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Car Review: 2019 Kia Carnival Platinum Petrol
This Car Review Is About:
The 2019 model year Kia Carnival Platinum with 3.3L V6 engine. It’s also available with a torquey 2.2L diesel. The car reviewed was priced at $60,290, plus $695 for premium paint, plus on road costs.
Under The Bonnet Is:
Kia’s well sorted and rorty 3.3L V6. It produces 206kW at 6,000rpm, and will twist out 336Nm at 5,200rpm. The diesel, in comparison, has 147kW, and 440Nm, with the latter on tap between 1,750rpm and 2,750rpm. Economy is rated as 10.8L of regular unleaded from the 80L tank for every 100 kilometres on the combined cycle. Urban and highway are 14.5L and 8.7L per 100 kilometres for the 2,094 kilogram machine before fuel and passengers. Towing is 2,000 kilos, braked.
Transmission is also well sorted, with eight forward cogs. Although not quite as smooth overall as General Motors’ ripper nine speed, it’s not that far behind in overall refinement.
On The Inside Is:
What a proper people mover should be all about. With the rise of faux people movers masquerading as SUVs, Kia’s Carnival shows them how it’s done. Two up front, three in the middle on sliding seats, and three in the rear, and still with room enough. Overall length of 5,115mm starts the party and continues with a 3,060mm wheelbase.
Storage is 960L with all three rows of seats up, with 2,220L or 4,022L depending on second and third row seats being folded down. Access is via a powered tailgate or powered sliding doors, with the remote key fob opening and closing either. The rear and centre row seats aren’t quite as intuitively friendly to operate as some others, ditching a pullstrap style at the rear in favour of a more complicated handle pull and lift arrangement, with the centre a little more fussy in operation also.
Front and second row seats are vented and heated, for good measure. Kia’s brochure doesn’t specifically mention head/leg/shoulder room, but there’s more than enough space for anyone not named Dwayne Johnson.
The seat material was a mix of black and light grey leather which matched the upper and lower trim colours. Rear and centre row seats have independent aircon controls and vents. Smart devices have 3 USB ports and 3 12V sockets from which to be charged from, however there is no separate wireless charge pad.
Kia says there are ten cup holders, with two up front, in the centre, and two on the centre row seat back, with four more for the third row. The front and sliding doors have a bottle holder each. The centre console also has a link to the aircon system with a coolbox there.
The Kia Carnival has ditched the seven inch touchscreen for an eight inch. It houses satnav, DAB, Bluetooth streaming, and the apps for additional features via Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The safety menu has a wide array of information assistance including school zone awareness and narrow roads. All can be disabled should the slightly strident voice become too overbearing.
The driver gets a polished wood trim look and leather tiller, with the hub holding Kia’s standard rollers and tabs to access ound and 3.5 inch centre dash screen info. Unusually the Platinum version stays with a full analogue dial display, with that centre screen the only digital part.
Ergonomics are pretty much Kia’s normal quality, that is to say “instinctive”. Auto headlights and dusk sensing wipers are standard also. What is also standard is a 360 degree camera system, allowing a selection of views around the big machine.
What About Safety?
Blind Spot Detection with Lane Change Assist, Autonomous Emergency Braking with Forward Collision Warning are standard. Rear Cross Traffic Alert adds to the overall package nicely. There are roof mounted, side mounted, and front mounted airbags but no driver’s kneebag. There are three ISOFIX mounts for child seats along with the older tether type.
The Outside Has:
Not changed for a few years now. It’s still a handsome beast, with a broad, stocky look. The exterior colours are few, with just six to choose from. Deep Chroma Blue was the provided colour, with Clear White, Panthera Metal, Silky Silver, Snow White Pearl, and Aurora Black available. Carnival Platinum rolls on easy clean chrome alloys, with 235/55/19 the dimensions and rubber from Nexen.
Quad cased LED driving lights in the lower front corners along with standard LED driving lights that wrap around the headlights balance LED tail lights.
