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adrenalineguide · 3 years

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Chrysler Pacifica Pinnacle and Kia Carnival SX: Minivans are BACK Part 2

Words and Photos By Michael Hozjan

Kia Carnival SX:

Take a look at the remaining players in the minivan market; you’ve got the Toyota Sienna, Honda’s Odyssey, Chrysler’s Grand Caravan and last week’s subject, the Pacifica. On the surface they all look fairly alike. Sure there might be an accent line here or there in an attempt to differentiate them, but squint your eyes and the tapered nose and the silhouettes are similar - cute and soft. Chrysler changed the front-end treatment on this year’s Pacifica to give it a more rugged look with an SUV-like grille.

Now take a look at Kia’s latest venture. In the last couple of years Kia’s designers have knocked more than one model out of the ballpark and this year they’ve added muscular looks to a minivan. Yes Kia refers to it as an MPV for multi-purpose vehicle (how they’re getting away with using Mazda’s old moniker I have no idea). I’m pretty sure that you won’t think soccer mom when you see the Carnival. With large 19” blacked out aluminum wheels, a long square snout highlighted by lights fading into the chrome grill and aggressive looking vents on the front corners, this thing screams business.

Dollars

While design may or may not make or break a sale it is a major influence in the final decision, but the Carnival has another ace up its sleeve and that is its price.

Over the years I’ve repeatedly stated that Kias offer more bang for the buck and the Carnival is no exception. The base model, the LX, starts out at $36,760 and my top of the line tester came in at $50,560. Compare that to the base Pacifica at $45,765 and the Pinnacle at $63,265 or Toyota’s Sienna LE front wheel drive at $42,349 and the all-wheel-drive Limited at $60,824 and Honda’s base Odyssey at $45,590 and their top dog the touring at $56,790 and the Kia looks sweeter and sweeter.

Five trim levels make up the Carnival line up; LX, LX+, EX, EX+ and SX. The base model gives you a heated windshield, rear parking sensors as well as advanced forward collision avoidance and lane follow. Stepping up to the LX+ ($40,260) add wireless phone charging, power sliding doors and liftgate, smart key and multi-zone climate controls. The $44 grand EX adds a couple more driver assists, LED taillights and 19” wheels, plus a smartphone app that allows you to remotely start, lock, unlock the truck. At $47,560 the EX+ gives you a 12.3” multimedia screen, like size digital instrument cluster a surround view monitor as well as LED head and fog lights. The king of the line up, the $50,560 SX, comes with dual sunroofs, Bose premium audio system, leather seating passenger view monitor.

And Sense

We obviously buy minivans to move people and cargo and this is where the two subjects get interesting. Starting at the back I was surprised to learn that the Kia has the upper hand in space with the third row in place, 40.2 cu.ft. to the Pacifica’s 32.3 cu.ft. My girlfriend loved the Pacifica’s clean deep well behind the third row to keep the groceries in place. The Kia’s looked too industrial with its exposed hinges.

Accessing the third row is best done if you slide the second row lounge chairs inboard. Yes you read that right, not only do they move from front to back but also left to right.

Folding the third row is a snap with the Chrysler with switches mounted on the back pillar to activate the various motors, the Kia takes some manual force – but will not break down. With the rear seats folded into their respective cubbyholes, the Kia stows 86.9 cu.ft. of gear to the Pacifica’s 87.5. My Kia came with the fabulous, executive alluring, lounge chairs. Yes they are every bit as comfortable as they look. While they add credence to the company limo I was talking about last week, they do not fold out of the way. So storage is confined to that same old 86.9 cu.ft. While the Pinnacle does not have second row stow and go seats, (lesser Pacificas do) the second row does fold up against the front buckets and can be removed – heavy as they are – to give you enough room to carry a 4x8 foot sheet of plywood in the 165 cu.ft. cargo bay. Like the Pacifica the lesser trim levels of the Carnival (the LX through to EX+) have removable second row seats expanding the cargo volume to 168 cu.ft.

Heated front seats, tri-zone automatic climate control, and sunshades for the back rows make this a desirable cabin whether you’re shuttling your clients to the airport or moving the in-laws back home. If you’re counting, there are nine USB ports dotting the cabin and there's a handy 12-volt outlet in the rear.

Above: Second row lounge chairs slide in for easier access to third row or or out to carry longer items.

Behind the wheel

The front buckets are comfortable and not only look, but feel like they came out of a sports sedan with excellent bolstering on the seat backs. Adding to the cockpit’s comfort is the center console’s wide armrest incorporating drink cubbies and a wireless charging tray,

A modern looking dash is a change from the usual fluff and the infotainment centre looks spectacular, but the audio system works backwards in all of my recent Kia encounters. Example; going up the sat radio stations from 6 to say 18 you’d think you would have to press the steering wheel nub up, but no, you have to go down?!? What bicycle riding genius thought of this! Worse yet, the audio system does not let you tailor the order to your taste but numerically. You say you’ll get used to it…I shouldn’t have to. It’s called intuitive touch. Ok I’ve vented.

The Carnival comes with one power package, a class leading 3.5L, 290 horsepower, V6 with 262 lb.-ft. of torque connected to a smooth shifting non-CVT, 8-speed automatic that can tow 3,500 lbs. Unfortunately there’s no all-wheel-drive package available - yet. While you won’t be setting any breakneck speeds even if you use the Sport mode, it does make this minivan, um, corporate hauler, feel quicker than its competitors sending you to 100kph in just over 7 seconds. I kept mine in Eco mode to see what kind of fuel consumption I could get and was still impressed with its acceleration. I mustered an impressive 9.4L/100 kilometers. The handling is well balanced and predictable with no brake fade.

Above: No attention to detail is spared.

More a boardroom than a minivan cabin, the Carnival’s interior is serenely quite. The multi-link rear suspension soaks up road irregularities and sends barely a shudder through the greenhouse. I had to pick up over a dozen cinder blocks while my truck was out for a wheel alignment and the Kia surprised me with its smooth ride even under a heavy load, the back end never bottomed out. Kudos.

The Verdict

There’s a lot to like about the Carnival, from the old school automatic transmission to the smooth revving V6. As much as I love the lounge chairs that look like they’ve been pillaged from a Maybach, for my personal priorities I’d go for the regular, removable second row seats. Call me crazy but I’d love to see a sportier handling package made available to go with the macho design.

Will the Carnival steal some of the market share away from SUVs? Hard to say, with its easier access to the third row, lower lift over and better maneuverability than an SUV it makes sense, one thing is certain it’ll give Toyota, Honda and Chrysler a run for their money.

#kia #minivan #suv #chrysler #pacifica #toyota #sienna #honda #odyssey #soccer mom #grand caravan #mpv #carnival

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