2025 Kia Carens Clavis : Observations after a day of driving

You will love how comfortable the Carens Clavis is, even on poor roads. Ride quality is impressive for the segment, arguably even for a segment above.

Driving the Kia Carens Clavis 1.5L Turbo-Petrol DCT Automatic

The Carens Clavis is powered by the same 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine that is found in multiple cars from the Kia and Hyundai stables. It produces an impressive 158 BHP (@ 5,500 rpm) and 253 Nm (@1,500-3,500 rpm). This 1.5L turbo-petrol engine is available with a 7-speed DCT automatic or a 6-speed MT or 6-speed iMT.

Fire up the engine, and it's refined at idle, silently purring away. Hyundai-Kia powertrains have always set NVH benchmarks, and this car is no different. Shift to D or R, and it moves off the line smoothly. Without any throttle input, the car crawls forward. Crawling at city speeds isn’t very dramatic and the 1.5L is very well-behaved. With light to medium throttle inputs, you can go about your daily commute quite comfortably. The throttle response is smooth, and power delivery is linear. The 7-speed dual-clutch transmission is also seamless when moving through the gears. Start driving and you will appreciate the healthy low-end of this engine. Thanks to the turbocharger and direct injection, you’re never at a shortage of power. Just floor the accelerator if you want to close a gap in traffic or make that quick overtake. The engine and gearbox will do the rest.

Get on some open roads and you can let the Carens Clavis stretch its legs. Put your right foot down and before you know it, you’ll hit triple-digit speeds. Outright acceleration is good, but not as urgent as some other 1.5-litre turbo-petrols that we have driven. The turbo delivers a strong mid-range punch that will take care of all the overtaking on the highway. You can cruise along the highway at 100 km/h while the engine spins at a relaxed ~1,900 rpm. Even at 120 km/h, the engine felt relaxed with the rev counter reading ~2,300 rpm. The Carens Clavis won't break a sweat cruising at these speeds all day long.

The dual-clutch transmission moves through the gears seamlessly. The kickdown response time is quick enough and the gearbox doesn’t hesitate to drop down the gears to get the engine into the powerband. When you are in the mood for some fun, switch to Sport mode and start flipping the paddle shifters for manual control. The ECU matches the revs, which is always very satisfying. While the overall NVH package is good, the engine doesn't sound very sporty at high revs. Kia has restricted the maximum rpm to ~5,500, which is too low and well below the start of the redline. The paddle shifters are responsive, and you can extract some performance from the engine using them for quick overtakes or keeping the engine in the powerband. You can engage the gearbox manual mode by sliding the gear lever to the right (when in D), and this makes the gearbox hold on to the gears a bit longer. You can also take control of the gears using the paddle shifters and manually keep the engine in the power band.

The Carens Clavis gets 3 drive modes - Eco, Normal and Sport.

• Eco Mode - Engage the Eco mode when you want to extract maximum fuel efficiency. The throttle response is dulled, but given the power on tap, the mode is quite comfortable to use in the city. In fact, we prefer driving in this mode in the city as the car becomes a lot smoother to drive. The Auto Start-Stop feature is activated automatically when you select the Eco mode. Also, while driving in the city in Eco mode, we noticed that the gearbox wasn't downshifting easily when the accelerator was pressed. It wanted to stay in the higher gears to extract more fuel efficiency.
• Normal Mode - This is the default mode and, just as the name suggests, it's normal to drive. There is a noticeable difference between Normal and Eco mode. This mode can be used for day-to-day driving, which has a mix of city and open roads.
• Sport Mode - Engage this mode when you want the car to be more responsive to your inputs. The throttle response is sharper, and the transmission also holds on to gears a bit longer in this mode. The steering is also noticeably heavier, although not as much as enthusiasts would like (more on this later). Sport mode isn't something you'd want to engage in the city as it can get a bit jerky to drive.   

Noise, Vibration & Harshness (NVH)

The 1.5-litre unit is very refined overall. At city speeds, you can barely hear the engine in the cabin. However, rev the engine and it is quite audible. Rev hard (and you will do that because of the nature of this turbo-petrol), and the noise can get irritating for the occupants. There is no insulation under the bonnet, which might be contributing to this. Vibrations are well controlled and cruising with the family on the highway should be comfortable.

Tyre noise does creep into the cabin at higher speeds, and there is a hint of wind noise at speeds above 100 km/h. 

Mileage & Fuel economy

The ARAI-certified fuel efficiency for the 1.5-litre turbo-petrol DCT is 16.66 km/l (15.95 km/l for the MT and iMT). Of course, the real-world FE numbers will be much lower, considering that turbo-petrol DCTs are very sensitive to the driving style. We’ll wait for some ownership reviews to get a better picture of real-world fuel efficiency. Fuel tank capacity remains the same at 45 litres, and the Carens Clavis is E20 compatible.

Bonnet gets no insulation underneath:

Suspension

McPherson strut suspension at the front:

Coupled torsion beam axle at the rear:

Ride Comfort

The Carens Clavis sports a McPherson strut suspension at the front and a torsion beam setup at the rear. Start driving and you will immediately notice that the car rides in a comfortable manner. Low-speed ride quality is absorbent, and even large potholes are handled well. IMHO, the suspension tune is perfect for a 6/7 seater. It's neither too soft, nor too stiff. You will love how comfortable the Carens Clavis is, even on poor roads. Ride quality is impressive for the segment, arguably even for a segment above.

HTK+ (O) and higher variants ride on 215/55 section tyres on 17-inch wheels and have recommended tyre pressure of 33 PSI and 31 PSI at the front and rear (34 PSI and 35 PSI - full load), respectively. Lower variants riding 16 and 15-inch wheels and taller rubber will offer a cushier ride.

Handling & Dynamics

Out on the highway, the Carens stays composed even at triple-digit speeds. Its road manners are neutral, just as you would expect from a 3-row family crossover. You can cruise at highway speeds quite comfortably. You only feel the softer suspension and additional length during quick lane changes. The rear swings around a little later after you turn the wheel. It's more about being able to know how hard you can chuck the car around when doing abrupt direction changes.

Throw the Carens into a corner and it responds better than you'd expect from a 6/7-seater. Yes, there's body roll, but it's within acceptable limits. It's very car-like and less MPV-like, which means you can maintain a line across a corner without lifting off. Also, it's good to know that the Carens has electronic stability control across all variants to help in emergency situations.

Steering

The Carens Clavis gets a well-tuned EPS. It is one-finger light & smooth in the city. As the speedometer climbs, the EPS feels reasonably direct and fast too. The good all-round visibility, smooth gearboxes (automatics in particular) and light controls make this car easy to drive in urban conditions. On the highway, the steering feels stable and has no nervousness. However, we would have liked a bit more feedback from the steering.

Braking

Kia has made all-wheel disc brakes standard across all variants. Additionally, you also get brake assist and ABS. However, we found the braking in the Carens Clavis to be weaker than expected. The pedal travels for quite a distance before the brakes bite, and while the stopping power is adequate for regular driving, we felt it could have been stronger to inspire confidence while braking from high speeds.

Niggles & Problems

While most of the feedback about this 1.5-litre turbo-petrol has been positive, the turbo-petrol engine with the dual-clutch transmission is something you should be careful with.

Like all Kia cars, the Carens Clavis comes with a standard warranty of 3 years/unlimited km (extendable up to 5 years) and 3 years RSA. It’s very much advisable to go for the maximum extended warranty. Don’t even think about it twice. It’s better to be safe than sorry.

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