"Bryan doesn't drive a 1M" (bryantakespictures)
11/20/2018 at 10:09 • Filed to: None
6
11|
"Bryan doesn't drive a 1M" (bryantakespictures)
11/20/2018 at 10:09 • Filed to: None | 6
| 11 |
Right hand drive diesel Kia Carnival. Rented in Sydney, Australia. 4 adults, 1 toddler, and 5,000,000 bags, so I thought it best to go for the minivan. Here’s my review:
Appearance: 3/10. Could be worse, I guess, but this is not a good-looking car. I took 2 photos of it on the entire trip and kept the one above.
Ergonomics: 8/10. Everything was where it should be, easy to use, and worked well. Sliding doors and fold-away seats make life worth living.
Acceleration: 6/10. My scale is 5/10 is adequate, below 5 is too slow, 10 is scary fast. This gets a 6/10 because it was torquey enough to do a few easy passes, even while loaded up with people and stuff. For reference, the 4-cyl CVT Outback gets a 4/10 and my Neon ACR gets a 7/10.
Infotainment: 9/10 because it has android auto / apple carplay. Responsive screen, too. No need for anything beyond that in 2018 except for wifi hotspot.
Sound: 2/10. Sounds like a small, angry diesel because it is a small angry diesel.
Fun: 7/10. Context is important. This was a road trip car for taking us from Sydney to Melbourne. It was my first time driving on the wrong side of the road. The car was reliable and easy to drive and so practical. Points off because it was too wide. Driving on the left was hard enough, but this thing was a boat and I would have preferred something more car-like, if it would have fit all of our stuff. A wagon would have been nice, but proved to be too difficult to rent.
Overall: 7/10. It’s a van. It’s good at what it does. It has tons of accessible space and enormous range. If it was 10% better on twisty roads, I’d bump this up to an 8 or even a 9.
Notes on driving on the left: So fun. If you’re used to driving on the right and ha
ve never tried it, go somewhere nice and give it a shot. Pretty scary at first, and then exhausting, but then it gets fun. As car enthusiasts, it’s pretty rare that we get to learn something completely alien in regards to driving, so I found it to be really fun.
Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> Bryan doesn't drive a 1M
11/20/2018 at 10:46 |
|
I would have feared for my life driving something this wide on the wrong side of the road lol. This past summer my girlfriend and I were in England and rented a car for a few days. It being a nice little Fiat 500, made the whole driving on the left and sitting on the right thing feel way less wild. I would imagine Australia has some wider roads than the Cornwall coast so it might be less of an issue there. But yeah my biggest difficulty was not rubbing curbs on the left side of the car. The funniest problem though was a few times when going to downshift the car, I ended up punching the door to my right out of muscle memory.
|
Bryan doesn't drive a 1M
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
11/20/2018 at 10:51 |
|
Yup, it was scary a few times. Definitely used the wipers way more than the turn signals, too. Only got honked at once though, at a roundabout of course.
dogisbadob
> Bryan doesn't drive a 1M
11/20/2018 at 10:55 |
|
Cool!
The only diesel minivan we get is the Transit Connect
WilliamsSW
> Bryan doesn't drive a 1M
11/20/2018 at 11:02 |
|
Ha - yes, driving on the opposite side of the road is an experience I would recommend! I’ve only done it once - in a little rental hatchback on Grand Cayman. Once I got past the nervousness, and got through a few roundabouts without wrecking, it was fun! And by the end of the week, I felt pretty comfortable with it. Having a tiny car was pretty nice, too.
Sounds like a great trip!
404 - User No Longer Available
> Bryan doesn't drive a 1M
11/20/2018 at 11:05 |
|
I actually rented the same thing in Vegas, but I think mine had the V6. It actually felt quick.
Chariotoflove
> Bryan doesn't drive a 1M
11/20/2018 at 11:07 |
|
I concur with all these. Except that mine has a V6 and sounds better than a van has a right to when it gets angry. Also, I’ve convinced myself it looks good, for a van anyway. Certainly better than anything else in the market.
Glad you had a fun adventure. I want to go down under someday.
|
Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
> Bryan doesn't drive a 1M
11/20/2018 at 11:47 |
|
It’s funny because apparently the swapped wipers/signals thing is a JDM only thing. I wonder if European cars in Australia also follow the JDM standard? I was expecting them to be swapped in England but it was not the case at all.
Long_Voyager, Now With More Caravanny Goodness
> dogisbadob
11/20/2018 at 12:18 |
|
Light years better than any of the new minivans currently offered IMO.
SilentButNotReallyDeadly...killed by G/O Media
> Wrong Wheel Drive (41%)
11/20/2018 at 16:02 |
|
European makes are not swapped. But Japanese and Korean ones are.
pip bip - choose Corrour
> