2025 Kia Carnival and Sorento review: Seven seats in two different styles
With 14 seats between them and two different approaches to family motoring, Kia’s large cars take the same approach to stretching your motoring dollar
THERE is a way to get more for your motoring dollar, and it definitely doesn’t involve buying a two-seat sportscar. Quite the opposite, if these two Kias show anything. Each is built to hold up to seven persons, which lowers your per capita cost of motoring, and each goes about it in its own way. Both hew to their makers’ habit of providing as much value as possible.
The Sorento takes what is now the more common approach, packing seven seats into a medium sport utility vehicle’s (SUV’s) body. Meanwhile, the Carnival accommodates the same number of people by virtue of being a giant box on wheels, also known as a multi-purpose vehicle (MPV).
A facelift for the Carnival injects a bit of the styling DNA from Kia’s modern day electric vehicle (EV) range, so it gets slim LED lighting strips and the four-spoke wheels that help to make the electric Kias so eye-catching.
Even before its facelift, the hefty MPV was a striking car. Its hulking size gave it the imposing presence of a WWE wrestler, while little styling flourishes took the edge off its sheer bulk, such as its textured, fin-like C-pillars.
There’s no disguising that it’s a big car, though; so big that it’s also available with eight seats, in fact. There’s a school bus somewhere in its family tree, I’m sure.
Carnival – the plusher option
Yet, less is sometimes more. The seven-seat Carnival is the plusher option because of its middle-row armchairs, which recline, have flip-up leg rests and come with built-in ventilation. Passengers assigned to those seats will find the cabin more business class than coach.
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This does mean that you’re meant to shoehorn three people into the third row, which is doable but isn’t a particularly nice thing to do if they happen to be full-grown adults. In fact, the Geneva Convention probably has a thing or two to say about that.
On the other hand, the Carnival is built to be a packhorse, with a boot that is enormous even with all the seats deployed. Stow the third row bench, which you can do with one hand if you’re in desperate need of a party trick, and the Carnival is basically one toilet short of something you could list on Airbnb. There’s even a handy cupboard in the cargo area for stowing odds and ends.
The same is true of the passenger cabin, where there’s just so much room for clutter, and so many places to hide it. The trade-off for all this size and space is that the big Kia feels uninspiring from behind the wheel.
To its credit, it does have cameras everywhere to take the terror out of having to park the thing, but the best that can be said about driving the Carnival is that even though it’s no one’s idea of a dream car to drive, it’s far from being a nightmare, even on our crowded city roads.
The Sorento feels downright sprightly in comparison, mostly because it’s a smaller car, though it’s not small by any measure. Like the Carnival, it’s had the face of a Kia EV grafted onto its front end, but it continues to offer all the mod-cons a BMW driver would expect and then some (such as ventilated front seats), driver assist systems and if you opt for the S$10,000 SX Tech Pack, upscale features like a huge glass roof.
At heart, it’s a fine family car, even though it’s not as cavernous as the Carnival. It has a generously sized boot and the middle row seats recline and slide, ensuring that even with all seven seats occupied, comfort isn’t just wishful thinking.
The suspension is built to handle the weight of seven passengers, so when the car’s lightly loaded, bumps occasionally jolt the cabin. It’s worth bearing that in mind if you don’t intend to use your Sorento as a family hauler, and want one purely for the features and the rugged design.
As for the Sorento’s handling, while it’s not exactly thrilling, it’s dependably easy to manoeuvre in tight spots, with steering that’s reasonably precise.
What’s most appealing about both these Kias, especially if you feel like prices for everything have risen painfully, is that they’re adept at stretching a fuel budget.
Neither of them is ever going to harry a sports car, but they both have hybrid powertrains that juggle combustion and electric power skilfully, allowing them to jog past the 1,000-kilometre mark before needing a stop at the pumps.
While they have that in common, they fulfil the seven-seater role in very different ways, with one overflowing with size and practicality, and the other allowing you to play the family man with a modicum of ruggedness. Given their fuel efficiency, you’ll go far either way.
Kia Sorento Hybrid SX Tech Pack
Engine 1,598 cc, in-line four, turbocharged hybrid System Power / Torque 215 hp / 350 Nm Gearbox 6-speed automatic 0-100 km/h 9.3 seconds Top Speed 193 km/h Fuel Efficiency 5.1 L/100km Agent Cycle & Carriage Kia Price S$269,999 with COE Available Now
Kia Carnival Hybrid SX
Engine 1,598 cc, in-line 4, turbocharged hybrid System Power / Torque 227 hp / 350 Nm Gearbox 6-speed automatic 0-100 km/h 9.3 seconds Top Speed 190 km/h Fuel Efficiency 6.5 L/100km Agent Cycle & Carriage Kia Price S$286,999 with COE Available Now
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