Kia Carens Gravity vs Syros HTK+: A Practical Showroom Comparison

I went to Kia showroom to test drive Syros after hearing all the hype and in doing so I got opportunity to see Carens Gravity variant in real life.

BHPian kgt.v8 recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

I might have missed the news of Kia reshuffling Carens variants at the start of this or in last quarter of 2024. I went to Kia showroom to test drive Syros after hearing all the hype and in doing so I got opportunity to see Carens Gravity variant in real life.

Carens Gravity variant
Pros:
- Costs about ₹13.6 lakh.
- Spacious 7 seater with slidable second row.
- Ample space to put water bottles, phone and other knick knacks.
- Rear door sunshades which will be very useful during summers to block sun and heat.
- Small opening in the roof (single pane sunroof) which should not heat up the cabin a lot during summers.
- Single drive mode which is okay for MPV. Turbo petrol and iMT would be good combination to get the car in lower gears for quick overtakes on highways.
Cons:
- No rear wiper or defogger which will cause issues in rear visibility in rainy season.
- Manual AC can be lived with and will require intervention at times to turn on or off and control cabin temperature.

Syros HTK+ DCT
Pros:
- Costs ₹12.79 lakh which seems VFM. Prices of all variants above HTK+ loose VFM quotient and at that price point looks start to matter more to me.
- All hard plastics except driver center arm rest. Kia provides so much plastics all around normal touchpoints where I start loosing premium feel inside the car cabin. I don't understand why Kia and Hyundai skip adding soft touch leatherette or cloth on door pads.
- EPB with auto hold is good in bumper to bumper traffic.
- 3 selectable drive modes. There was lot of noise in Sport mode as compared to normal mode and it felt like the engine was straining. I would not miss driving modes in Syros if it was not provided.

My conclusion after experiencing Syros and Carens in the same showroom:
Carens Gravity seems better than Syros HTK+ for ₹80k more as Carens gets
- Factory fitted leatherette black seats
- More soft touch material on arm rest and door arm rests as compared to all hard plastics on Syros HTK+ DCT
- More interior space and boot space after you fold the third row flat.
- Rear shades which are usable in day to day life.

iMT Gearbox
- Premium (O)
- Gravity
- Prestige+
I was under impression that iMT gearbox was good. With Kia discontinuing iMT gear box in more and more of their cars, does this indicate some issue with the gearbox itself? Gearbox is a critical part of the car and as a buyer I don't want to buy a car with gearbox which will be discontinued in near future and get stuck due to any part issues and service mechanics not knowing maintenance procedure of iMT gearbox.

Diesel TC AT
- Prestige+ (O)
Diesel automatic is available only in 1 mid variant now. Does this indicate less sales of TC Diesel AT and Kia stopping diesel automatics in the near future?

6 seater
- Prestige (O)
This indicates that people are not buying 6 seater Carens a lot. No other car manufacturer other than Maruti XL6, Tata Safari, Toyota Innova and now Toyota Hycross has been able to sell 6 seaters successfully in Indian market.

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