People Mover Reviews

It is, after all, a conveyance that all too clearly shows you've done all too much of that sort of thing at an earlier stage of life. Why else would you be steering what is essentially a warning for contraception? It's sobering to think that when Toyota started the whole MPV thing almost 24 years ago, John Howard was merely a failed treasurer, our cricketers were lucky to get a result against England — and you were much the same age as those little replications of yourself that now necessitate the purchase of a Tarago. This expanding clan has already put paid to any sport sedan ambitions, two-door notions having long drifted into the realms of fantasy. Yet one of the best things about the luxury models in the newly beefed up Tarago range is that it allows you todream. Simply flatten one of the rear seats, move the one in front to allow deployment of the ottoman, and you're off to nod in a comfort that rivals Qantas business class, with as smooth a ride, though considerably less engine roar. And without the endless sitting on the tarmac and the useless in-flight entertainment system. You can have a seven-seater with four of them in arm-resting captain-style and you can have them in leather if you like. Or, in the cooking model, have an eight-seater of which six of them are on benches. All fold flat to allow almost as many alternative configurations as there are drink holders and compartments in which food wrappings, rotting apple cores and snotty tissues can be deposited. This is all offspring-friendly, no doubt, but what's rather more interesting — what could, indeed, almost redeem your life as designated driver of the family bus — is in front of you. The previously anodyne four-cylinder Tarago range has been invigorated by the Aurion's excellent 3.5 bent six married to the same sedan's near-seamless six-speed automatic transmission. It's a combination that elevates the Tarago — a synonym for people mover in the same sense that Hoover is for another household device — beyond the blandly adequate. Starting at $54,690 for the GLi — an entirely reasonable $3700 premium over the exxiest four-potter — and rising to just shy of $70K for the legitimately luxurious Ultima, the V6 Tarago's a bit more than just a depressingly practical means of getting a bunch of people across the landscape. The VVVT-i six is good for a class-devouring 202kW at 6200rpm and 340Nm at 4700rpm if it's on 95 RON juice. The base GLi consumes this at 10.2 litres per 100km, the fruitier GLX and Ultima using a mere 200ml more — claimed figures that, on the basis of our introductory drive, appeared easily achievable. All three V6s get ABS stoppers with Electronic Brakeforce Distribution and Brake Assist, Vehicle Stability Control and Traction Control. Passive safety runs to seven airbags and Toyota's Pre-Crash Seat-belt system, which tenses when it feels skidding or hard braking. Spend more and the wheels grow by an inch to 17, the seats become comfier, sixCDs are swallowed, air passes through the cabin more readily, side doors slide electronically, the dash and steering wheel turns to wood and the roof sprouts rails. And the driving (yes, we can speak of driving) is about perfect to the prescribed purpose. While the six-speed auto is worked to its best advantage in quasi-manual mode, it will seldom put a cog wrong when left in drive. Weighing in from 1800-1930kg (depending on the model and spec level), it reaches freeway speed without fuss and cruises there so effortlessly and quietly that miscreants in the rear row of seats will clearly hear your voice without it being raised. Inevitably, the claim of "car-like dynamics" is made and it's true to the extent that placing "dynamics" in the same sentence as "Tarago" isn't cause for laughter. In this respect, a V6 Tarago might surprise, if not delight, you. It's difficult to find a serious relevant criticism of Toyota's enhanced MPV — which is gratifying from this end given that we expected to fill this page with stuff like "seldom have we been so captivated by an instrument cluster". Not that this, too, is not very good. Housed in a sort of alcove atop the dash, it's easy to read though almost novelly designed, and cloistered from harsh summer glare. And cloistered is what you and yours are in a Tarago V6. Indeed, it's easy to imagine the clan lulled to sleep as you drive it down life's highway, leaving you to watch wistfully the sort of cars that could have been. It's just that now they won't leave you behind so easily.

