2027 Kia Carnival Review | ALMOST PERFECT!!!

What's up you guys? Welcome back to another one. If you are new to the channel, I am Gold Pony eding car truck SUV reviews on YouTube. And today we are in the brand new 2027 Kia Carnival courtesy of Fred Beans Kia in Mechanicsburg, PA. For more information on their inventory, please feel free to check out the link in the description box below. And so we are in this one today because there's tons of space in this thing. You also get America's best warranty being 5 years, 60,000 mi bumper-to-bumper, 10 years, 100,000 mi on the powertrain. This also has a naturally aspirated V6. There is nothing wrong with that. I so prefer that to any turbocharged four-cylinder any day of the week. And there's a navy blue interior available that we happen to have today. So, that's pretty sticking cool as well. So, ultimately in this video, we will be testing out and going over everything about this one from acceleration to braking, steering fuel, ride quality, sound system, exhaust clip, all that fun stuff. So, having said all of that, what do you got to say? Let's just go ahead and jump right into it. And as always, let's start with pricing. And so, as you can imagine, there are so many different trim levels for the 2027 Carnival. You got the LX starting at $37,490, which is a $500 bump from the 2026 model year. Got the LXS for $39,490. EX for $41,690. SX, which is the one we are in today, starting at $46,590. And lastly, the SX Prestige going for $51,590. But regardless of the trim level that you go with, the power plant on the Carnival is going to be the same. Powering the Beast is a 3.5 L naturally aspirated V6. This puts out 287 horsepower at 6,400 RPM. 260 lb feet of torque coming in at 5,000 RPM. That power being sent to the front wheels through an 8-speed automatic. 0 to 60 time is going to come in at approximately 7 seconds flat. That's respectable. Top speed 118 miles per hour in case you were interested with MPG numbers coming in at 18 in the city, 26 on the highway, taking regular unled fuel. All right, so before we do any kind of fun acceleration test here in the carnival, I did want to mention to you guys the drive mode. So drive mode button is located so differently than I'm used to seeing. I was looking around the shifter and then I went to the infotainment screen, wasn't in either of those positions. I was like, where the heck is the drive mode button? It's actually on the bottom portion of the steering wheel, kind of right underneath of the center part. So, that's where that's located. It's almost hidden. I almost didn't even find it. But anyways, drive minutes will include eco, normal, sport, and smart. Adjusting things like the shift points, the throttle response, and the climate control settings, which I just turned down. So, anyways, now having got all of that out of the way, what do you guys say? Let's go ahead and find a straightaway. Let's put it in sport driving mode, and let's see how quickly we can get our new 2027 Carnival here up to speed. All right, found our straightaway here in the shade in 3 2 1 go. Little bit of spinning there. Plenty of power though. That's fun. Yeah, no issues with that. Now, there there was a little bit of spinning at the very beginning. So, like I say with the Honda Odyssey as well, I would love for all-wheel drive to be offered. Like I don't understand why the Kia Carnival and the Honda Odyssey don't offer all-wheel drive. This is just front-wheel drive only. Um, so yeah, with all that power being sent to the front wheels, again, little bit of slipping, of course you're going to slip in the rain. Of course, you're definitely going to slip in the snow, which is another thing. Let me press the drive mode button one more time. Yeah, there's definitely no snow driving mode either, which is the other thing. Uh, cuz we do get some snow in Pennsylvania. I would love there to be either a snow driving mode or all-wheel drive. One or the other. I guess you could put winter tires on this and you might be all right, but still, I think all-wheel drive would be absolutely wonderful. kind of like the two to Sienna has and uh Chrysler Pacifica actually as well. So, it's a lot of power, definitely enough of an acceleration. Just wish it had all-wheel drive. That's the only thing. But anyways, to go along with that acceleration, as always, braking is equally important. And so, up front you will find 12.8 in ventilated front discs. In the back, same thing, 12.8 in solid rear discs. As far as that 60 is your stopping distance goes, that comes in at 132 feet, which on paper a little bit on the higher side of things, you typically want to look for like 125, something like that. But overall, as far as braking feel goes, it's on the softer side of things. No doubt. Not that I expected anything different in a minivan. But, uh, it's not a firm braking feel. It's not kind of even a medium braking feel. It's on the softer side. Kind of like my Hyundai Santa Fe. I kind of compare it to that in my head, which which isn't bad. I don't have a problem with it. It's just that uh that's pretty much what I expected for the Carnival. That's also no issues there. But then touching on