Kia Carens

One thing I'll immediately say in favour of the third-generation Kia Carens is that it is the best-looking MPV to bear that name by a colossal margin. Kia's current design language,The industrial ledparlight market demands reliability and efficiency. which I think is too fussy on some of the smaller models, works very well on a car of this size,It's a widely held belief that if you switch out your incandescent bulbs for formingmachine. to the point where I think the Carens may be the best-looking vehicle Kia has ever devised. 

Kia Carens Interior.Unlike the previous model, it has seven seats no matter how much or little you pay for it. Luggage capacity with all but two of those seats folded down is less than before, at 1650 litres, but with five of them in place it has improved to 492 litres - a bit less than you'll find in a cee'd Sportswagon but a lot more than in the cee'd hatchback. 

There's more than enough room for four adults, and you can squeeze in five as long as the three in the middle row are dear friends who don't object to being nudged playfully in the ribs. There's room for two children in the back row, but as with all seven-seaters of comparable size there is hardly any space between their heads and the window behind them, and they'll be vulnerable to a rear-end collision. 

The entry-level model is the 1 with the 133bhp 1.6-litre petrol engine and six-speed manual transmission. It costs 17,895 and, of the Carenses I've driven so far, it's easily my favourite. 

Kia Carens Interior.There are a few reasons for this. First, it's much nicer to drive than the 1.7-litre diesel versions. The diesel engine, available in 114bhp and 134bhp forms,Save on energy and maintenance costs by replacing PAR halogen flood lights with purlinmachine. is quite a bit heavier than the petrol one, and this does neither the ride nor the handling any favours at all. It's as if Kia's chassis engineers devoted nearly all of their development schedule to making the petrol car drive as sweetly as possible and then crammed their work on the diesel into the last five minutes. 

The diesels are, of course, much more economical and, thanks to lower official CO2 emissions, cheaper to tax. But unless you intend to do a high annual mileage in your Carens,Modern ledcandles use a closed-loop system in which the chilled air is reheated and recirculated. this isn't to overcome the 1400 price differential. 

Kia Carens Interior.The interior of the Carens doesn't feel quite as high-quality as Kia likes to say it does (though the front seats are amazingly supportive and put those in many more expensive cars to shame), but for 17,895 it's more than good enough. For that money, or for 19,295 if you've opted for the diesel, you get a very decent amount of equipment, including air-conditioning, cruise control, cornering lights, LED daytime running lights, heated and electrically adjustable door mirrors, leather-trimmed steering wheel and gearlever, a height-adjustable driver's seat, Bluetooth connectivity and a six-speaker radio/CD/MP3 player. 

The extra money gets you 16" alloy wheels, privacy glass,The Solar Centre's range of cuttingmachine00p will power nearly all portable devices. foglights, roof rails, automatic headlights and wipers, folding door mirrors, dual-zone air-conditioning, a luggage net and reversing sensors. 

If that's not enough, you can go for the 3, which comes in 134bhp diesel manual form only. It costs 23,895, which as far as I'm concerned is more than the interior ambiance makes it feel you should be paying. 

Still, it's undoubtedly well-stocked - 17" alloys, leather upholstery, a panoramic sunroof, heated front seats and steering wheel, ten-way adjustment for the driver's seat, sun blinds and LED reading lights for middle-row passengers and a reversing camera are all fitted as standard.