Kia Carnival VS Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo Activity
Kia Carnival
Likes
- Space for everyone and everything
- Diesel donk perfectly matches the Carnival
- Improved safety across the range
Dislikes
- Holds back safety for top-spec models
- Diesel soundtrack a constant
- Price rises everywhere
Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo Activity
Likes
Dislikes
Summary
Kia Carnival
This is actually the Carnival that Kia always wanted.
See, the last Carnival, the one this replaces, was Covid compromised, missing out on key technologies, as well as skipping an in-depth ride and handling localisation program, due to part supply issues and a freeze on international travel.
This one, though, addresses all of that, which is why you get a new cabin experience, new tech, and a complete overhaul of the steering and handling.
Read more about
- Kia ramps up electric car and hybrid plans, aims for 15 models on sale including EV2, EV3, EV4 and EV5 within three years and 1.6 million sales globally in 2030
- Kia's Prado-punishing 4WD shapes up: Ladder-frame, V6-powered SUV based on Tasman ute looks ready for LandCruiser rumble in new renders
- From $20k budget hatchbacks to a $100k premium electric SUV in just a handful of years - How Kia transformed its image and became a pain for brands like Mazda, Toyota, Mitsubishi and even Hyundai
It is, however, significantly more expensive, right across the range.
So, is the Carnival still worth it? Let’s find out.
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 3.5L |
| Fuel Type | — |
| Fuel Efficiency | 9.6L/100km |
| Seating | 8 seats |
Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo Activity
Mercedes-Benz is having a crack at the camper van market with its luxury recreational vehicle, the Marco Polo Activity. Not quite a van, not quite a camper van, this compact pop-top is aimed at appealing to those members of the ever-growing van-life sub-culture who prefer clamping over camping.Â
We put an Activity through its paces on daily family duties for a week, as well as a 200km loop of bitumen and dirt roads, in order to see how well it fared as an Adventure mobile.
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 2.1L turbo |
| Fuel Type | Diesel |
| Fuel Efficiency | 6.3L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Verdict
Kia Carnival7.5/10
Ok, here's the rub. Everything you just read could well be pointless. You like the Carnival. In fact, it sometimes makes up close to 90 per cent of the sales in its segment, and outsells all of its competitors combined.
So whether I like it or not, I suspect you'll be buying one anyway.
But I can say this - the new Carnival improves the formula right across the board. Well, everything except for price.
Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo Activity7.5/10
The Activity is a smooth-riding, comfortable tourer with a real touch of class, but it’s let down by the old-school entertainment system, its sometimes clunky and counter-intuitive design and engineering, and the lack of a kitchenette.
Having said that, this compact campervan is a more than adequate and classy introduction to the world of touring for those who want to dabble in the adventure-travel culture but not necessarily immerse themselves in it just yet.
Design
Kia Carnival
Surely the greatest trick the Carnival pulls off, and it does so convincingly, is that it manages to make something so quintessentially uncool, the people-mover, and make it look good. Somehow sporty, even.
I like the Carnival's big, bold and blacked-out front end of the GT-Line, and with its two-tone 19-inch alloys, wide stance and low ride height, it looks almost like some mad attempt at a JDM tune car, rather than a sensible people mover.
Elsewhere, the boxy profile, the sharp body creases and the third-row compartment that kind of juts over the rear tyres like a house that's been extended all somehow work, and give the Carnival far more street cred than you might expect.
Inside, we spent time only in the flagship GT-Line and its GT-Line Lite sibling, and both present as calming, comfortable spaces, and Kia's minimalist approach to combining the climate and audio controls into a single strip (it's functionality can be changed by pushing a button) helps keep the cabin fuss free.
The tech in the top-spec models feels modern and on-point, too, and the materials are all nice under the touch. Be warned though, the cabin plastics get progressively worse the further back you sit, and the third row is cocooned by hard and scratchy plastics.
Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo Activity
The Activity manages to avoid appearing too straight-up-and-down and boxy and for something based on its Vito stablemate, a van, that’s a mighty achievement. For an RV the Activity has plenty of presence without any undue bulkiness.
The pop-up roof with roof bed folds down to the roof-line quite neatly on its rear hinge for when the Activity is in motion, so it’s not an eyesore at all.
Of note is the fact the front seats swivel around to face the rear – obviously you only do that when the vehicle is stationary – and the three-seater bench at the very rear of the cabin lays flat, along with the second row, to make a double bed.
Overall, the Activity is a pleasant-looking vehicle, inside and out.