suspension and handling up front you're going to get an independent Nick McFerson strut front suspension. In the back, independent multi-link rear suspension. Overall, as far as ride quality goes, it's been plenty fine. I definitely don't have any issues with that. It's absorbing the road imperfections here and mechanics perfectly fine. As far as steering feel goes, it's probably on the looser side of things. Kind of like the braking feel. Nothing too emotional or exciting, but again, we're in a minivan. I didn't expect anything different. Now, as far as cabin noise goes, I will say this thing is pretty darn serene. So, I definitely am enjoying that. I think it's a plenty serene cabin. Super quiet in here. Um, all trim levels do get an acoustic laminated front windshield, so that may play a part in that. But also, acoustic laminated front door glass for the EX trim level, the SX, and the SX Prestige. And that's definitely something you don't always even find on luxury automakers. So, the fact that this has acoustic laminated front door glass, I know this is something pre people probably don't even look into, but I do. And that's pretty impressive, quite honestly, because again, you don't always find that even on Mercedes-Benz. So, the fact that this thing has it on this particular trim level at least, that's probably what's making it so dang serene and quiet in here. So, it's kind of nice. But also to go further than that, there's actually also acoustic laminated rear door glass, which is optional, but only optional for the SX Prestige if you really wanted the the very best, I guess. But then touching our rear visibility, looking out my rearview mirror here, I love how the third row headrests tuck down into the seats. I love that not all third rows do that. So, I want to emphasize that because of that, I can see perfectly fine out of that rear view mirror there. So, rear visibility is 100% on point. In addition to that, touching on forward visibility, rain sensing windshield wipers do come on the SX and the SX Prestige trim levels. So, whenever this thing detects any kind of mist or rainfall, it's going to automatically turn on those windshield wipers for you. So, one less thing you got to worry about there. Also, let me put my turn signal on again. I have a blind spot view monitor up on my gauges here. So, that's also going to assist with visibility. That's something that Kia, Hyundai, and Genesis all do. I absolutely love that little feature. And also a head-up display is going to come standard on the SX Prestige trim level only if you wanted that, assisting with full visibility. But that pretty much rounds out the performance segment of this review, you guys. Let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior now of our brand new 2027 Kia Carnival. All right, so here she is, you guys. The new 2027 Kia Carnival finished in ceramic silver, in case you were curious of the exact exterior color name on this one. But as always, let's go ahead and start with where the Carnival is made. Taking a look at the VIN. First character is the letter K indicating that the carnival is 100% actually I think it's 98% built and assembled in Korea, but final assembly point is definitely South Korea. But starting up front, LED reflector headlights for all trim levels, but the SX Prestige, that SX Prestige trim level is going to give you LED projector headlights, so slightly better illumination there. LED daytime running lights do come standard. You get the automatic feature with those headlights. You also get automatic high beams. So, if you have your high beams on at night and it senses the vehicle coming in the opposite direction, it's going to automatically dim them back to low beams for you. Then, when that vehicle is gone, it's going to automatically bounce it back up to high beams. Then, to the bottom corners there, LED fog lights for the SX and SX Prestige trim levels only. That is how you're going to go ahead and get them. And taking a look at the front grill. The front grill is actually going to differ slightly dependent upon the trim level, but you get a vertical pattern for the LX, LXs, and the EX trim levels. And then kind of this horizontal silver pattern for the SX and SX Prestige trim levels. Then also I did want to mention, although you're not going to be able to see it because I'm not going to crawl underneath of the minivan here, but skid plates, front skid plates, uh, for the SX and SX Prestige trim levels, but actually a dang good-looking minivan. Arguably probably the best looking minivan and its class cuz it doesn't really look like a minivan. I think Kia actually calls it a a multi-purpose vehicle, I believe, or something like that. But it looks good nonetheless. So, that pretty much rounds out the front end. Let's now go ahead and swing around to the side. And something else, since we are around to the side of this one, starting all the way to the top, roof rails are going to come on the EX trim level and up. Rear privacy glass does come standard for all trim levels across the board. Power sliding rear doors for all trim levels as well, and is super easy to use. There's a button on the key fob, or when your kids walk