A few years ago in 1983, right smack dab in the center of North Carolina, yours truly was propelled from the womb with the force of an Ultima RS LT5 standing start. But there was another, less historical, event that marked said year. Chrysler rolled their first minivan off the production line. It’s hard to believe now, but 15-25 years ago, any adult laden with the “somewhat overall enjoyable” burden of child-rearing knew that the “best” and really only way to transport said family was… A minivan. Somewhere around 2005-2012 that all changed and Americans everywhere decided that family commuting should be left to a far inferior tool, the SUV.
A Quick Realignment on the SUV
Unless you’ve been living in a cave for the last ten years, there is no chance you don’t already know that SUVs are the number one market vehicle in the US. So much so that some automakers have dropped models in all their other sectors for SUV replacements. We even have SUVs from exotic makers like Lamborghini and Aston Martin. 25 years ago that would have been the most laughable thing. Now we expect it, the market even has a demand for it.
Yes, they look fantastic but here’s the craziest part. The core reason why the SUV became so popular was a mental one, not a marketing one. Brands weren’t really pushing SUVs as a family hauler (because they knew what we refused to accept). The rise came from buyers and the makers had to meet that demand and the SUV has taken on a path of evolution ever since. So what was it the automakers knew that buyers ignored? Well, simply put, the SUV as a family “get around-er” is terrible.
Hold on! I hear some of you saying “Whoa Landon, that’s just not true”, and you’re kind of right. It’s not true, anymore, sort of. Because the SUV has undergone massive changes in its lifetime to transform itself into what… A minivan. Look, the truth is, the minivan was designed from day one to do this job, the SUV wasn’t. But we wanted them anyway and were willing to pay more money for them, even though they were daft at the job. So brands said let’s make them better at the job people are using them for and we can charge even more money. It worked and here we are spending $40 – $70k for a tool that “works, I guess”.
But instead of making a lot of changes to the SUV to give it a minivan feel, no one really ever put a lot of trouble into seeing if we could make a smaller amount of changes to the minivan to give it an SUV feel. Well someone has now, and that someone is KIA.
Who’s the MPV; What’s an MPV; Where’s the MPV?
The Kia Carnival MPV. MPV meaning “Multi-Purpose Vehicle”. The Carnival, who I shall now call the “carni” for short, is actually just a name. You have seen the carni around since 2001 with its more familiar US name, the Sedona. That’s right the carni isn’t some new van from Asia that we have been missing out on, but it does feel that way. Now from 2022 models forward we get a new name along with an updated platform, the N3, which Kia shares with Hyundai.
Let’s get the usuals out of the way. The carnival is available in four trim levels. LX, EX, SX, and the SX prestige. Those levels have a price range from low $30k to just under $50k for a maxed-out prestige. I could rant about the prestige being too much for a van but I just rambled on earlier about SUVs being pricey and Kia making a van more like an SUV, so what the heck am I expecting. The carni pumps out 290hp and 262lb-ft torque from its 3.5 liter V6 direct injection, LAMBDA III (insert echo here), petrol engine. But it doesn’t have all-wheel drive or even an option for it. So it brings less from the SUV world than I had hoped. With a plethora of driver assists and enough USB ports to recharge a mobile call center, all-wheel drive is probably the only thing it is missing.
Now for the real information. Kia has brought the heat with the interior quality for the carni. Which should allow it to compete well and earn your respect. At the prestige level, you get dual front screens. Which regrettably aren’t as “integrated” into the design of the dash as I would like. Don’t worry though it does have dual infotainment screens for second-row passengers. That’s just the tip of the iceberg. The VIP seating option is standard on the prestige and clearly changes the interior comfort level by a great deal. However, the 3rd-row legroom is specified at 35 in., which is a few down from who I consider being the carni’s only competition. All in all, when you combine the SUV exterior styling, solid tech, VIP seating, and friggin sliding doors on an SUV body, why would you look at any SUV ever again. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have proper competition.
Enter the Champion.
The Oldsmobile Silhouette…
Uhm, wait… no no, that’s from something else I was working on. Hold on, it’s around here somewhere. Oh, here it is.
The Toyota Sienna, and champion it is. It’s one of the best-selling minivans of all time. More importantly, it’s consistently one of the best minivans of all time. The latest update once again puts this one in the running for the podium. But how does it stack against the refreshed tilt-a-whirl running carni from Kia?
Well, both have VIP 2nd-row seating options, dual-screen dash displays, similar interior dimensions, and competitive price ranges. That’s where the similarities end though. Toyota did provide an all-wheel option for the Sienna; so it wins that point. The Sienna’s hybrid propulsion system is made up of a 2.5 liter 4-cylinder engine and an electric motor system all providing a combined 245 hp; Kia wins here cause I think 245 hp is practically useless in a vehicle this size. Kia also wins in the basic warranty department with their 5 yr/60 k versus Toyota’s 3 yr/36k. Here’s the nail in the coffin, the Sienna shape hasn’t changed much over the years and this latest model… is… the same. The same as every other minivan on the market. The Sienna even has the same old school center ceiling drop-down rear entertainment screen, and we wonder why the minivan market is dropping through the floor. Kia seems to be the only company that gets it when it comes to how to refresh the minivan market. Mark my words, if it works, the rest of the industry will follow suit, and “work” I hope it does.
Color me impressed with the new Carnival. So much so that I’m not convinced my SUV has much of a life left in my driveway. We all know SUVs take the cake in the looks battle. But, minivans have always been better at doing the job of getting a family around in comfort and ease. So to see a minivan move towards an SUV exterior styling is very interesting. It’s no secret that I’m a detractor of the SUV. I would love nothing more than to see the SUV go back to its small corner of weekend warrior buyers and fleet purchases. I know that probably won’t ever happen, but I can dream and so can you; sitting in our SUV-styled minivans. It all started with Kia and their pretty fantastic new offering… The “Carnival MPV”!
Images Provided By:
Kia of America
General Motors
Honda of America
Dodge
Jeep
Hyundai of America
Lamborghini USA
Aston Martin
Chevrolet