Tarago might not have been the first people mover. The Volkswagen Kombi started it all before things like the (Isuzu) Holden Shuttle joined the fray. Toyota Tarago appeared here in 1983 as a 1.8-litre. As Toyota usually does, once it's in there it does it well and it does it for a long time. Ten years ago, one in two people movers sold in Australia was a Tarago. Lower-priced (Korean) models have provided competition, and although Tarago sales numbers remain steady its relative slice of the cake is thinner as total sales have grown. Despite prices being above those of volume selling rivals, this latest Tarago deserves to make that cake slice a bit thicker for Toyota. People movers started out as vans – one-tonne commercial vehicles with a few rows of extra seats bolted in. No amount of velour interior could disguise their teetering cornering, dodgy brakes, iffy steering, wheezy performance and fingers-crossed safety. Now, a decent people mover is designed to be so from the start, with up to eight people, not cargo, the main concern. This new Tarago is a fine example of that. It has a new body, yet most will easily pick it as a Tarago. It has 20mm more width inside where it feels very spacious and open, particularly in the second row of seats: slide that row back and those passengers get more leg-stretch room than in a Holden Caprice. That second-row seat can slide over 65cm of rails. The base of that seat can fold up to provide a cavernous space amidships, accessed by big sliding doors each side of the vehicle. The second row of seats can split-fold 60/40 – as does the third row, which has limited leg room but can squeeze in three smaller people. All occupants get height-adjustable head restraints. The third row can be somersaulted forwards to create more boot room. That luggage space is accessed by a single, lift-up tailgate. Storage and security are aided by handy bins under the rear floor. All three rows have fold-down central armrests. The new Tarago roof is 30mm lower, at 1750mm, meaning there shouldn't be many underground car parks that will catch it. Although the Tarago feels big inside and needs some familiarisation to get used to where the left of the vehicle is when driving past parked cars, its exterior dimensions are less than those of a Commodore sedan. Tarago is 4795mm long and 1800mm wide while Commodore is 4876mm long and 1842mm wide; so parking is not an issue. Yet the Tarago wheelbase is even greater than that of the long-wheelbase Caprice – noticed when doing left-hand turns on to narrow lanes when the nose swings out wide. Although a powerful V6 engine is mooted in six to nine months, the new Tarago makes do with a revised version of the 2.4-litre four-cylinder. It has variable valve timing and a higher compression ratio to give 10kW more power – now at 125kW while torque at 224Nm is only tested when a load is on and there's a hill to climb. The only transmission is a four-speed automatic. The selector comes from the lower dashboard and now allows for sequential shift. Otherwise it's an intelligent box that holds a lower gear for climbing or descending. The instrument panel is a talking point – central and well forward under the sloping, big windscreen. The only minor grizzle is that the gear readout for the sequential shift is positioned way left. Tarago settles at 2500rpm at 110km/h and noise is well suppressed for a four-cylinder. Plenty of glove boxes, cup holders and other stowage areas have been built in. Tarago starts with GLi on 16in steel rims. It is well equipped, including dual-zone climate control, tilt and telescopic adjustable steering, power windows (including those in the sliding doors), cruise control, fog lights and ABS brakes. It's $48,990. The recommended option is the $1500 safety pack which has extra airbags (side, curtain and driver's knee) to make a total of seven, plus vehicle stability control. The GLX gets that safety pack equipment as standard and adds roof rails, front and rear parking sensors, six-stack CD, 17in alloy wheels and rear-seat climate control airconditioner. GLX is $51,990.

Kia Carnival is a Korean people mover that offers astonishing value for money. It first reached Australia in September 1999 and soon leapt to the head of the sales charts. A position it has been occupied for most of the intervening time. The seven-seater Carnival consistently sells on the new-car market for about

Kia's Grand Carnival is an excellent example: an eight seater V6 with 184kW of power, air conditioning, air bags and ABS among its inventory for about $37,000. But some people don't want to drive Korean preferring to drive Japanese. It's understandable especially when you are talking Toyota - Tarago specifically. This is a quality people mover with an enviable reputation for reliability and resale value as well as economical running. But it has gotten away a bit on price moving out of reach of some who would have one. A new model Tarago surfaced recently and its price has been trimmed to a starting point of $48,990. Add the safety pack you'd want and on-roads and that would escalate to around $55,000. A big ask in anyone's measure but take a drive and you might feel differently. The newcomer looks a little like its predecessor but more handsome especially at the front and rear. And the quality is evident everywhere you look - paint, interior fit and finish, materials. Less van-like than the previous model, the new Tarago actually looks a bit sexy, and is definitely funky inside particularly the dash with its cyber style console and instrument panel. An eight seater with eight three point seat belts, Tarago is offered in two grades, GLI and GLX. Both share the same powertrain and running gear with the latter having 17in alloys and more goodies to justify a three grand premium. The interior is extremely space efficient offering numerous storage options and sliding side doors both sides with power windows. Access to the third row of seats is by sliding/ folding centre seats. The rear seat only just qualifies as a three seater and they'd have to be children. There's a decent size boot and a full size spare as well as additional storage adjacent to the spare. The test GLX had dual aircon that helped keep it pleasant with a full passenger load. We were able to drive the Tarago with eight aboard and the vehicle made a pretty good fist of it, even with the air on. The 2.4-litre petrol four cylinder with variable valve timing has been uprated to 125kW/224Nm and is a good engine for the vehicle considering escalating fuel prices. Having a powerful V6 under the bonnet does have its advantages but you pay for the privilege. Performance is not bad but would be better had Toyota fitted a five speed auto instead of the four speeder that is standard. No manual is offered. It does have a sequential change mode but if it was my choice, I'd lose that for an extra cog. Its a big vehicle but fits in the average suburban garage and is fairly easy to park. This was aided by front and rear parking sonar on the test vehicle. This system is adequate to warn of potential reversing danger with small children. It's family friendly offering easy access and comfortable seats. The driving position is in a command position - high like a 4WD. What really impresses is the Tarago's almost silent operation and smooth engine. It comfortably wafts along like a well mannered luxury limo and is a vehicle you could easily drive a long distance with minimal fatigue, even with a tribe on board.