up, they can simply just press the black little button on the door handle itself. Taking a look at the side mirrors, they are bodycoled, power adjustable side mirrors. They will be heated with LED integrated turret signals. If you were to go with the EX trim level and up, they're going to be power folding then as well. Got to appreciate the texturized pattern found on the SE-pillar in the back as well. Nice little unique accent piece, I guess, on the exterior there. Then take a look down at the wheel setup, there's going to be a few different wheel configurations. Uh 17in alloys for the LX and LXs. 19-inch gloss black and machine finished alloys. It's going to be a combination there for the EX and then 19inch black alloys for our SX and also the SX Prestige. But that pretty much rounds out the side profile. Let's now go ahead and make our way to the back. Right, since we are ran to the back of the Carnival, starting all the way to the top body colored shark fin antenna. Just below that, you got the rear spoiler with an integrated brake light. And if you're wondering where the rear window wiper is since it is not affixed to the rear glass, simply just look up underneath of that rear spoiler. And there it is. It's kind of tucked away. So, been a little better visibility when it's set up that way. Kind of like the Chevy Tahoe does, I guess. But anyways, kind of interesting in the back about the Carnival here. You get incandescent tail lights for all trim levels, but the SX Prestige, that's the only trim that's going to give you LED tail lights. So, it's kind of something that I think like 95% of vehicles have now is LED tail lights kind of but the carnival. So, Kia maybe uh maybe add some LED taillights for all trim levels. But anyways, just below it all there is a single exhaust outlet. It is tucked away underneath. So, having said that, I do believe you guys know what we have to do next here. As always, here is that exhaust clip. All right. So, now since we are around to the back of the Carnival here, when it comes to opening that rear tailgate, it is a power tailgate with auto close for the EX trim level and up. Of course, there is a button on the key fob and there's a rubberized button on the tailgate itself then as well. But once opened up, cargo capacity behind that third row comes in at 40.2 cubic feet. That's absolutely insane. If you were to fold that third row down, that's going to bump that up to 86.9 cubic feet, which is typically what you get in a three row SUV with all rows folded down. But you get that behind the second row in the Carnival. That's absolutely bonkers as well. Then with all rows folded, 145.1 cubic feet. I think that might be more than the Chevy Suburban. That's so much space. you guys. Anyways, if you were to compare that to the other minivans in its class, the Odyssey comes in at 158 cubic feet. That's absolutely insane. Toyota Sienna 101 cubic feet. Kind of the the less cargo space minivan I guess. And then the Chrysler Pacifica comes in at 140 cubic feet. So, this is a little bit more than that as well. Also in the cargo area though, there's a 12volt power outlet, 115 volt power outlet, and a little bit of indented cubby storage back there, I guess, as well. But then making our way up to the third row legroom that is going to come in at 35.6 in for reference. I'm even six feet tall. This is how much space I had in the third row there. So actually that should be plenty for me. I didn't have any issues there. Rear air vents are going to be found on the ceiling. I absolutely love that. That definitely is where the placement should be because I know when you compare that to the Honda Odyssey, the Honda Odyssey actually puts the rear air vents next to the cup holder. So, for example, if you have a warm drink on a warm day, you're blowing out cold air onto that warm drink in the back or you know what I'm saying? It's kind of a weird placement. Also, you got cup holders back there. There are dual rear USB charging ports in the third row as well. And you also get third row side windows, sun shades. That's something that you typically don't find. So, absolutely love seeing that as well then. But then making our way up to the second row legroom that comes in at a very very impressive 40.5 in. Anything over 40 in I always say is luxury like for reference I'm still even 6 feet tall. This is how much space I hid in the second row there. Uh dual rear USB charging ports coming standard to get side window sun shades for the EX trim level and up. Second row heated and ventilated lounge seats. It's going to be an optional package on the SX Prestige. I wanted to mention that cuz I thought that was kind of cool. Uh, seven passenger seating is going to come standard on the LX. It's going to be optional on the SX and SX Prestige. We got that option with us here today. I love the captain's chair setup. And this vehicle is wide enough that center area is just so much space for a third row passenger to walk into the back. This setup is absolutely perfect. It doesn't get any better than that in my personal opinion. So, well done Kia for that. You did wonderful job with that. Um, eight passenger bench seating basically comes