Practicality
Kia Carnival
The Carnival measures 5115mm in length, 1995mm in width and 1775mm in height, and it rides on a sizeable 3092mm wheelbase.Â
And those mini-van dimensions have a predictably positive impact on luggage space, with room growing from 627 litres with all seating rows in place, to a massive 2827 litres with the third row stowed.
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.
The Carnival will tow 2000kgs braked, too.
Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo Activity
For starters, opening and closing the side doors is a breeze; the two sliding doors are both electric so once you have lifted the handle, the doors do the rest of the work for you.
There’s plenty of room inside – for front and rear passengers. The interior is all durable plastic, hard-wearing cloth and leather-trim (on the armrests etc) – well suited to a life of day-to-day family duties and touring fun.
Driver and front-seat passengers get adjustable armrests and some storage space – glove box, door pockets with a space each for a bottle – but, annoyingly, there is no centre console at all – but its absence is so the front seats can swivel around, as mentioned.
There are four bottle holders – two brackets, two indents – for rear passengers. Looking for more storage space? Check under the second-row seats for handy tucked-away recesses.
The media/entertainment system is not a touchscreen unit and is a real let-down; the 5.8-inch screen is small and the controls are via knobs and counter-intuitive.
Price and features
Kia Carnival
Bad news first. The price is higher this time around, right across the five-trim line-up, with the prices up between around $2600 and $5300, depending on which trim level you’re shopping for.
Prices start at $50,150 for the entry-level S petrol, and climb to $72,910 for the top-spec GT-Line diesel. There’s also a GT-Line Hybrid, which tops the group at $76,210, but it’s not here yet, so we’ll cross that electrified bridge when we get to it and stick with the ICE range for now.
The range opens with the S ($50,150 petrol, $52,380 diesel), which scores 17-inch alloys, LED headlights and DRLs, heated mirrors, cloth seats, an electronic parking brake, and a smart key with push-button start, which is new for this update.
On the tech front, there is a new integrated 4.0-inch driver display, and a new 12.3-inch central screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, linking with an eight-speaker sound system, now with a surround-sound function.
Stepping up to the Sport ($56,050 petrol, $58,280 diesel) adds 18-inch alloys, rear LED combination lamps, a leather steering wheel and shifter, and dual-zone climate up front with single-zone temperature control in the second row. New for this update is a wireless charging pad and artificial leather seats.Â
Next is the Sport+ ($62,380 petrol, $64,610 diesel), which gets a whole host of new safety equipment, which we will come back to in a moment, along with a powered tailgate, automatic sliding doors and auto windows, and heated seats in the first and second rows. It also ups the tech, with twin 12.3-inch screens taking care of multimedia and driving info duties.
Then comes the GT-Line Lite ($66,350 petrol, $68,580 diesel), which 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.
Finally, there’s the flagship GT-Line ($70,680 petrol, $72,910 diesel), which nabs 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.
Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo Activity
Our Activity was $71,709 (as tested, with $8082 worth of optional extras on top of the base vehicle price, $63,627).Â
The optional equipment included: 'Cavansite Blue' metallic paint ($1355), the aforementioned 'Driving Assistance Package' ($1345), fog lights ($309), 17-inch alloy wheels ($627), electrical sliding doors (left and right, $2264), seven seats ($1500), and a side-mounted silver awning ($682).
As standard it has two large double beds – the pop-up roof bed and the seats-folded-flat one – and you get the usual array of gear you’d expect in something like this – audio system (but no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto), daytime running lights, air con, etc – but you don’t get other stuff, such as a kitchenette, fridge or stove, that you might assume to be in something touted to be campervan-like.Â
You do, however, have access to two batteries so you’re able to run your own fridge off of one battery, without laying awake at night in your roof-top bed worried about the main battery running out of juice.
Under the bonnet
Kia Carnival
There are two ICE options on the table here. The first is what I reckon is the lesser of the two, 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.
Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo Activity
This Activity has a 2.2-litre, four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine (120kW at 3800rpm and 380Nm between 1400-2400rpm) with a seven-speed automatic transmission.
Efficiency
Kia Carnival
The petrol engine will sip a claimed 9.6 litres per hundred kilometres on the combined cycle, and produce 220g per kilometre of C02. The diesel lowers both those numbers, to 6.5 litres and 170 grams.
Both models are fitted with a 72-litre fuel tank, which means you’ll be sailing well north of $100 to fill one up.
Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo Activity
Because the Activity is a rear-wheel drive van, we didn’t venture onto anything more serious than well-maintained gravel roads, and even then we took it very gently.Â
Fuel consumption is a claimed 6.3L/100km – we recorded 9.3L/100km over 150km of mostly bitumen with a smattering of easy gravel track. It has a 70-litre fuel tank.
