Blending style, comfort, and utility in the minivan market segment isn’t easy, but the design team has done an excellent job balancing the needs of everyone in the family in the 2024 Kia Carnival. As a multipurpose vehicle that acts as a cross between a minivan and an SUV, the Carnival offers seating for up to 8 and plenty of features to keep the whole family happy, even on longer road trips.

Introducing the 2024 Kia Carnival: Redefining the Family Van

Interior Comfort 

Inside, the Carnival is a haven of comfort and versatility. The spacious cabin is adorned with high-quality materials and thoughtful touches that enhance the driving experience. With seating for up to eight passengers, the Carnival offers generous legroom in all three rows, with both first- and second-row passengers getting more than 40 inches of leg-stretching space. Headroom is ample, too, with everyone getting 38.6 inches or more and the front row getting over 40 inches to stretch their necks.

All trims of the 2024 Carnival get sound-absorbing windshield glass up frond and privacy glass abaft the B-post, and leather wrappers on the steering wheel and shift knob pair with heated front seats to come standard on most trims. Dual sunroofs, SynTex and genuine leather seat trims, and additional sound absorption features are available on higher trims, escalating ride comfort significantly as families climb up the trim ladder.

Airplane-Style VIP Seating

The available second-row VIP Lounge Seats are a highlight of the Carnival, and provide a first-class travel experience. The seats offer an airplane-style experience for second-row travelers, featuring power-adjustable controls, headrests that wing out to facilitate snoozing, and extendable leg rests. They come complete with reclining and sliding features for ultimate relaxation. While this is only available on the top trim of the Carnival, it’s absolutely an upgrade worth investing in if long journeys are part of your family’s routine.

Cargo and Utility

With a total interior volume of 168 cubic feet, there’s plenty of room for luggage, sports gear, or even furniture in the 2024 Kia Carnival. That’s because the stowage compartment offers a full 40.2 cubic feet of space behind the 3rd row, which can expand to as much as 145.1 cubic feet with the rear rows folded down. The Carnival also has the ability to tow up to 3,500 pounds, adding plenty of options to transport additional cargo, kayaks or canoes, or even another vehicle.

Design and Style 

The 2024 Kia Carnival stands out from the multipurpose vehicle pack with its bold and sophisticated design. The vehicle’s exterior exudes confidence with its sharp lines, dynamic stance, and signature “Tiger Nose” grille. The Carnival’s design is a harmonious blend of an SUV’s robust appeal and the practicality of a minivan, making it an attractive choice for families and professionals alike.

A stylish rear spoiler, shark-fin antenna, half-chrome door handles, body-colored side-view mirrors, and LED headlights come standard, with LED tail and fog lights standard on higher trims, The attractive Flare Red and Astra Blue paint colors become available on upgraded trims as well, alongside a luscious Tuscan Umber and Off-Black two-tone SynTex seat trim that is both deliciously comfortable and stunning to behold.

Performance and Efficiency 

Under the hood, the 2024 Carnival is powered by a 3.5-liter V6 engine that delivers a robust 290 horsepower and 296 lb-ft of torque, providing plenty of get-up-and-go. Paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission, the Carnival provides a smooth and responsive ride. Despite its size and capacity, the Carnival remains efficient, offering competitive fuel economy figures that ensure long journeys are not only comfortable but also economical.

With so much riding on getting everyone home safely, there are plenty of safety features baked into the Carnival’s performance. Vehicle Stability Management and Electronic Stability Control help keep the vehicle firmly rooted on the pavement, while hill start assistance and downhill brake control help mitigate any worries about steeper inclines and higher grades in the road, and the integrated Tire Pressure Monitoring System helps ensure the Carnival is riding right on its 17- or 19-inch wheels.

Entertainment Technology

With up to 8 in the family, keeping everyone comfortably entertained is key to a great road trip. The entry-level Carnival offers an 8-inch touchscreen display and a 6-speaker audio system, replete with Bluetooth connectivity, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, and SiriusXM Satellite Radio capability. Wi-Fi hotspot functionality comes on higher trims (with a subscription, naturally), and top trims of the Carnival offer 115-volt power outlets alongside standard 12V power ports and USB charging outlets.

Upgraded trims of the Carnival expand the touchscreen to a whopping 12.3 inches, while the instrument display for the driver can go from 4.2 inches all the way up to 12.3. HD Radio, wireless charging, and Kia Connect functionality are all standard on higher trims, and, crucially, a dual-screen rear-seat entertainment system is available at the top of the range to keep rear-row occupants happily engaged.

Kia DriveWise Safety Tech

With the 2024 Kia Carnival being squarely oriented toward families with plenty of little ones, safety is paramount in its design. Every trim of the Carnival comes with blind-spot collision avoidance, forward collision avoidance with pedestrian detection, and rear cross-traffic collision avoidance assistance. Lane departure warnings are supplemented by lane-keeping assistance features in all trims, helping the Carnival keep to the road should driver attention happen to wander, with an additional Driver Attention Warning helping keep the pilot alert.

Upgraded trims add driver visibility options, including Surround View and Blind Spot view monitoring, cyclist and junction turning detection, parking distance warnings front and rear, along with highway driving assistance, navigation-based smart cruise control with stop and go technology, and an intelligent speed limit assistance technology to keep everybody safe on the road.

With so many excellent features, including thoughtfully designed features and exclusive VIP Lounge seating, there’s lots of reasons to fall in love with the 2024 Kia Carnival. Now it’s time to pile everyone in and take it for a spin. Schedule your test drive today at Auffenberg Kia of Cape Girardeau in Cape Girardeau, MO and let your whole family discover what the future of the family road trip looks like.