On The Road It’s:
Starting to show a little bit of age. As good and as supple the suspension is, it’s noticeably unsettled by lateral movements thanks to road expansion joints. The MacPherson strut/multi-link combo is fine in a straight line, will deal with being thrown into corners (considering the two tonne plus mass), but as long as there are no imperfections, it’s a very good gripper. It’s predictable in its handling across all sorts of driving situations, and will understeer on a nicely consistent, easily controllable, basis.
Like all weighty petrol fed cars, it needs a good poking to get moving. When a hasty departure isn’t required it will quietly purr away from the line but with the solid hint there’s mass to pull around. Amp it up and the muted snarl gets a little fiercer, a little angrier, and the metallic keen gets more noticeable as the spinning numbers get higher.
The auto is mostly en pointe, but is prone to some lurching between gears, an occasional bang as the foot comes off the accelerator and momentarily has the electronics vagued out. There was some dithering between gears on light to moderate acceleration, and changes aren’t as silky smooth as expected, with minor but noticeable body movement fore and aft as they changed.
A positive is the wind resistance; with the flat, broad, sheetmetal, cross breezes would be fairly expected to move the Carnival around. In a brewing storm, perhaps, but with some stiff breezes encountered the Carnival remained stable on road.
The Warranty Is:
Kia’s seven year warranty and service costs package. First service is 15,000 kilometres or one year and is priced at $356.00. Year four is $689.00 and year six the other big one at $679.00. Check with your Kia dealer about associated services for warranty and serving issues.
At The End Of The Drive.
There is a possible update for the Carnival allegedly due in late 2019. If the facelifts to Cerato are any indication, it’ll further enhance the already not unattractive looks of the Carnival. Where it really wins is in the slowly growing “why buy a SUV when there are people movers?” movement. It’s a proper eight seater, even if row three might be a bit cramped depending on who sits there. There’s plenty of room, and tech,and plenty of street appeal.
Kia’s Carnival continues to win awards, but more importantly continues to win hearts. Here is where you can find more about the 2019 Kia Carnival.
Fiat Goes Rare With 500C Spiaggina ’58 Edition.
Rare indeed will be the Fiat 500C Spiaggina ’58 Edition, as just 30 units will be be released. Priced from $25,990 (manufacturers list price) the car pays tribute to the 500 Jolly Spiaggina, the first special series of the Fiat 500 which was on sale in the late 1950s through to the mid 1960s. It was the embodiment of ” La Dolce Vita”, with its quirky styling, 22 horsepower engine, and doorless body.The 2019 version will feature both manual and auto transmissions, and will come with $3000 worth of extras at no cost. Outside will be the brilliant Volare Blue body colour, 16 inch white painted wheels in a classic and vintage look, and a white “beauty line”.
Splashes of chrome add extra “bling” on the bonnet, mirror covers, and inserts in the bumpers. Bespoke Spiaggina branding is part of the look, with a rear quarter badge, plus “500” logos shown inside the compact yet comfortable cabin. Extra airiness comes courtesy of the beige fabric folding roof.
The design itself is based on a concept car which featured no roof, a roll bar, and no rear seat.
Power for the 2019 version is rated as 51kW from Fiat’s peppy 1.2L engine. The manual is a five speed, with the auto also a five speed. That option will be priced at $27, 490 (manufacturer’s list price). A seven inch Uconnect touchscreen will be standard, as will Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, climate control, and rear parking sensors.
Fiat Australia has the car on sale as of February 12, 2019. Contact them here.
Private Fleet Car Review: 2019 Lexus GS F 10 Anniversary
This Car Review Is About:
An absolute pearler of a car. The 2019 Lexus GS F is a pocket rocket and in 10th anniversary guise looks the part even more. Clad in one colour only, a matte-satin finish grey, and packing a set of blue painted brake callipers outside, backed by patches of blue suede inside, The GS F 10th Anniversary Edition has plenty of brawn to back up the looks. Price for the sleek four door starts at $155,940 plus on roads. GS stands for Grand Sedan or Grand Sport.