As one person put it, the test was: how would a Tarago car go, packed with cargo, well past Bargo ... The bikes required a box trailer and bike rack, and one of Toyota's combined tow bar and rear bull bar assemblies attached. It's about now you start to realise there is going to be a fair bit of weight on board and therefore some strain on a car better known for ferrying hotel customers around Sydney. And the pluses and minuses of this car fulfilling this new role as a family holiday escape machine start to become obvious. The first is a plus. Unlike most large seven-and eight-seat 4WDs sold in Australia, the range of people movers actually have some reasonable storage space behind the third row of seats. In the new Tarago's case it is helped immensely by having a separate storage area down with the spare wheel and tools below the floor level. Virtually all the luggage fits behind the seats - the rest joins the trailer behind. And once the trip starts, more pluses and minuses appear. The key plus is leg room. Two adults up front, two lanky teenagers in the middle row and two primary schoolers in the back for a long haul — and not one complaint about lack of space. As various adults filled rows of seats during the trip, the position stayed the same. In fact, the only complaint about seating came from adults sitting in the last row who were concerned about sideways body movement — probably accentuated by the rear seats sitting behind the back wheels. But storage space was not sensational. Each passenger has cupholders in the doors, and there are two reasonable glove compartments up front, but there is no centre console. Designed as such to allow people to move between the rows of seats without having to get out of the car, it still meant there was nowhere in the middle of the front row, apart from on the floor, to place drinks, CDs etc. The next minus was a bit further down the highway. Down where the car had to climb serious hills in cruise-control mode. As the car climbed the hill it fought to maintain speed until with a giant surge the automatic shifter shot back a gear and the rev needle roared into the 5500-6000rpm range. This wasn't such a problem when the car was out of cruise control mode, but you certainly felt the surge when it was. Otherwise it was a comfortable speed-limit cruise. Overtaking was handled a bit more conservatively than normal, given the extra weight and strain. And side visibility for the driver looking for traffic out of the left-hand side second row of the vehicle is also a problem. The 2006-model eight-seat Tarago GLi we drove is the fourth-generation of the people mover Toyota has sold in Australia since 1990. The 2.4-litre engine has 10kW more power than the previous model, now delivering 125kW at 6000rpm (which we felt at the tops of hills) and a respectable 224Nm of torque at 4000rpm. Dual-zone climate control airconditioning, easy fold-down seats and an MP3 compatible CD-tuner with steering-wheel controls were particularly useful features in the car. However, I was not a fan of the centrally located instrument display as I prefer the gauges to be directly in front of the driver. The claimed combined-cycle fuel figures of 9.5 litres/100km proved fairly accurate on the trip, allowing for the extra load. The GLi model tested costs $48,990 while the higher-specced GLX costs $50,490. While that is more than demanded by the star of the people mover market, the Honda Odyssey ($38,7790-$45,290), the Tarago is a bigger car. In fact, it is considerably cheaper than a car more its own size — such as the larger-engined Chrysler Grand Voyager, which starts at $55,990.