otherwise though. That's that's the standard configuration, I guess. Trizone climate control does come standard for all trim levels across the board as well. There's a little uh thing on the ceiling in the back for the second row passengers to set their own individual temperatures if they wanted to. So, I like seeing that back there as well. Honestly, second row is done perfectly. I wouldn't change a thing there. Then, make your way up to the front seats. Manually adjustable cloth seating for the LX. Eightway power driver seat with four-way power lumbar for the LXS trim level and up. Eightway power adjustable passenger seat for the EX trim level and up. Heated front seats for the LXS, ventilated front seats for the SX and SX Prestige. Memory settings for the EX trim level and up. You get syntax upholstery for the LXS, EX and SX, which essentially like a leatherrett. That's what that is. Uh leather seating then for the SX Prestige. Overall, as far as seat comfort goes, absolutely no issues there. It's nothing crazy like luxury go, but it's not bad either. It's pretty much as expected, so I don't have any issues with it. Then taking a look at the steering wheel. This actually surprised me a little bit. Uh, it's tilt and telescoping, of course. It can be finished in a navy blue like we have with us here today. So, that was definitely surprising. I absolutely love the navy blue look. Uh, leather wrapped for the LXs trim level and up. And the 10 and2 grips were surprisingly on the thicker side of things. Like almost to the point where BMW M grips, like these are some thick grips. So, I absolutely love it. Wonderful feel to the steering wheel there. And then heated steering wheel actually for the SX Prestige trim level if you wanted that. But now, let's go ahead and make our way to the startup. Let me start by showing you guys the key. You got your Kia logo on the one side. By the way, that Kia logo, it lights up when you hit lock and unlock. So, at night, it's going to light up for you. That's super cool. Like, who else is doing this? Kia is innovating. I love it. You do have all your buttons on the side of the key, though. So, lock, unlock, that button to pop the uh rear tailgate there. Also, the button to open and close the side doors. That's always convenient. But, it is all keyless entry with a push button start. So, all I'm going to do here is simply put my foot on the brake and press that engine start button located kind of by the driver's right knee there. But so then once started up, there are two different gauge clusters available for the Carnival. You're going to find a 4.2 in digital screen and kind of an analog setup then for the rest of it for the LX, LXS, and EX trim levels, but then a 12.3 in curved digital gauge cluster for our SX and the SX Prestige of course as well. And the kind of cool thing is when you change the drive modes, uh, it does adjust the colors of the gauge cluster. So, if I put it in sport, you got some red hues. If I put it in smart, it looks like maybe tan. Eco is going to be some green hues. And normal, I think, is like a yellowish. So, it's kind of cool that uh that you can do that. The other thing is you can adjust the actual look of the gauge cluster. You would think you would be able to do that on the steering wheel controls, but it's actually done through the infotainment screen. So, there's something called simple and then there's something called circle. I actually like the circle look a little better myself. So, I think that's pretty cool. And let's see what else we can do here. We actually have a green setup. You could set it on a black and green gauge cluster theme there. Um, there's red and there's yellow as well. I'm going to leave it on green. I think that looks stinking cool. So, that's what we're going to leave it on. Of course, there's steering wheel mounting controls. You can adjust what is actually displayed up there as well. So, overall gauge cluster looks really, really good. like he always crushes it with their tech though. I always say that. But now, let's go ahead and make our way to overall interior quality. You get dual sunroofs for the SX and the SX Prestige trim levels. It actually opens up like dang. Anyways, LED interior lighting for the SX and SX Prestige trim levels. Home link controls for the SX Prestige. Wireless phone charger for the EX trim level and up, which by the way is located just in front of the shifter. There is more space for another cell phone up there, although it's not a wireless phone charger. Um, but anyways, to the right of the shifter, you got cup holders. Everything surrounding that is finished in a matte black. Then just behind that within the center armrest, there's an absolute ton of space in there. That's uh it's quite a bit of space there. But quite honestly, the very best part about the interior quality has got to be this navy blue interior. The navy blue and the light color leatherrett seats here is just definitely nautical. It looks absolutely amazing. So again, I'm not sure it gets much better than the interior here. But now, let's go ahead and make our way to the infotainment screen. This is a 12.3 in curved touchscreen display for all