People movers may have fallen from favour as large six and seven seat SUV’s have grown in popularity however if you’ve got a large family nothing comes close to the versatility of the current eight–seat Kia Carnival. I drove the petrol 3.3-litre V6 Carnival Platinum at $60,290, now fitted with an eight-speed automatic and the overall polish of this vehicle is impressive, more so the seat versatility for such a mixed load. Frankly, versatility is the name of the game with the Carnival – and let’s be honest most SUV’s are used purely as people movers so why pay for a 4WD drive-train when it will never see an off-road track. I had need to move six people, their luggage and a dog up the coast for the school holiday and for such a mixed load the Kia Carnival proved a very practical family vehicle – yes its big and boxy but excellent drive-ability, comfort and on-road dynamics mask its overall bulk.
With only a space saver spare wheel the deep recess in the boot floor offers a huge amount of luggage space – Kia’s impress with great suspension tune and fully loaded the Carnival is confident with nice steering. The foot-operated handbrake thankfully gone in favour of an electronic unit, the power side sliding doors proving popular with my family – one annoyance, the over eager lane departure warning system, a common complaint on may cars today, however thankfully it can be switched off. I’m David Berthon

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