Under The Bonnet Is:
Some serious numbers. 32 valves, four camshafts, 7100 rpm for the peak power of 351kW, and 530Nm between 4800rpm and 5600rpm. This sits inside a front track of 1555mm, with the rear almost the same at 1560mm. The overall length is hidden by the styling, with 4915mm looking less than the numbers suggest, with the wheelbase of 2850mm leaving some decent overhang.
Fuel capacity is about average at 66L, with a rated combined fuel consumption figure of 11.3L for every one hundred kilometres driven. For a kerb weight of around 1865 kilograms, that’s a set of figures than can be lived with. Our real world testing in an urban environment saw figures closer to 10.0L/100km. And before you ask, no, there are no official figures for towing…
However, for a driver, and that’s exactly where this car is aimed, a DRIVER, the allure of those numbers, from a free spinning V8, with an exhaust note to die for, plus a simply stunning eight speed auto with two sports modes, means the wallet could take a thumping. Not just from the distinct possibility of a set of blue lights in the rear vision mirror, but in visiting the bowser.
On The Inside Is:
A mix of “standard” GS trim and a 10th Anniversary specific splash of blue. It contrasts vibrantly and perhaps not entirely harmoniously with the black. There’s blue suede on the upper dash and enough of it to make Elvis envious. There are blue hues on the powered, vented and heated, front seats with a white strip at the 12 o-clock, matching a similar strip in the driver’s pew. The rear seats and tiller also get swathes of blue. The engine bay doesn’t miss out, with the intake runners also copping the blues. The front seats have vents at the top, allowing a driver to fit proper race harnesses should track days be the choice.
The dash is, finally, a normal looking design, not the multiple “mountain fold” look that Lexus has favoured. As a result there looks like more space, a clearer ergonomic layout, and a balanced look with the dials and analogue clock. The upper dash is dominated by the non-touch info screen, and controller aside, the depth of colour and clarity make it an excellent unit. That’s the same description that can be applied to the HUD, or Head Up Display. When properly positioned it becomes subliminally useful, there and knowing about it without consciously thinking of it.
The steering wheel has the traditional Lexus layout for buttons to access info on the mostly full colour LCD screen and again the ergonomics is spot on. Said screen changes look and colour depending on which driving mode you select, however there’s a slight oddity. Semi-tucked away to the bottom right is the speedo. It’s an analogue dial, not digital. At the bottom left is a LCD display that shows lap times, torque split, and G-Force readings.
As usual there is apps aplenty for the front seats, including Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Audio is courtesy of Mark Levinson and it’s beautiful to listen to. The DAB tuner is better than some, but still suffers from the same drop-out points. When tuned in, the system provides plenty of low end punch without distortion, and staging is quite impressive.
On The Road It’s:
Every rude word kind of fun.
The GS F is an absolute delight to drive. It is a mechanical metaphor for strapping on your favourite gloves or boots, and knowing that a mere thought will yield a result. Throttle response is instant, a change of forward motion is instant, and at any speed. The brakes are divine too. Brush the pedal with the lightest caress and there’s feedback straight away. That goes for the steering. It’s brain quick in how it responds with even the barest touch seeing the nose track left or right. Uprated dampers add extra stiffness and improve the already excellent handling.
For lovers of sound there’s little better than the beautiful noise from front and rear of the GS F. On a push of the starter, there’s a momentary whirr before a basso profundo grumble from the four rear exhaust tips. Slot the gear selector into drive and the rumble drops in tone. Gently squeeze the accelerator and the GS F moves away with the docility of a sleepy kitten. Belt the living daylights out of the same pedal and you unleash a sleep deprived, very hungry, and very angry big cat.
