Extended road trip review of the 2025 Kia Carnival hybrid

If many families lived with a Kia Carnival for a week, it may well reduce the obsession with dual-cab utes and SUVs.

During the process of buying a car, how many people just follow trends?

The choice used to be between a Ford Falcon or a Holden Commodore, and if you went rogue there was the Mitsubishi Magna.

Dual-cab utes and SUVs are more popular than sedans, hatches or wagons nowadays, many of them with impressive off-road capability that never truly gets used.

Having spent time in the Kia Carnival recently, it’s amazing more families don’t consider a van.

During the past decade, we’ve maintained the Carnival is one of the most underrated vehicles on the market. A recent road trip of more than 1000km only cemented its ability to suit both big families and those with active lifestyles.

The Kia Carnival is often overlooked as it falls within the people-mover category, but if you have no intention of going off road, this may be the car you never knew you needed.

During our travels, which encompassed driving around town and on the open road, it averaged 6.1 litres for every 100km of standard unleaded … that was courtesy of the new hybrid drivetrain offering.

Kia still offers the diesel, which has been our pick in the past, but for about $4000 more, a drive-away price of $81,370 the Carnival offers the space of an SUV and the loading area bigger than a dual-cab ute with a canopy.

But here’s where it’s most impressive, with ample space for four adults upfront, we still managed a bike, bike box, four large suitcases and a couple of carry-on bags with room to spare.

The second and third rows fold flat with great flexibility.

Check out the video for our family road test review.