The system draws on information from the electronic brake assist system and/or vehicle stability control system to prepare the front seatbelts if a collision is imminent. It uses electric motors to pretension the driver and front passengers seatbelts. New Tarago also has up to seven airbags, including two front, two side and two curtain bags, as well as a driver's knee bag to prevent leg injuries. But the key words here are "up to" because the base model GLi gets only two airbags and misses out on the pre-crash system. That's part of an optional $1500 enhanced safety pack. But ABS, electronic brakeforce distribution and brake assist are standard. We took the new model for a brief spin around Sydney this week. It's as good and as functional as we remember, with rounder, more stylish lines and sits 30mm lower than the model it replaces. But it still falls short of the benchmark set by Honda's sleek Odyssey, the only people mover yet that could be described as really stylish. The front sports the same visor-like headlight assembly first seen on Renaults, the Nissan Murano and overeas Civic hatch. The rear features the same joined tail light design of the previous model but the lights sit higher on the rear, just under the back window. The overall affect is a similar but evolutionary look to the old car. New Tarago is still powered by the same 2.4-litre VVTi equipped double overhead cam fourcylinder engine found in Camry. But improvements see the engine deliver 10kW more power and electronic throttle control has been added for smoother, more reponsive operation. It delivers 125kW of power at 6000rpm and 224Nm of torque at 4000rpm. The greatest step forward as far as we're concerned is the relocation of the gear change lever from heartland America on the steering column. The unusual trigger change has been replaced with a conventional, stubby shifter that sits in a much more convenient location on the dash.You change gears manually with the four-speed sequential auto. Tarago has the ability to seat eight people and that is the reason, of course, for buying these cars. The middle seat slides on tracks to provide more leg room for centre passengers when the rear set is not in use. There's no V6 but the fourcylinder engine pays dividends in terms of fuel consumption. It is rated at 9.5L/100km. The previous model was not what you could call cheap and as such sold mainly to rental firms and hotel shuttle services. Toyota is hoping to regain sales with this model, but at a starting price of $48,990 it is $3500 more

Always, something seems to be happening — from an all-new flagship to bigger and bolder engines in existing cars. The new S-Class has just arrived, Benz is pushing diesels, the crossover R-Class will reach Australia later in the year, and we can look forward to 6.3-litre V8 engines in the coming cars. How does the B-Class fit into the jigsaw? If Mercedes-Benz is right, it is just the thing for the young family. It believes the B will be ideal for the sort of people who might be considering a Volkswagen Golf or BMW's 1-Series. Officially, the B-Class is a "sports tourer", but to you and I it is more likely to be dropped into the people-mover basket. It's a mini model, but a family van that could also be shopped against a Honda Odyssey. It shows just how much the lines have been blurred between traditional car classes in recent years, because it is based on the baby A-Class yet has one of the roomiest and most versatile cabins in the business. And it also comes with the promise of a reasonably sporty drive, provided you choose the right engine. The B-Class has been in Australia for only a couple of months but is already rated a success. "Incoming orders are currently ahead of production we have ordered, so we are negotiating to increase B-Class production, especially once the B180 CDI comes on stream," the spokesman for Mercedes-Benz in Australia, Toni Andreevski, says. What he won't say is that the B is stealing sales from the A, and Mercedes believes it will punch a growing hole in the results for its compact contender. It is not hurting the C-Class, however, which points to the position it has in showrooms. Pricing for the B-Class has been set from $44,900, which is reasonable in the class and lines up against the BMW 1-Series from $34,900 and the Audi A3 five-door from $36,900. But the Benz price is for the B200 and there will be a cheaper B180 before much longer which should ease down into the $30,000-something range. There are two B-Class cars at the moment, the B200 with 100kW and the B200 Turbo with 142kW, and a price that moves up to $48,900. There are three optional packages — sports, luxury and touring — which can add anything from $1350 to $4786. Both Bs have the same five-door and five-adult cabin, front-wheel-drive, alloy-wheels, airconditioning and rain-sensor wipers. There is plenty of safety gear too, with six airbags, anti-skid brakes with brake assist, electronic stability control and electronic steering assistance. The B200 picks up a six-speed manual gearbox and 16-inch alloy wheels, as well as twin-pipe exhaust and chromed pieces on the bodywork. ON THE ROAD The B-Class is going to do well in Australia. It will be ideal for many of the active thirtysomethings — single, married and committed — who want a vehicle that is more than just a car. It is also a significant step up from the A-Class, which has always been the Benz for people who can only just make the money work or who want a second or third car as a shopping trolley. The B is much more substantial than the A, and few people would make the connection if they saw the newcomer without knowing its development history or were told the story. As a drive, it