The power units are the strong point of the KIA Carnival. There are cars with a V-six-cylinder gasoline engine with a capacity of 2497 cc or a supercharged four-cylinder diesel 2902 cm3. Both units with capacities respectively 121 i 93 kW provide the vehicle with surprisingly good traction properties and the KIA Carnival is one of the lively minivans. According to the factory data, their maximum speeds are respectively 185 i 168 km/h.
A V-shaped gasoline engine has 24 valves, two camshafts in the heads, It is powered by multi-point injection and equipped with a catalytic converter and a lambda probe. Turbocharged and air-cooled diesel engine features a cast iron hull and aluminum cylinder head, 16 valves, camshaft drive in the head with a toothed belt, direct fuel injection and exhaust gas recirculation system. Just look at the front of Carnival, to get your bearings, what engine drives the vehicle. The diesel ones have a big one on the cover, effective air intake to the supercharger cooler, powered by a gasoline engine do not have this distinction. The engines work with gearboxes with five gear ratios, the same for both engines, only the gear ratios of the main gears differ (respectively 4,313 i 3,882). Wide tires 215/65 The R15 contributes to the good handling of the car and significantly prevents skidding. The car's wheel suspension is independent – McPherson struts are used in the front, rear trailing arms with flexible connecting element and coil springs with hydraulic telescopic shock absorbers.
The standard equipment of the car is a four-channel ABS system. Front wheel disc brakes in diameter 274 mm are ventilated; the rear drums have the diameter of the drums 250 mm. The brake pads as well as the clutch disc linings are asbestos-free.
While driving the Carnival, you can feel the car's large dimensions. Ultimately its width – 1,9 m brings it closer in terms of dimensions to a delivery vehicle than a passenger car. For example, when parking a vehicle in an average garage, in which the door is approx. 2 m, you have to fold the side mirrors or risk driving "to the thickness of the paint". However, it must be admitted, that with the wheelbase 2,9 m and track front and rear wheels 1,6-1,62 m the car drives well. Changing the load does not affect the way the car is driven. Despite its considerable height (1,73 m) Carnival is resistant to gusts from the side wind, np. when quickly passing large trucks. This is the result of a good aerodynamic development of the body, Cx = 0,32 and a lot of own weight of the car (1735-1855 kg).
The engines cope well with a vehicle with a large total weight (ok. 2,5 t). Having a copy with a diesel engine, I could convince myself, that it is a flexible drive unit, I set the minimum speed in 5th gear as 55 km/h, acceleration from stopped start to 100 km / h lasted 17,5 s, the obtained maximum speed was as indicated by the speedometer 170 km/h. The measured fuel consumption during road runs is approx. 8,7 dm3 / 100 km, in the city exceeded 11 dm3. The external noise is 75 dBA. The large fuel tank turned out to be very practical (75 dm3), after refueling which you could cross "all of Poland" (ok. 800 km). A petrol car gives the Carnival even more performance, but it's more fuel hungry.
KIA Carnival is a successful Korean proposition for distant tourist trips. Thanks to the comfortable travel conditions, even long daily runs are not tiring. It is a dream car for vacation trips. Long range and high operating economy, Carnival's strengths are especially diesel engines. It performs its functions well on a daily basis when transporting more people, Driving alone seems rather grotesque. The Carnival is in a good position compared to other similarly sized vehicles, is the forte of this 7 seater "carnival" car.