trim levels across the board is going to get this uh Bluetooth and audio streaming with that wireless Android Auto, Apple, and CarPlay for all trim levels. Factory navigation system, believe it or not, comes standard for all trim levels as well. Could check out your weather information up there. There is YouTube uh YouTube widget up there as well. That's pretty cool. Uh one of my favorite parts. Um of course there's a voice memo system. It looks like Hyundai might have done away with the voice memo system. I don't see that little widget anymore, but I do see the passenger view. That's one of my favorite parts about this. So, if you got second and third row passengers, you can simply just press that and there's actually a camera on the ceiling kind of just in front of the second row seats and you can spy on the second and third row passengers while still kind of keeping your eyes forward. So, that's kind of cool. I absolutely love that feature. Um, yeah, that's pretty cool. Anyways, also you can check out your radio information up there. So, when it comes to the sound systems, there are three of them actually. You get six speakers for the LX and LXs trim levels. Uh, eight speakers for the EX and the SX, meaning that's what we have with us here today. And then a 12 speakeraker Bose sound system for the SX Prestige trim levels. So, having said that, we got the 8 speaker with us here. So, let's go ahead and turn on the radio. Let's see what we got playing today and let's test out the clarity of this one. It's okay. Nothing crazy. Not a ton of bass, but the clarity was pretty darn good. And the only thing is, uh, I didn't see a volume knob. I just adjusted it using the steering wheel mounted controls as far as the volume goes. So, I don't know. I feel like there should be a volume knob. I actually turned up the heat cuz I thought that was the volume knob cuz it said power. I thought that was power for the radio and then I tried turning it up, but did work. It just turned up the heat. Um, so yeah, it was kind of interesting. But anyways, last thing I wanted to mention you guys on that infotainment screen is when you do put the Carnival in reverse, you will find a rear view camera coming standard across the board. But you also get a surround view monitor if you go with the SX or the SX Prestige trim levels, giving you that bird's eye view, letting you know what is completely all around you, which is always going to lead us into safety. And so, here's the thing. When it comes to safety with minivans, there's not a single minivan that is an IIHS top safety pick, unfortunately. Um, you pretty much have to go with a three row SUV for that. So, it is what it is there. But, front side, side curtain airbags do come standard. driver's knee airbag up front as well. In the back, you got latch, aka lower anchors and tethers for children for the rear car seats. Rear child door locks, tire pressure monitoring system, but also coming standard, a blind spot monitoring system with rear cross traffic alert, forward collision avoidance assist, automatic emergency braking, front and rear parking sensors. That's wild that that comes standard. Lane departure warning, lane keep assist, lane following assist, and highway driving assist as well, which is absolutely brilliant on any Kia, Hyundai, or Genesis. But overall, when it comes to my final thoughts, I love the blue interior. I love the blue interior. Nobody does that but Kia. So, well done Kia for that. Plenty of space. Like 145 cubic feet, I think, is what I said. That's insane. That's so much more than the Toyota Sienna, too. It's just a lot of space. I I love that. Um, probably the best looking minivan. I don't think anyone can deny that. It's the only one that really kind of doesn't look like a minivan. It kind of looks like SUV like, so that's pretty cool. You get America's best warranty. Can't beat that. Meaning if you drive less than 10,000 mi a year, like my wife does, uh you basically have this thing warrantied for 10 years on things like the engine and the transmission, um drive shaft, stuff like that. So, that's always nice. Now, there is one one thing that I wish this minivan had, and that's all-wheel drive. So, just like the Sienna, I do think all-wheel drive would be absolutely amazing. And quite honestly, that would be a no-brainer for me. I would be like, "Yeah, that that's a really nice minivan that I would consider because it has all-wheel drive, unlike the Honda Odyssey, but like the Toyota Sienna." And the Toyota Sienna is wonderful in snow. I've seen it in the snow and it does amazing. So, yeah, this thing really needs all-wheel drive. That that would make buying decisions so much easier for this thing. But anyways, let me know what you guys think of the Carnival in the comments section below. That's about it for this one, you guys. Thank you so much for watching. Feel free to follow me on social media stuff at the bottom of the screen. Be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button if you're into new car reviews. That is what I've been doing for 12 years now. I do appreciate you guys watching more than you know and I will see you guys all in the next video. Stay gold. I