feels more substantial and loses almost all of the chop-chop bumpiness. It is not a sports car, and won't threaten a 1-Series or Golf on a winding road, but it has good grip in corners and the balance and feel are good enough for the class, price and customers. Apart from electronic stability control, which is becoming a must-have safety feature, the B also has steering assist. The electric power steering can actually give you extra help if the car believes, through its hi-tech sensors, that you're not turning enough and could run off the road. We don't know if we like it, and sporty drivers will hate it, but it could be the next step on the safety ladder. The test car was a B200 Turbo and it got along pretty well, with good bottom-end acceleration and plenty of passing power. But we have also tried a basic B with continuously variable transmission and it felt sluggish and unresponsive, the gearbox sounding as if it was working hard all the time. The six-speed manual turbo was more enjoyable, though most owners are going to be travelling down the auto road. The tester came with both the touring and sports packages, which brought more enjoyment with a sunroof and sports suspension, but took the price (with metallic paint) to $55,250. The roof is good, we didn't really mind about the suspension, and the value is not great. Really, the B-Class is not about sporty driving. It's more about transport and choices. It has a good cabin with a nice, high driving position, plenty of storage space and one of those variable seat systems that turns it into the Tardis. We would not pick it for driving enjoyment, but it scores well in every other area. THE BOTTOM LINE One of the most versatile compacts on the road, with enough luxury to give it a special place. 77/100

Most people prefer to put their family into a four-wheel drive, even though the Honda Odyssey is a wonderful device and the Chrysler Voyager has been the people mover pace-setter for years. Styling is the big drama, because they are big boxes. Usually ugly, too. But there are powerful reasons for moving a people mover higher up the list to consider, particularly if you really need to carry seven people in car-like comfort and safety. The latest Kia Grand Carnival proves the point. It is an all-new, bigger, much better model of the vehicle that has been Australia's favourite people mover in recent years. The Grand can even carry eight people, or provide cabin flexibility and seating choices most families only dream of. We have not been as impressed by a people mover since our first drive in the "giant egg" Toyota Tarago. Toyota has lost the plot since then, but the first purpose-designed Tarago — there was a previous model in the 1980s, but it was a delivery van with seats — had a combination of space and comfort, performance and value then impossible to beat. Now there is the Grand Carnival, which does it all for $36,990. It has a new 3.8 litre V6 engine with a five-speed automatic and real performance, airconditioning, remote central locking, power steering, roof rack, tinted glass and electric windows and mirrors, with electric opening for the middle row of windows. On the safety front, there are twin airbags and anti-skid brakes with electronic brakeforce distribution, and optional side and window bags. But Kia has missed one target — with only lap belts in the middle seats of the two three-seat rows. The South Korean company says the Grand is all new, which means more built-in refinement and safety, as well as the new mechanical package. The quad-cam V6 engine, with variable valve timing, produces 184kW and 343Nm. That's up from 132kW and, crucially, 220Nm in the previous 2.5-litre Carnival. The shortie Carnival continues and Kia is regularly delivering more than 200 a month to lead sales in the people-mover class. The numbers could change in coming months as Kia moves to direct distribution in Australia, but it is a winner. And it has made an impressive comeback after the early engine troubles that sent many Carnivals back to dealers for major work. The Grand Carnival is surprisingly good in a lot of ways. Most ways, actually. It is a brisk drive, handles acceptably well, is not a gas guzzler and has the sort of refinement, comfort and space which many families really need in their new car. It does a much better job of carrying people than the vast majority of four-wheel drives and it is impossible to do better on the value front. The flexibility of the cabin is incredible. The middle row of seats do a double-fold job for access to the third row, and they fold flat to the floor to create a huge boot space. The seats also lift out, there is a walk-through between the front buckets, and even the doors are sliders on both sides. And so we come to the test car, one of the vehicles Kia had at the Australian Open tennis. It's stacked with stuff not included in a regular Grand Carnival: rain-sensor wipers, full leather upholstery and electric sliding side doors. None of it is essential, unless you want to impress your friends with toys and trinkets. We disregarded the extra gear, though Grand Carnival buyers could still snap up one of these cars with about $10,000 of added fruit as a secondhand deal from a Kia outlet. Apart from the huge cabin with all those seats, we were were most impressed by the performance. The Grand really gets along, and you don't have to push it hard. It has more than enough torque for overtaking, still does well with a full load, and won't kill the budget at refuelling time. The handling is fine for the class and the job, but it will never be a sports car. And it is pretty easy to park, with a turning circle that is actually tighter than the shortie Carnival. Lined up against its rivals, the Grand Carnival does not have the class or refinement of the Honda Odyssey, but it has a lot more space and will carry more people. It is much better value than a Voyager, beats the Mitsubishi Grandis on value and space, and is far better looking and more proven than the Ssangyong Stavic. And the Tarago, the former king of the class? Too expensive, not enough space and doesn't go. Which means the Grand Carnival now runs second overall to the Odyssey, but leads the class by a comfortable margin after you have done the value adjustment and taken into account that it puts the "people" into people mover in 2006. More families should be looking at a Grand Carnival before they dive straight into a trendy four-wheel drive

