2022 Kia Carnival: pix of the US version…

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Trying very hard to pretend to be something it’s not, Kia is showing their new minivan with black wheels. Something, although always vulgar, mostly associated with sports cars. 
I file black wheels under the same folder as “Huge grilles”, “Scoops”, “Spoilers” and “Miscellaneous eyesores”.
They’re not the first ones since Toyota did the same thing with the new Sienna.
Somehow, black wheels will make people forget this is a good old fashion minivan.
(I guess sit might work on some smaller brain humans?)
Let’s also talk about that stupid name. No more Sedona. What was wrong with “Sedona”???
And yes, I know it’s always been called Carnival in its home market. That’s no excuse. 
Will Mazda rename the Mazda 3 the “Mazda Axela”. (Its name in Japan)
No, they won’t. Why? Because it’s a stupid idea.
For the same reason, the Accord is not the Honda Inspire over here.
Cars don’t “need” to have the same name everywhere. Especially when “Sedona” was a fine name.
“Carnival” sounds like a cheap cruise.
Otherwise, the new minivan actually looks pretty nice. I think it feels much more modern than the new Sienna. Which is really, really weird and awkward from some angles.
It also makes the Honda Odyssey look really old. Especially inside…
The only engine available is a 3.5 Liter V6 with 290HP. So no hybrid here. But power and smoothness are standard. But AWD is not an option. Instead, you get the new Kia logo! (lucky!)

 

Conversation 13 comments

  1. Looks amazing with those rims. They go perfect with the grill. Now black rims with a bright grill? Not so much.

  2. from the outside and body shaping, c/d pillars, there's some resemblance to the previous ford explorer

  3. Since they are trying so hard to make it look like a SUV (and did a good job), why not just put regular door on the back….they'd probably sell more that way

  4. The word minivan brings back painful memories of 800 mile daily drives with screaming kids in the '90's. But if I had to relieve these painful times I would do it in this one. Best looking minivan ever.

  5. My only gripe with this is that, according to the configurator, you cannot get a sunroof of any size in any other trim but the SX Prestige for $47k. There they have a dual panel setup. But come on! No single panel moonroof for the EX or SX?

  6. I like the new Carnival styling. No AWD is a no buy for me however. Maybe Kia will add the AWD option in a future upgrade?

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