The exhaust note will vary from a gentle burble to a vicious, snarling, ear ripping roar.The superbly sorted eight speed is a gem and helps with the exhaust note. Run up through the rev range and there’s a change in snarl as the ratios go up the ladder. Changes are invisible, and the eight ratios shake hands with the engine’s revs across the numbers. Manual shifting is on offer via the steering column mounted paddle shift, but they’re effectively pointless, such is the crispness of the transmission naturally. Flip the centre console mounted mode selector to Sports or Sports + and the response is incrementally even more rapid. Sports was the best compromise with defineably better off the line, and rolling gear, acceleration, with down-changes on Sports+ too long for true usability in a normal urban drive.
The centre console houses a button to adjust the torque at the driven end. Torque Vectoring Differential is the fancy name for it. It gives Standard, Slalom, and Track, with the second two best used in a race track driving day environment. And with the 50/50 weight distribution, land changes are instant.
Naturally there is plenty of safety equipment. Packaged under the name of Lexus Safety System+, it incorporates rear cross-traffic alert and blind-spot monitor among its suite of technologies.
The Outside Is:
Pretty damned good to look at. That aforementioned grey coats the slinky and sinuous curves of the GS sedan perfectly. There is a carbon-fibre rear lip spoiler sitting atop a 520L boot, some subtle plastic add-ons for extra aero streamlining. The pernicious grip levels of the GS F comes from the Michelin Pilot Super Sport rubber at 275/35/19 that wrap black painted alloys, slotted discs, and those blue painted callipers.
The “spindle grille” seems restrained on the GS F 10th Anniversary, blending nicely with the dark grey matte paint. It splits LED gead- and running-lights, and huge air intakes big enough to swallow a small car. A restrained use of chrome adds some visual contrasts.
The Warranty Is:
Four years or 100,000 kilometres, with the additional benefit of Lexus Drive Care. That covers items such as a up to $150 one way taxi fares, a courier service for small parcels, even personal and clothing costs up to $250. Contact Lexus for servicing costs, though.
At The End Of The Drive.
The 2019 Lexus GS F 10th Anniversary is an absolute weapon. It’s tractable enough to be gently driven to the proverbial corner shop, and brutal enough to pick a fight with a great white shark, armed with a .50 cal, and win.
And why a 10th anniversary edition? Simple. Lexus has ten years of the F Sport range under its belt, and this is one excellent way to celebrate.
Info on the 2019 Lexus GS F is here.
Honda Goes Seven Up For CR-V
It’s a segment that continues to grow and is becoming hotly contested. Car makers aren’t satisfied with just five seats any more, and the seven seater SUV is taking the people mover segment head on. Honda has joined the fray and now has a seven seater. It’s a somewhat clumsy name but the 2019 Honda CR-V VTi-E7 is reasonably priced at $34, 490 plus on roads. There is a more upmarket version, called CR-V VTi-L7. That empties the bank balance to the tune of $38, 990.
Motorvation is from a 1.5L turbocharged petrol fed powerplant. Peak power is 140kW, and peak torque is 240Nm, on tap from 2000rpm through to 5000rpm. That’s a crucial figure considering both the transmission is a CVT driving the front wheels only, and lugging seven people requires a hefty torque figure. Fuel economy is quoted as 7.3L/100km for the combined cycle, and 9.2L/100km for the urban cycle, its most likely home on road. However, there is an extensive features list to sweeten the appeal.
There is: leather appointed seating, 2nd and 3rd row aircon outlets, and dual zone climate control to suit. Rear seat passengers get dual USB ports, and audio & apps have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The driver has an eight way powered seat and gets to check out the outside via a three mode reversing camera on a seven inch display screen. The CR-V seven seater rolls on 18 inch alloys and has, thankfully, a full sized alloy spare. Just in case, Honda have opted for a tyre pressure monitoring system.
Honda has an extensive range of vehicles, including the re-release of the legendary NSX, and all can be found here.
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