Driving
Kia Carnival
Forgive the horrific paraphrasing, but it seems rumours of the death of diesel have been greatly exaggerated, at least when it comes to the Kia Carnival.
Get this – diesel sales make up some 90 per cent of the Carnival's total haul, with petrol providing a pittance towards the sales total, presumably being picked up by fleet buyers.
And to be honest, that means nine out of 10 people are making the right choice here. Yes, the petrol makes more power, but it's the torque on offer from the diesel that makes pushing the Carnival around feel far more effortless.
The petrol engine can definitely get you moving, but it feels a bit too rev-happy and thrashy when you really put your foot down, and its significantly thirstier to boot.
The diesel isn't perfect – the thrum of the engine is a constant companion whenever you put your foot down, and there's actually too much torque on offer at times, like if you're accelerating up hill from a standstill on a damp road, and so the front tyres can scrabble and scramble for grip.
But it otherwise so perfectly suits the nature of the Carnival that it is definitely the best and most satisfying choice.
Another big change for this update is the fact that Kia's complete ride and handling program has been rolled out here. Kia says local work done on the outgoing car, the one this replaces, was curtailed by Covid and bushfires, and so ended up being done by correspondence.
This one, though, has had the whole enchilada thrown at it, and it shows. They've succeeded in making a bigger car feel smaller around you. It's not a sports car by any measure, but nor does it ever feel too big and unwieldily.
Part of that is down to the steering, which is direct and confidence inspiring, but mostly I suspect it's because of the ride, which is firmer than you might expect in a family hauler, but also offers a connection to that road below that makes you feel in control.
Whether a firm-ish ride is a perk or negative is up to you, but it definitely works for me.
Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo Activity
Pretty damn good. For a big unit – 5140mm long (3200mm wheelbase), 1928mm wide, 1980mm high with a kerb weight of 2380kg – the rear-wheel drive Activity doesn't feel unwieldy on city or urban streets.
Its turning circle is 11.8m, which is better than plenty of large SUVs – and it can fairly punt along the open road, egged along by that 2.2-litre turbo-diesel.
The Activity’s seven-speed auto has a three-on-the-tree (Reverse-Neutral-Drive) and Park shifter stalk on the right-hand side of the tilt-and-reach-adjustable steering column.Â
I haven’t spent a lot of time in Mercs of any sort, but once you’ve become used to the positioning of the shifter – and the fact your indicator and windscreen wiper stalks are one and the same, and to the left of the steering column – then it’s simple enough to work out how to get this Merc moving. Once you’ve used your hand to release the foot-engaged parking brake with the park-brake release handle below and to the right of the steering wheel, that is. (Exhale.)
On road, the Activity is a smooth sailor. Steering is light and responsive; the driver’s seating position is high and offers plenty of visibility out any window – as long as you don’t have the privacy curtains pulled shut.Â
The driver and front passenger seats could, however, do with more under-thigh support. Our test example had five seats for travelling, with a bench seat for two or three people at the rear for when you are stationary; all seats are cloth.
Niggle: Lane-wander warning, part of the optional equipment list on our tester, is a bit touchy – it doesn’t allow for taking the race line through a corner – and sends a juddering sensation through the steering wheel to alert you.
Safety
Kia Carnival
Part of the change package for this updated 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.
I have to say, though, when your entry-level car is $50k-plus, there’s no real excuse for limiting the best safety kit to the upper-spec models.
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.
The Carnival range carries a five-star ANCAP safety rating, which it earned in 2021.
Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo Activity
The Activity has a maximum five-star ANCAP rating, based on crash tests of the Mercedes-Benz V-Class in 2014. There are airbags up front, but none for rear passengers, and the Activity has a reversing camera and parking sensors, front and rear, and forward collision alert as standard gear.Â
Our tester also had the $1345 Driving Assistance Package ('Collision Prevention Assist', 'Blind Spot Assist', 'Lane Keeping Assist', rain-sensing wipers).
Ownership
Kia Carnival
Like all Kias, the Carnival arrives with a seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, with capped-price servicing throughout.
Kia’s servicing costs are higher than some of its competitors, though, so you might want to compare them, as well as compare what’s included, and the diesel model will usually cost slightly more to maintain than the petrol version.
Service intervals are every 12 months or 15,000kms, and while the brand is still finalising the petrol servicing costs, the diesel prices are $386, $682, $480, $869, $434, $845 and $461, covering the first seven years of ownership.
Mercedes-Benz Marco Polo Activity
It has a three-year/200,000km warranty and a 24-hour roadside assist support package. Service intervals are scheduled for every 12 months or 25,000km.