Most cars have some kind of gimmick to make them stand out. The Grand Carnival has a few – the electric sliding doors and seating for eight people. A big brother to Kia's Carnival, the Grand takes people-moving to a bigger, better level. It has a larger, stronger engine – a 3.8-litre V6 with more power (increased to 184kW from 132kW). In girl torque, that just means it didn't miss a beat driving in the city or on a two-hour open-road trip to Moonta Bay. It has enough grunt to get you there safely with oodles in reserve for overtaking the endless stream of cars towing boats and caravans. But it comes at a price – a few more stops at petrol stations. Sitting high gives great visibility but there is no top-heavy feeling as with some taller people movers. Cruise control is a breeze to use – once you find the "on" switch behind the other cruising buttons on the steering wheel. The Grand comes with a five-speed auto plus manual shift options. But it handles the road smoothly and with such ease that there was no need to use it. Besides, it's probably a boy thing. The all-important seating options send the Grand to the top of the class. There is room for eight adults with two people up front plus two rows of three seats. All have plenty of leg and head room, and all come with their own airconditioning vents and separate temperature and air-flow controls for the rear section. Rear passengers have window vents they can open – as long as they can put up with road noise and fumes. For a long haul with just four people, the back seats fold into the floor to allow for luggage – 2.3cu m. That equates to a huge Esky, four bags of clothes, fishing rods, buckets and tackle boxes, food for a week – and then some. The Grand seems to have all requirements covered. And there is no need to sacrifice good looks for practicality. It's a nice-looking car inside and out. The dash is classy (apart from the fake woodgrain), the sound system is impressive and all gadgets are easy to operate. Given the extra room though, it's a great example of where radio controls on the steering wheel are warranted. The upshot: it moved me. Kia Grand Carnival Remote-control sliding doors. Individual airconditioning controls front and back. Eight cup holders plus eight more for bottles in the doors. Fake wood-grain panels. Centre console is not strong enough – it folds down like in Honda CRV but collapses under weight of four drinks if you hit a bump in the road. Parallel parking takes practise.

Most cars have some kind of gimmick to make them stand out. The Grand Carnival has a few – the electric sliding doors and seating for eight people. A big brother to Kia's Carnival, the Grand takes people-moving to a bigger, better level. It has a larger, stronger engine – a 3.8-litre V6 with more power (increased to 184kW from 132kW). In girl torque, that just means it didn't miss a beat driving in the city or on a two-hour open-road trip to Moonta Bay. It has enough grunt to get you there safely with oodles in reserve for overtaking the endless stream of cars towing boats and caravans. But it comes at a price – a few more stops at petrol stations. Sitting high gives great visibility but there is no top-heavy feeling as with some taller people movers. Cruise control is a breeze to use – once you find the "on" switch behind the other cruising buttons on the steering wheel. The Grand comes with a five-speed auto plus manual shift options. But it handles the road smoothly and with such ease that there was no need to use it. Besides, it's probably a boy thing. The all-important seating options send the Grand to the top of the class. There is room for eight adults with two people up front plus two rows of three seats. All have plenty of leg and head room, and all come with their own airconditioning vents and separate temperature and air-flow controls for the rear section. Rear passengers have window vents they can open – as long as they can put up with road noise and fumes. For a long haul with just four people, the back seats fold into the floor to allow for luggage – 2.3cu m. That equates to a huge Esky, four bags of clothes, fishing rods, buckets and tackle boxes, food for a week – and then some. The Grand seems to have all requirements covered. And there is no need to sacrifice good looks for practicality. It's a nice-looking car inside and out. The dash is classy (apart from the fake woodgrain), the sound system is impressive and all gadgets are easy to operate. Given the extra room though, it's a great example of where radio controls on the steering wheel are warranted. The upshot: it moved me. Kia Grand Carnival Remote-control sliding doors. Individual airconditioning controls front and back. Eight cup holders plus eight more for bottles in the doors. Fake wood-grain panels. Centre console is not strong enough – it folds down like in Honda CRV but collapses under weight of four drinks if you hit a bump in the road. Parallel parking takes practise.