it is, then Kia absolutely has a winner!

[ron178]

Originally Posted by srikanthmadhava

Sorry, this is a bit out of topic.

1. Why do some manufacturers not make this recommendation.
What do they gain or lose here?

2. Does it require them getting some certification for the recommendation or do they need to add additional equipment and costs?

3. If this is a low hanging fruit, why not pluck it? How important is this recommendation for GNCAP scoring?

Manufacturers normally are supposed to recommend whatever child seats they internally tested the car with, or seats that they know the car will perform well with. The GNCAP rating for child occupant protection is for a combination of the car and the child seats nominated by the manufacturer. The same car with different child seats could score very differently.

Very often manufacturers have very tight development deadlines and don't do a full-scale test with child restraints, which is irresponsible. This also often results in them not knowing which child seat to nominate.

If the manufacturer cannot nominate a child seat then no points can be awarded for the dynamic test.

For your second question, no, not necessarily. They just have to nominate child seats that do not have compatibility issues with the car. Global NCAP expects that the manufacturer knows their car best. The manufacturer is supposed to know which child seats are available on the market, which ones are compatible in a particular seating position and which are not (in the case of universal (belted) CRSs and non-i-Size ISOFIX CRSs). Some manufacturers do not know that, which means that they did not internally check this.

There are some cases where manufacturers do know which available CRSs are compatible and recommend one of them, but they did not do their internal safety testing using the specific CRS they recommended. That is, the recommended CRS can be installed correctly in the car but the manufacturer might not know how it performs in a crash. This can cause a bad official GNCAP dynamic test.

In these cases just nominating a child seat is not enough.

Classic cases are GNCAP's South Africa project. Kia and Honda seem to have internally tested the Picanto and Amaze with other restraints (presumably Britax, which were not available in all RHD African markets at the time of the test). Why did they test using a CRS that was not available in Africa? Well, it's anybody's guess, but the Picanto is a global model, and even the Amaze was primarily developed for India.

Kia recommended Maxi-Cosi CRSs for the Picanto presumably because the one they wanted to recommend was not available in Africa.

This is what happened: (see 0:47)

https://youtu.be/iZcRT0EaynA

ISOFIX seats normally have a list of cars they will definitely work with.
After the GNCAP test Maxi-Cosi removed the Kia Picanto from this list. In this case it would probably be better for Kia to not recommend a CRS and lose all dynamic points anyway, than risk something like this.

Similar case with the Honda Amaze. Now it's impossible to say why exactly Honda did what they did, but Honda has normally nominated Britax restraints for their other cars in all Latin NCAP tests of the same configuration. When it came to South Africa they had to nominate Maxi-Cosi.

The armrest opened during the test, the 18 month-old's CRS handle broke and it was classified complete ejection (loss of all dynamic points) and the 3 year old's head made hard contact with some interior trim on the C-pillar (0 points for the head)

See 0:40:

https://youtu.be/xzj2Bsv0dio

This probably means that Honda did not bother doing their internal testing with any CRS available on the African market, though they knew full well that they would be selling the Amaze there.

Hence recommending child seats does not necessarily mean a good score.

The conclusion is that the manufacturer is supposed to know best which child seats on the market perform best with their car.

Very often you will find the recommended child restraints listed in the user manual or available as an official dealer accessory.

For example,
CRS recommendation for the Škoda Kushaq:


For the MG Astor:


For the Honda Amaze (note "except African models" and *1):


There is no recommendation for the Kia Seltos or Hyundai Creta.

Manufacturers who skimp on this during development either recommend poorly performing child seats or do not recommend child seats at all (in which case Global NCAP makes their own choice but does not award any points for dynamic performance).

For your third question, it is "low-hanging" only if the manufacturer knows what to recommend. For example, for what it's worth, Maruti Suzuki have always engaged with Global NCAP and have recommended child seats for all tests. However, their child seat recommendations have been - pardon my language - stupid. In all cars with ISOFIX (Swift, Vitara Brezza, Ertiga) they put the 18 month-old forward facing which means loss of all head and neck points and it is against UN R44 recommendation.

The reason I have been specific about the Kia Carens is that when the Seltos was tested, Kia did not nominate a CRS so they were not awarded points for the dynamic test. This is not unusual of Hyundai-Kia. In fact in most cases they even refuse to attend the GNCAP test (manufacturers are always invited to witness the test, for transparency and to collect data so they can predict the result). Even in the case of the Hyundai New i10, Hyundai did not nominate a child seat. In Brazil Hyundai had a rather 'public' feud with Latin NCAP over their child seat nomination for the old HB20.

[rulerofsun]

I loved this review. like always way beyond regular automotive journals. attention to detail (the scratch on the seat and many more). The cars is a great fit for large family and such an upgrade from the XL6. but I personally liked the Alcazar better as my usage of a 6 seater is rare. I think KIA has hit a masterstroke with this car as it has the right blend of an suv and mpv.

[Venkatesh]

Kia Carens 7-seater 1.4 turbo petrol Manual and 1.5 Diesel Manual review

https://youtu.be/8KVwqCF0wbA

[vivee90]

Kia Carens has a different wheelbase to the Alcazar, totally different packaging on the inside and clear feature differentiation with its Hyundai sibling. I wonder how much of the synergy they capitalize from platform sharing with Hyundai.

And some very interesting features like 1. air purifier behind the driver seat, 2. Inbuilt soothing music (Wow!!) 3. HVAC recirculation based on washer fluid usage 4. Provision for perfume 5. Tray with tablet slot and wire manager 6. Electric tumble of middle seat on one side alone..

The packaging team mush have had a ball with the HVAC guys for all the vents and routing it has from the roof to the middle seat cup cooler.