On The RoadSue Cooke

2017 Kia Carens – Review by Sue Cooke

My sister’s use of a car is probably typical of most families. She has two daughters away at university who constantly require ferrying around with their student bedsitter requirements.

She also cooks for 50 OAPs and has to carry around crockery and food. But most of the time she drives the car on her own, so she has chosen a compact MPV as the ideal runaround.

She said she absolutely loves the new Kia Carens I road tested this week.

The spacious family MPV has a host of upgrades to the exterior for 2017 which give it a stylish contemporary look and nice wheels. She commented on the huge amount of space that the 7 seater offers for rear passengers or for luggage when seats are stored in the floor. An under-floor compartment stores the cargo screen.

The front passenger seat folds flat to allow exceptionally long loads to be carried and there are three individual sliding and reclining centre-row seats and two separate seats in the rear. These third-row seats are easy to move and I found that the head restraints ensure no obstruction to the driver’s rear visibility.

For long distance driving, I thought that the Carens’ seats are very comfortable with long seat squabs which support well and there is abundant head, leg and shoulder room in the cabin.

The quality and quiet interior has a redesigned centre fascia for 2017 which accommodates a new 7 inch or 8 inch touchscreen for the navigation and infotainment systems. Full in-car connectivity comes to the Carens for the first time through Kia Connected Services which is compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and features TomTom which is standard on all but the entry level version.

But what my sister appreciated most were some of the worthy basics such as the standard handbrake, which many manufacturers no longer offer. And I liked the fact that I could twiddle a knob to tune in the radio station.

The cabin is really light and airy with the help of a huge panoramic sunroof on the Grade 4 version. The windscreen is large and there is a commanding view of the road ahead with raised seats. While there are small windows in the A frame pillars I found them difficult to see around when cornering.

Kia has engineered a new Eco Pack for the 1.7 litre diesel engine which I road tested. Over its predecessor, there is much improvement in emissions and combined fuel consumption.

Facts at a Glance
Model: Kia Carens 4 Eco
Price: £26,290 on the road
Engine: 1.7 litre turbo diesel 134bhp
Performance: 0-60 mph in 10 seconds
Top speed: 120 mph
CO2 emissions: 118g/km
Combined fuel consumption: 62.8 mpg

Be careful if you are thinking of buying a new car from April this year. The new road tax regulations will mean higher road tax prices for all new cars.

Sales of the Kia Carens have grown steadily since I attended the launch of the former third generation model in 2013. The upgraded Carens, if my sister’s reaction is anything to go by, will help Kia further expand sales of the car.

All versions are protected by a seven year, 100,000 mile transferable warranty and for retail customers, there is Kia’s Care-3 and Care-3 Plus inflation-proof three and five year servicing packages.

You can follow Sue Cooke on Twitter @cookecars and there are more of her reviews on novamagazine.co.uk