People Mover Reviews

Think the Kia Carnival is the king of people movers? Well meet the fully electric Zeekr 009, because this is truly the Rolls-Royce of luxury vans but without the price tag.

Race track? Check. People mover? Check. Wait, what? Yes we took a fully-electric 450kW Zeekr 009 people mover to the race track to see what would happen.

What people mover costs a quarter of a million dollars? The Lexus LM 500h does and we tested it to see if it's the ultimate family car.

Volkswagen's Mulitvan has always been a practical people mover but something important has been missing until this new-generation version came along.

The Kia Carnival GT-Line Hybrid could be as close to perfect as big family cars come, the Berry family found after four months living together

The people-mover segment of the Australian new car market is dominated by Kia's Carnival eight-seater. However, there are smaller seven-seat alternatives like Volkswagen's Caddy Life, but does it have the interior space and versatility Aussie families need?

The Hyundai Staria top-spec model sits in a world where buyers are wanting the best features for the least amount of cash but are its minor updates enough to make it stand out?

Remember the Ford Spectron of the 1980s? It's back, in the Germanic shape of the Ford Tourneo Custom, an eight-seater people mover based on the latest-generation Transit Custom mid-sized van. Engineered and built in Europe, the newcomer is powered by a diesel engine, and is aimed at larger families needing a large and versatile interior. Rivals include the Toyota Granvia and Hyundai Staria.

The flagship GT-Line ($70,680 petrol, $72,910 diesel) sits atop the Kia Carnival range in Australia, and such builds on the other models’ equipment list with dual-projection headlights, a heated steering wheel, a 12-speaker BOSE sound system, ventilated seats up front, a big head-up display and a digital rear-view mirror, along with a slightly better interior treatment and the return of the auto window and powered seat to the passenger side of the car.There is seating for up to eight, and at 175cm, there was ample room for me in the middle row, and you can configure the cabin to your liking, too. You can slide the row on rails, for example, to prioritise leg room where you need it, and the middle seat folds down to reveal cupholders in a kind of hard plastic travel tray.But even in the third row I could easily get comfortable, though head room begins to get a little tighter. There are cupholders and USB connection points, too, and I can honestly say you could send full-size humans back there and not feel overly guilty about it.The petrol engine is what I reckon is the lesser of the two ICE options — a 3.5-litre petrol V6, producing a rev-happy 216kW and 355Nm. The better option, I think, is the 2.2-litre, four-cylinder diesel, which makes 148kW and 440Nm, and just suits the nature of the car a little better.Both pair with an eight-speed automatic, and send their power to the front tyres.

The GT-Line Lite is the second-from-top variant in the Carnival range, sitting below only the flagship GT-Line.As such, the GT-Line Lite ($66,350 petrol, $68,580 diesel) is fitted with bigger 19-inch alloy wheels, scores LED interior lighting, gets a dual-pane auto sunroof and some chrome embellishments on the exterior. The trade-off, though, is that the powered windows are now for the driver only, as is the powered front seat. It also gets the twin 12.3-inch screens taking care of multimedia and driving info duties.The key practicality perk here, though, is space, and lots of it. At 175cm, there was ample room for me in the middle row, and you can configure the cabin to your liking, too. You can slide the row on rails, for example, to prioritise leg room where you need it, and the middle seat folds down to reveal cupholders in a kind of hard plastic travel tray.But even in the third row I could easily get comfortable, though head room begins to get a little tighter. There are cupholders and USB connection points, too, and I can honestly say you could send full-size humans back there and not feel overly guilty about it.Part of the change package for this update Carnival is in its safety kit, some of which simply wasn’t available when Kia launched its predecessor.Which is why every model now gets a centre side airbag, Forward Collision Assist AEB, Rear Occupant Alert, Trailer Stability Assist and front parking sensors, joining the rear ones that were already there.Sport+ Models and up now add a Blind Spot View Monitor and rain-sensing wipers, as well as rear AEB through the Parking Collision Avoidance function.Also standard are Lane Keep Assist, with Lane Follow Assist, multi-collision braking, a speed-limit warning (which you will turn off) and a reversing camera.