Planning To Buy Kia Carens Clavis HTX+ Variant: Check Out Its Key Highlights

Kia Carens Clavis HTX+ Highlights: The MPV segment in India is highly popular for its spacious cabin, has decent features, and is available with either a petrol or a diesel engine option. In this segment, the Kia Carens was a popular choice among buyers and fleet operators. Kia has now launched the updated version of its Carens, which is the Carens Clavis in India.

The Kia Carens Clavis has a new exterior, majorly the front profile, wheels and subtle tweaks at the rear, revamped the Carens’s interior, and added a host of new features. On the contrary, Kia discontinued maximum variants of the Carens, and it is only left in the Premium (o) variant.

Recently, we drove the Kia Carens Clavis HTX+ turbo petrol engine, paired to a seven-speed DCT gearbox. We tested out its multiple features, performance on highways, and the space and practicality.

Here are some snippets of our experience, which will help you to make a better choice:

Let’s get started!!!

Features

The first highlight of our experience is the feature-loaded cabin of the Kia Carens Clavis. Since the automaker is popular for its long list of features on offer, with the Carens Clavis, it has almost every feature a common buyer is interested in. 

For starters, the Carens Clavis HTX+ variant has a panoramic sunroof, 64 colours for ambient lighting, a wireless charger, automatic climate control, driving modes, and more.

We tested out its multiple features. The sound output from its 8-speaker Bose sound system was good and gave a good music experience. Further, the touchscreen infotainment system is the same which we have seen in the Seltos and Sonet, having a similar layout. 

Since Kia also offers the Level-2 ADAS features in the HTX+ variant, we tested them as well. The adaptive cruise control, lane keep assist, blind view monitor are some of the useful features, which we feel are offered on the Kia Carens Clavis. 

However, seeing the price point and the segment, the Kia Carens Clavis HTX+ variant misses some features. It misses out on dual-zone climate control, rear ventilated seats, a rear wireless charger, which its sibling Hyundai Alcazar offers, wireless connectivity for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and others.

Performance

Now, with the Carens Clavis, Kia has offered a six-speed manual transmission as well with the turbo petrol engine option. However, we drove the seven-speed DCT gearbox, paired to the 1.5L inline four-cylinder turbo petrol engine. This engine makes 160 bhp and 253 Nm of peak torque.

Talking about the tractability of the engine and the performance, it has a linear power delivery. There is ample grunt on offer, but some lag is present below 2000 RPM. The turbo kicks in as soon as it crosses the 2000 RPM mark,, and the power delivery is instant from the motor. The mid-range is the sweet spot to churn out maximum performance from the engine. Kia offers the Carens Clavis with three driving modes, which we have seen on other Kia cars as well. The performance from these modes and the difference in the power output is evident. 

– The performance of the engine in the Eco mode is quite dull. However, talking about the fuel efficiency, this mode is best to drive. During our test, the Kia Carens Clavis returned a fuel efficiency of 13 km/l. 

– The performance of the engine in the Normal mode is quite decent. It is the default mode in which the car starts. Regarding performance, it offers decent grunt from the engine. 

– The performance of the engine in the Sports mode is the juiciest. The engine revs around 6,000 RPM, and there is ample difference from the performance from the motor. However, the fuel efficiency in this mode does go for a toss. 

Keep it in the right gear while driving on hills, especially, so that the engine makes the power, and there is ample performance on offer while having an uphill drive. Since we drove the HTX+ variant of the Kia Carens Clavis with a DCT gearbox, the paddle shifters helped keep it in the suitable gear for maximum power output while driving on the ghat section. 

Also Read: Planning To Buy Kia Seltos: Check Out Its Key Features

Practicality and Comfort

Kia claims the Carens Clavis has ample practical storage spaces inside the cabin. The door pockets are large, there are multiple bottle holders, and the rear seat passenger has a reclining table to keep your laptop, phone or enjoy meals. Further, the boot space is decent with all three-rows up, and small suitcases can easily be accommodated in the boot.

That said, the comfort inside the cabin is also good. The seats are well-cushioned, and there is decent knee room, and legroom is sufficient. The captain seats version, which has six chairs, has independent armrests, sunshades on each window, and separate air-conditioning blower control to ease out in hot scorching sun. 

Since we drove the HTX+ variant, it comes with ‘Boss Mode’ function, which helps to enhance the rear seat space by adjusting the co-driver seat manually from behind.

Ride Quality

Talking about the suspension’s tuning, they are pretty much similar to the older Carens. However, there are some minor tweaks made by Kia, and the ride quality is on the softer side. 

Being on the softer side, it becomes a bit bouncy on triple-digit speeds, which may hamper the experience in the back seats. Since it runs on 17-inch alloy wheels in the HTX+ variant, the small bumps and potholes are easily tackled.

Price

Now, the main aspect for buyers of Kia Carens Clavis, the price. Kia India has launched the Carens Clavis at ₹13.42 lakh (on-road, Noida) for the HTE variant with a petrol 7-seater MT. 

The HTX+ variant is priced at ₹24.91 lakh (on-road, Noida) for the top-end 7-DCT six-seater variant, we felt it is slightly priced higher. Buyers with a budget restriction can check for the lower variants.

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