Kia Carens Clavis vs Kia Carens: What’s Different?

After being teased and spotted testing a multitude of times, Kia India has finally unveiled the much-anticipated Carens Clavis in the Indian market. While essentially a facelift to the Carens MPV, the Clavis will be sold alongside the Carens, positioned as a more premium alternative to the latter. This got us wondering, just how different is the Clavis over the Carens, and does it have enough going for it to justify the ‘premium tag’? We find out. 

Also Read: Kia Carens Clavis Unveiled: Facelifted MPV Gets Panoramic Sunroof, L2 ADAS
 

Exterior and Dimensions

With the Clavis, Kia’s focus had to have been to forge a more expensive-looking product that would help justify the premium positioning and price tag. It manages to do so to an extent. The Clavis follows the company’s new ‘Opposites United’ design philosophy, much like its more expensive all-electric siblings that are on sale in the foreign market. These include models such as the EV5 and EV6.

The Clavis (left) shares many styling cues with its more premium all-electric siblings in Kia's global portfolio

While the Clavis is identical to the Carens when it comes to its silhouette and body lines, the MPV still gets an array of substantial cosmetic tweaks. Up front, the Y-shaped DRL signatures and trapezoidal headlamps of the Carens have been replaced by the company’s ‘Ice Cube’ LED headlights and L-shaped DRLs, connected by a lightbar. The front bumper has also been revised, which now features more body paint and the use of cladding around the rectangular air dam. Towards the sides, the most noticeable change is the new 17-inch dual-tone alloy wheels, which are larger than the Carens’ 16-inch alloys. The rear end gets new ‘Starmap’ connected LED tail-lights, which are similar to the tail lamps on the Kia Sonet.

The vehicles are nearly identical when it comes to dimensions, save for a marginal 10 mm increase in length for the Clavis.

The Clavis measures 4550 mm in length with a 2780 mm wheelbase, 1800 mm wide and 1708 mm tall. These figures are identical to those of the Carens, save for a mere 10 mm increase in overall length. 

Also Read: Kia Carens Clavis: Variants Explained
 

Interior and Features

While the Clavis doesn’t stray too far away from Carens on the outside, it gets a thorough revamp on the inside. The interior layout of the Clavis is in line with newer models from Kia, such as the Syros, and the far more expensive EV9. The cabin now has a new dual-tone colour scheme – Triton Navy & Beige, and is more minimalistic, with fewer buttons. While the Carens’ cabin featured two separate 10.25-inch units for the central display and digital instruments cluster, the Clavis features a freestanding 26.62-inch panoramic display. This clubs the central infotainment touchscreen with the full-digital driver’s display.

The Clavis' interior (top) is quite similar to newer offerings from Kia, such as the Syros

On the features front, the Clavis will be offered with a panoramic sunroof, unlike the Carens, which can only be had with a single-pane sunroof. Another new bit is a powered one-touch double-folding function for the second-row seat, to make access to the third row easier. 

On the safety front, the Clavis is now offered with a Level-2 ADAS suite, which has a larger array of driver assistance features than the Carens, in addition to 360-degree cameras, which are also exclusive to the Clavis. A notable omission from the Clavis’s feature list, however, is the rear seat entertainment screen, which is offered on the Luxury Plus and X-Line variants of the Carens. However, aside from this, the rest of the Clavis’ equipment list remains, more or less, identical to the Carens’.

Also Read: Kia Carens Clavis World Premiere Highlights: Features, Specifications, Images
 

Powertrains

The powertrain options offered in the Clavis are identical to those of the Carens. The MPV is offered with three engine choices: a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol (113 bhp, 143.8 Nm), a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol (158 bhp, 253 Nm), and a 1.5-litre diesel (114 bhp, 250 Nm). The naturally-aspirated mill is solely offered with a six-speed manual gearbox, while the diesel can be had with either a six-speed manual or a six-speed automatic gearbox. The turbo-petrol, meanwhile, can be had with a six-speed manual, 6-speed iMT or a 7-speed DCT. The turbo-petrol-manual gearbox combination is exclusive to the Clavis.