Intercity In A Kia Carens Clavis: Can It Be Your Ideal Long Trip Family Car?

For me, living with elderly grandparents, a family trip out of the home has always meant booking an Uber XL with the requirement of having to fit in not just everyone, but also to carry along a wheelchair and more. While a small car has been the typical need of the hour for the daily commute, which meant occasionally getting hands on a long-termer not being in active use, a family trip to Pune over Diwali needed something larger.

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Clavis met the need for a spacious car capable of carrying luggage, a wheelchair & 4 passengers.

Several requests later, I managed to get a hold of the Kia Carens Clavis, and while a majority of the cars we get are automatics, this was the turbo-petrol, that too in the manual guise. On the surface, the facelifted MPV looks more cohesive in its design with the squared out rear light clusters and revamped front end, but it's the practicality of the MPV that counts, especially for a family trip.

Third-row folds and space really open up for one week's worth of bags and more.

The weekend before Diwali was the planned departure. The chief issue of luggage was easily sorted - drop down the third row as it wasn’t needed and pile in everything big - wheelchair and walker included. And best of all - everything fit, even the wheelchair, albeit it had to be lifted and manoeuvred inside in a certain way to avoid jamming against the lower lip and the roof. Smaller bags and odds and ends also had space between the middle-row seats - this was a 6-seater with captain seats in the second row.

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More space for odds and ends between the rear captain seats too!

The drive towards Pune itself was uneventful. At 8 am, you are spared the full brunt of Mumbai traffic. We were quickly on the highway and then expressway en route to Khalapur - our first mandatory stop on the way. The Carens was very happy in light and moving traffic - the gearbox, while having long throws, was quite smooth, and the sixth gear also meant that engine noise was low even at 100 kmph on the expressway.

Khalapur rest halt is the go-to stop on the expressway en route to Pune.

The engine itself feels a little dead in the lower rev range, with power really building up post 1500 rpm and developing a notable drone post 3,000 rpm, so it's not the most enthusiastic unit - but for a relaxed highway drive, it's quite ideal. This is in addition to tallish 1st gear - it stretches to 20 kmph before the upshift prompt appears and the engine really gets into its power band, which would really show itself on the Ghats section.

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Clavis Turbo-petrol MT isn't the most keen driver's car, but it's involving enough; at its happiest cruising on the highway.

Post Khalapur toll is where the real challenge started - Diwali weekend traffic stretching bumper to bumper up till the Lonavala exit. The aforementioned weak bottom end properly reared its head on the ascent, with the full load and slow-moving traffic keeping driving limited to the first gear with ‘exceptional’ clutch pedal control. Only occasional gaps in the traffic really allowed for a shift to second. The result - a mileage of 10 kmpl between Kahalpur and Talegaon toll - compared to 17 kmpl from Mumbai to Khalapur!

Diwali traffic really hit at the start of the ghats - a first gear grind all the way to the Lonavala exit.

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The ride into Pune and short trips for chores weren’t really an issue either, and despite the Clavis' size, we still managed to find parking where needed - mostly.

Wet Diwali week in Pune.

The return journey was a lot smoother - heavier traffic given it was the weekend after Diwali, but no getting bogged down in the ghats descent. An early afternoon departure also meant traffic was relatively lighter than the horror stories online, and by 7 pm, we were comfortably pulling into home, averaging over 17 kmpl for the trip.

Chocker block traffic to open roads, spent enough time in both.

As a whole, the Clavis Turbo served its purpose well - get the family from A to B and back without having to compromise on space and comfort. However, like every car, it’s not without its faults, and the weak bottom end, particularly, becomes noticeable when it's the driver rowing through the gears and the car is fully loaded. A few minor gripes with the tech exist too - like still offering wired Android Auto in a near Rs 20 lakh car in this day and age - but this isn’t a review, so we’ll just gloss over it.

Pros

• Great for highway driving, good mileage too
• Spacious and comfy with lots of storage space
• Well-judged ride & handling mix
  

Cons

• Weak bottom end on turbo-petrol, felt particularly when loaded up & on inclines
• No ADAS for the fully-loaded manual variant
• All the latest tech, but Android Auto is still wired