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Ertiga comes with features like 7-inch touchscreen infotainment, paddle shifters, cruise control, automatic headlamps, dual airbags, anti-lock braking system (ABS) with EBD, hill-hold assist. Ertiga price starts at Rs 8.69 lakh (ex-showroom).
Kia Carens 1.5 Turbo review: Family car with a hint of excitement?
MPVs are often ignored by people when they are out in the market to buy a new car. Yes, MPVs do make a lot of sense for Indian families, they are spacious, and practical and would fulfil most of the household needs. However, not everyone prefers their design or wants to be seen in them. This is where the Carens from Kia changed the game. It is an MPV that takes design inspiration from SUVs.
Kia used to offer the Carens with three engine options – 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol, 1.4-litre turbo petrol and a 1.5-litre diesel engine. A few months back, the 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine was replaced by a 1.5-litre turbo unit. The new engine is offered with a 6-speed iMT and a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. We got to review the 1.5-litre turbo with DCT transmission and here are my thoughts about it.
Kia Carens 1.5 Turbo: Powertrain
The 1.5-litre turbocharged petrol engine gets a direct injection. It produces 158 bhp of max power and 253 Nm of peak torque. That is a bump of 20 bhp and 11 Nm over the 1.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine.
The engine pulls quite hard and there is plenty of torque available for quick overtakes. The power is delivered in a linear manner and there is torque available throughout the rev range. The engine is very smooth and refined too which helps in keeping the cabin quiet. There are three driving modes on offer – Eco, Normal and Sport. The Eco mode is plenty to drive in the city and the Normal mode is suited for driving on the highways. The Sport mode is where things get a bit serious as the engine gets more responsive, the transmission holds on to the gear and shifting gears can be a bit jerky.
Speaking of transmission, it is very seamless in Eco and Normal mode, most of the time the gearshifts are not even noticeable. It tries to hold on to the second gear in traffic which can make the driver feel a bit of lag. However, there are paddle shifters using which the driver can take manual control of the gearbox and they respond fairly quickly.
Kia Carens 1.5 Turbo: Ride and handling
In terms of ride quality, the Carens is quite comfortable. The suspension does a good job of ironing out bumps and potholes. The steering is light which makes it quite easy to drive in cities. However, as soon as you show Carens some corners, you are immediately reminded that it is an MPV because of the body roll.
Kia Carens 1.5 Turbo: Fuel efficiency
In the city, we managed to get a fuel efficiency figure of just under 10 kmpl whereas out on the highways, the fuel efficiency climbed up to 17 kmpl.
Watch: Kia Carens Diesel: First Drive Review
Kia Carens 1.5 Turbo: Verdict
If you are looking for a people mover that does not look like a typical MPV, then you can take a look at the Carens. It comes packed with features, has an up-market interior and a powerful engine. So, it can serve as a family vehicle with a hint of enthusiasm because of that turbo engine.
First Published Date: 18 Nov 2023, 18:00 PM IST
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Kia Carens 1.5 Turbo vs Carens 1.4 Turbo: Has fuel efficiency taken a hit?
Kia made a big splash in the Indian market when they launched the Carens. Generally, people do not want to be seen in an MPV but one thing that you will have to agree on is that MPVs are practical and suit our Indian conditions. This is where the Carens became successful, it retained the practicality of an MPV but had a design inspired by an SUV and an interior design that looks a segment above.
Kia used to offer the Carens with a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine, a 1.5-litre diesel engine and a 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine. The manufacturer has now discontinued the 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine and replaced it with a 1.5-litre turbo petrol unit. However, it is still mated to a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
The new engine produces 158 bhp of max power and a peak torque output of 253 Nm. When compared, the 1.4-litre unit used to produce 138 bhp and 242 Nm. So, yes the new engine is more powerful. Now, the Indian market is very sensitive to fuel economy so a person might be wondering if a larger engine which is more powerful might be more thirsty.
We recently drove the Carens with a 1.5-litre turbo petrol engine extensively. During our testing, the Carens’ fuel efficiency hovered around 9 kmpl in the city. However, on the highway, we were able to stretch the fuel efficiency up to 17 kmpl while following the speed limits. Because the gearbox on the Carens turbo is a 7-speed unit, the MPV can cruise at 100 kmph doing just 1,800 rpm. This ensures that the cabin stays silent and is a comfortable place to be in.
Also Read : Is the Kia Sonet iMT the right city-bred sub-compact SUV for you?
Then there is the 1.4-litre turbo petrol which also delivers 9 kmpl in the city but on the highway, it returns around 16 kmpl. So, as it turns out, the 1.5-litre engine is slightly more efficient. This is probably because it has a larger displacement and it does not need to work as hard as the 1.4-litre unit out on the highways. Moreover, what also helps the 1.5-litre engine is the idle start/stop system which turns off the engine whenever the MPV comes to a stop and the restarts as soon as the driver takes his or her foot off the brake.
First Published Date: 31 Oct 2023, 18:18 PM IST
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Kia Seltos, Carens prices to be hiked in October. See how much you need to pay
Kia is all set to increase the prices of its flagship SUV Seltos and Carens three-row MPV. The Korean auto giant has announced that the prices of both these models will be increased from October. The carmaker has said that the Seltos and Carens prices will be hiked by up to 2 per cent. This is the second time that Kia has announced a price hike on its models during the ongoing financial year. Prices of Kia’s other models like Sonet, Carnival and EV6 will remain same for now.
Kia had launched the updated Seltos SUV in July this year at a starting price of ₹10.89 lakh (ex-showroom). On Wednesday, the carmaker introduced two new variants of the SUV to meet demands ahead of the festive season. The two variants, priced between ₹19.40 lakh and ₹19.60 lakh, will sit right under the top-spec variant of the SUV priced at ₹19.99 lakh (ex-showroom). Though Kia has not specified which variants of the Seltos will receive price hike. However, a 2 per cent price increase could see the base variant’s cost go up by more than ₹20,000. In case of top variant, the price could increase by up to ₹40,000.
Kia Carens was launched as a Recreational Vehicle by the carmaker in India back in February 2022. The launch price started from ₹8.99 lakh (ex-showroom). However, after multiple hikes in the last 18 months, the price of the entry-level Carens has increased to ₹10.45 lakh (ex-showroom). The price of the top-end variant goes up to ₹18.90 lakh (ex-showroom).
Watch: Kia Seltos 2023 First drive review
Kia said the price hike became necessary amid rising costs of production. Hardeep S Brar, National Head (Sales and Marketing) at Kia India, said, “While many of the companies have already taken the price increase post-April, we, however, did not take…besides the raw material prices are going up.. and we introduced the new Seltos and a lot of investment has gone into the product..so we think it is time that we take the price increase.”
Kia had last increased the prices of its models in April after it launched the Seltos, Sonet and Carens with updated engines to meet BS6 Phase 2 emission norms.
First Published Date: 21 Sep 2023, 17:27 PM IST
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