Kia Carens: Variants, features, powertrain explained

Last month (or year, depending on your philosophical bent), the Kia Carens finally made its first public appearance, but Kia didn’t divulge any specifics. In fact, we were prohibited from even clicking any pictures of the interiors. However, the cat’s finally out of the bag, and everything that you need to know about the Kia Carens is finally out in the open. Well, everything except the pricing, which will require some more patience. You can do that, right?

The Kia Carens will be offered in five different variants, namely Premium, Prestige, Prestige Plus, Luxury, and Luxury Plus. For those concerned, Kia has specifically mentioned the safety features that will be standard across the entire Carens lineup. The Hi-Safety package includes electronic stability control, six airbags, hill-start assist, vehicle stability management, brake assist, ABS, brake assist, tyre pressure monitoring system, and rear parking sensors. Additionally, the Kia Carens will also receive ISOFIX-child anchor mounts.

Under the hood of the Kia Carens, you’ll find three powertrains that will seem familiar — the 1.5-litre nat-asp petrol (113.4bhp at 6300rpm and 144Nm of torque at 4500rpm), the 1.4-litre turbo petrol (138bhp at 6000rpm and 242Nm of torque at 1500-3200rpm), and the 1.5-litre turbo diesel (113.4bhp at 4000rpm and 250Nm of torque at 1500-2750rpm). The 1.5-litre nat-asp motor will be offered with a sole 6-speed manual transmission and it will be offered in the Premium and Prestige variants. The 1.4-litre turbo petrol manual will be offered in all variants, while the 7-speed DCT will be available in the Prestige Plus and Luxury Plus variants. Similarly the 1.5-litre CRDi manual will be offered in all variants, but the 6-speed automatic will be offered in just the Luxury Plus trim level.

The base Premium variant will be offered with steelies and wheel covers, with sizes depending on the variant you buy — the 1.5 nat-asp gets 15-inchers, while the turbo petrol and diesel get 16-inchers. The interiors receive a dual-tone black and beige finish with Indigo inserts, while the seats receive semi-leatherette upholstery. The second row features sliding, reclining, electronic tumble, and even on the base variant, the second and third rows feature roof-mounted air-conditioning vents with four levels of adjustability. While the second row of seats feature a 60:40 split, the third row features 50:50 split with full flat folding. While there’s no information regarding the infotainment system, the instrument cluster is a smaller 7.5-inch unit, and you also get 5 USB C-type charging ports. This variant solely receives the 1.5-litre nat asp petrol with a six-speed manual transmission.

The Prestige variant adds voice recognition, bluetooth connectivity, a six-speaker sound system, a rear view camera with dynamic guidelines, an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a larger 12-inch LCD instrument cluster which also houses a 4.2-inch LED multi information display, along with automatic headlamps, steering-mounted audio controls, front parking sensors, keyless entry, burglar alarm, roof rails, and a shark fin antenna. This variant comes with a choice of all three powertrains with the six-speed manual transmission.

Moving to the Prestige Plus variant, which adds equipment such as automatic air conditioning, Star map LED headlamps and tail lamps, auto-fold ORVMs, push-button start, remote start, cup holders with cooling functions for first and second rows, automatic cruise control, driving modes (available only on DCT), and crystal-cut alloy wheels. This variant gets the turbo petrol with manual and DCT options, and the turbo diesel with manual transmission.

The Luxury variant further adds 64 color ambient lighting,, a 10.25-inch HD touchscreen infotainment system with Kia Connect, automatic anti-glare IRVM with Kia Connect controls, OTA updates, air purifier, dual-tone Triton navy and beige interiors, premium leatherette upholstery, and a leather-wrapped steering wheel among others. The Kia Connect is claimed to pack as many as 66 functions in its kitty! This variant gets the turbo petrol and turbo diesel with the manual transmission.

With all the bells and whistles, the Luxury Plus variant packs an 8-speaker BOSE sound system, a normal sunroof, rear door spot lamps, front seat ventilation, wireless smartphone charger with cooling function, rain-sensing wipers, drive-mode based ambient lighting (available only on the DCT), and a sunglass holder among others. The Luxury Plus is also the only variant that lets you choose between a six-seater and a seven-seater configuration. This variant gets the turbo petrol and turbo diesel in both manual and automatic options.

In terms of the dimensions, the Kia Carens may fall short in terms of overall length and width, but it has one-upped the Mahindra XUV700 in terms of wheelbase. Where the XUV700’s wheelbase measures 2750mm, the Kia Carens has leapfrogged it by 30mm, standing at 2780mm.

Do you like the new Kia Carens? It sure seems like an attractive package, but there’s still some more time before we get behind the wheel and actually get an impression. Nevertheless, the MPV-cum-SUV will be a threat to the likes of the Tata Safari, Mahindra XUV700, Maruti Suzuki XL6, and the Hyundai Alcazar. Bookings start from 14th January, and we’ll be back with prices very soon!