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A Kia Carnival ride to Subic

AUTOBAM

By Bam Santiago Olivares

10/23/2007

It was a clear Saturday morning right after brunch when my family and I left for an overnight trip to Subic. All six of us boarded a 2007 Kia Carnival LX 2.9 CRDI A/T short wheel base MPV — my wife and I in front, my three teenaged sons in the second row, and my 11-year- old daughter in the third row. The cheerful, “cherry kiss cocktail red” color of the van completely matched our happy and excited mood. Despite the heat of the morning, the dual air-conditioning and tri-zone control delivered coolness at a comfortable level in mere seconds. The sound proofing of the vehicle was amazing and we could converse with each other in a normal speaking voice without hearing the noise from outside. The seats were comfortable for all of us since these could be adjusted to individually recline or move forward and backward. Bottle and cup holders were located within reach to each of us. The sliding doors opened and closed easily with its chain drive system. It was interesting to note that even these sliding doors had power windows despite the big window sizes; but lacked much needed armrests though. Seated in the driver’s seat, I found the instrument cluster easy to read, with all buttons and knobs solid to the touch. I actually liked the sound of the horn which made me use it more often than I should — just to listen to it. For a van, the 2007 Kia Carnival LX handled surprisingly well on turns, and body roll was minimal. Acceleration was superb considering a maximum torque of 35.0 kg-m at 2000 rpm and maximum output of 160ps at 3700 rpm.

At the Lighthouse Marina Resort located at the MoonBay Marina Complex Waterfront Road, Subic Bay, we were welcomed by F&B manager Jay Ar Avecilla Jr., and then later showed us our rooms. The hotel facilities were comfortable, clean and attractive, complete with welcome drinks and fresh fruits. A basket of goodies from CAC Columbian Autocar Corp. was very much appreciated. We were also welcomed by Eugene Aguilar, president, EA Public Relations and Advertising Practitioners as well as Maria Asuncion Fernando, PR & Communications of SBMA, who both wished us an enjoyable stay. After a filling lunch, we rode the Kia Carnival LX to go to our next destination — Zoobic Safari. To tackle the winding uphill roads, I set the van’s 5-speed with neuro fuzzy system automatic transmission to manual mode in order to keep the rpm at a level for the turbo to function smoothly. The van took these roads easily and without any problems — the all-wheel disk brakes with ABS never failed nor faded during the trip. The headlight beam of the Kia Carnival LX proved to be well distributed and had substantial density over the road surface. It made night driving much safer. The courtesy door lights were also very useful since these illuminated the ground when the doors were opened — we were able to see what we were stepping on as we disembarked from the vehicle. After a grilled dinner buffet, we returned to our rooms and decided to call it a night.

The following day was a rainy Sunday morning. After a heavy buffet breakfast, we dropped by the Freeport Zone for some duty free shopping, had lunch at the hotel and finally checked out. With our numerous baggage, together with the additional shopping bags, we were still able to fit in the short wheel base van comfortably. The other half of the 3rd seat was folded 50/50 for additional cargo space. With all the added weight of our cargo, not to mention our combined body weight after so much eating — the 2007 Kia Carnival LX still turns well and maintained the power to overtake other vehicles.

Overall, the 2007 Kia Carnival LX was a “fun-to-drive” vehicle, safe for the family whether on dry or wet roads. The whole road trip and vacation was an experience that my family and I will always remember.