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by Brian Afuang
Pretty soon all these talk about
Korean made cars being cheap but somewhat compromised alternatives
to the mainstream Japanese brands will be over—and make that
sooner than later. Or even now, as we found out when Columbian
Autocar Corp., the country’s distributor of the Kia marque, staged
a spectacular 20-car fleet, multifaceted test drive event on April
14 on its newest model, the Carens.
Now just what exactly is the
Carens?
According to Kia, the Carens is
for the fashionably termed “active lifestyle” families, a
vehicle that’s a fusion of the car-like ride and people hauling
traits of an MPV and the stylish, outdoorsy functionality of an SUV—a
crossover, if you will. Columbian Autocar’s president and COO
Felix Mabilog, in his welcome remarks, says the Carens name itself
should explain what the vehicle is all about: Car and renaissance.
The car reborn.
Press literature language aside,
the Carens is one fine looking vehicle whose two-box small
minivan/large hatchback shape doesn’t have “mom mobile”
screaming in large fonts plastered on its flanks—not even when the
car is painted in inoffensive pale gold or plain basic white. The
Carens’ pudgy nose, unlike its Carnival minivan sibling to which
it shares designers with, is more muscular with power bulges and
chiseled lines. Its gaping grille and large headlamps are
distinctive without getting over-the-top tacky. The front bumper has
prominent sport sedan-like air inlet at the bottom and pronounced
auxiliary lamp housings, which complete the Caren’s handsome face.
In its sides, the Carens has a
tidy greenhouse with a fancy, angular kink in the rear that lends
the car character, and its smooth flanks, even if they show only a
hint of shoulders, manage to appear muscular. In the rear, details
like a hatch window and angular taillights that hang over the hatch
door are subtly funky. In the high-end variant, the vehicle has
trick roof rails that are nicely integrated with the rest of the
bodywork. Like we said, unlike average MPVs, the Carens doesn’t
make you look like a dork.
Inside the vehicle are more
details that say Kia has thoroughly thought this baby over. Take the
dashboard: though there is nothing overtly handsome with it, it’s
the little touches that count like how the round airconditioning
vents break up what otherwise would be boring surfaces to make them
more spunky, or how a functional shelf resides in a crevice in
between the top of the dash and the glovebox. There’s even a hook
that folds flat where bags or the like can be hanged on. The hazard
light button sits on a prominent spot, with a jazzy orange strip
surrounding it. When you feel the insides of the doors’ interior
grab handles, there are small ridges that follow your fingertips.
Details, details.
There’s more. The 2 DIN CD/MP3
audio system has iPod (or any similar device) connectivity through a
jack that’s in the glove compartment. Cup holders are available
anywhere you sit. There are second-row seat aircon vents. The seats
can be folded or stowed a dozen ways to make room for people, stuff
or people with stuff. Of course, all the rudimentary power-this and
power-that gadgets are present. The interior’s two-tone
treatment—black upper parts with either beige or gray
bottoms—are upscale looking too.
But how does the Carens drive?
We could say not bad, but that
wouldn’t be accurate. When we rolled it off the Makati hotel
parking lot where we started the driving event and headed toward
EDSA, the Carens’ steering’s on-center feel was a bit vague and
we felt the suspension needed a bit more insulation. But as the
drive progressed, these nagging bits faded, especially when we hit
the rally racing route up in Subic.
Because there, whatever doubts
one may initially have on the Carens’ handling capability are laid
to rest. OK, the Carens ain’t no sports sedan, but it nonetheless
tackled the twisty tarmac stuff quite well, staying predictable and
relatively flat through the tight or sweeping corners. On the second
of the rally racing routes, the course was a WRC-style run through
the woods where trees on both sides of the mountain trail seem to
eagerly await for their next meal of twisted metal, shattered glass
and broken rubber pieces, otherwise called an automobile carcass.
But again, the Carens took on the rough stuff, its MacPherson struts
and multilink combo suspension soaking it all in, the steering
providing enough feedback, and the 15-inch wheels with 205/65
rubbers drifting sans surprise through both the uphill and downhill
runs, denying the woods their enjoyment.
Though by no means a scorcher,
the Carens’ 16-valve 143-horsepower 2.0-liter engine is quite
adequate and delivers good fuel mileage. In the unit we drove, that
engine is bolted on to a four-speed automatic transmission that has
a “manumatic” function, a welcome feature in spirited driving.
But what is truly a welcome
treat—and one that should strike fear in the hearts of the Carens’
competitors—is its price tag. For all the good stuff this car has,
its prices start at P818,000 for the LX MT variant, P868,000 for the
LX AT unit, and tops out at P995,000 for the EX AT model.
Also, Mabilog says they are
mulling a diesel-powered variant soon, if they could only find a way
to sell it for sub-P1 million—or at least hover close to that
mark. And apparently Kia is also confident of the Carens’
durability as they raise the car’s warranty to 110,000 kilometers.
The Carens as alternative choice?
Not.
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