Pros

• Attractive styling
• Powerful Drivetrain
• Premium Interior Features

Cons

• No All-Wheel Drive Option
• Rear Seat Recline Limited For Tall Passengers

Kia has introduced an all-new model — the 2022 Kia Carnival. If you’re looking at these photos, or if you’ve seen one on the street, you’re likely impressed with the distinctive and purposeful styling of this…minivan?

It is a Minivan or Not?

That question mark represents multiple aspects of the new Kia Carnival. First, as we listened to Kia representatives describe its newest model it was impossible to ignore their refusal to label the Carnival a “minivan”. The preferred pronoun was “MPV”, which stands for “multi-purpose vehicle” — a common label for these vehicles in other global markets.

Second, we’re taking Kia on their word that consumers, when given a sneak peak at the Carnival during focus group testing, said it looked more like an SUV than a minivan. It does sport Kia’s latest “tiger nose” front grill, situated between sleek LED headlights surrounded by bright, stylish light bars. The lower front and rear fascias include an SUV-like skid plate, and chunky wheel arches between the sculpted door panels further elevate the Carnival’s meaty look. Those wheel arches house either 17- or 19-inch wheels, depending on trim level.

Okay, so the Kia Carnival offers a more aggressive exterior design than your average minivan. But does it still have three rows of seats, a cavernous interior, and sliding doors on either side? Yup. It even offers best-in-class passenger room (168 cubic feet) and cargo space (145.1 cubic feet). And that makes it a minivan in our book. Kia’s too, actually, as the company was happy to point out these advantages over other…well, you know.

A Carnival of Power

The good news is, no matter what you call it, the Kia Carnival boasts a long list of unique features you won’t find in other boxy people movers. It’s all-new 3.5-liter V6 pairs to an 8-speed automatic driving the front wheels. This gives the Carnival a class-leading 290 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque, plus a (best-in-class) 3,500-pound max towing capacity and 22 combined mpg. Kia told us its R&D folks went through substantial effort to ensure the drivetrain could stand up to challenging driving circumstances without losing power to heat soak or high ambient temps, even when carrying 8-passengers while towing its maximum 3,500 pounds.

Advanced Safety Technology

The Carnival’s standard advanced driver safety tech list further impresses, with forward collision warning with pedestrian detection, blind spot collision warning and avoidance, rear cross traffic alert and collision avoidance, lane keeping assist, lane departure warning, lane following assist, driver attention warning and automatic high beam assist.

The standard tech doesn’t stop there. Kia knows this is a family vehicle, making safety a top consideration for likely buyers. As such, every Carnival also includes rear occupant alert with motion detection, to help avoid leaving kids behind, and passenger safe exit assist, a radar-based system to detect approaching vehicles when the side doors are opened. Finally, the optional blind-spot monitor tech shows a live view of adjacent lanes in the Carnival’s 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster.

Premium Passenger Features

That 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster is one of many high-tech features available on the new Kia Carnival. It can pair with either a standard 8-inch central touch screen on LX and EX Carnivals or a 12.3-inch touchscreen on SX and SX Prestige models. These screens sit over a capacitive-touch climate control pod and sleek, subtle dash vents, giving the Carnival’s interior a premium look and feel.

That premium experience can be further elevated by a series of passenger-friendly features. Your family wants wireless streaming of Apple CarPlay and Android Auto? It come standard on the Carnival. So do power-sliding side doors and multiple USB charging ports. The Carnival’s option lists includes everything from dual rear seat video monitors, with the ability to play different media, to second-row captain’s chairs with heating, ventilation and full power recline. Think airplane business class, though the full recline feature can be limited by the height of the second-row passengers and the position of the front seats.

Kia’s Cost-Effective Carnival

The Carnival’s list of standard features, both in terms of advanced safety tech and passenger convenience, is impressive. Particularly at the Carnival LX’s starting price of $33,275, including destination charge. A $2,000 seat package for the LX adds leather-like “SynTex” upholstery. The Carnival EX costs 38,775 and upgrades the 8-inch touchscreen to the 12.3-inch touchscreen, swaps the LX’s 17-inch wheels for 19-inch wheels, adds trim-zone automatic climate control, a navigation system, smart cruise control, a smart tailgate (with auto close) and front and rear parking sensors.

Stepping up the Carnival SX, at $42,275, provides exterior accent trims pieces, dual rear entertainment screens with mobile phone wireless streaming, ventilated front seats, additional USB charging outlets, power-folding exterior mirrors, roof rails and LED fog lights. The top Carnival trim, SX Prestige, includes the heated and cooled power-reclining second-row captain’s chairs (with “ottoman” mode), dual power sunroofs, a 12-speaker Bose audio system, LED taillights, the 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster, leather seats, a heated steering wheel and Kia’s blind view monitor tech.

While all Carnivals exude a sense of style and upscale passenger transport, the SX and SX Prestige trims feel (and look) like genuine luxury vehicles, all while providing responsive acceleration and confident handling. The stigma surrounding vehicles like the Kia Carnival, to such an extent we’re not supposed to call them what they are, is truly unfortunate. Because if you’re looking for the most effective means of comfortably transporting humans on America’s roadways, the Kia Carnival is nearly impossible to top.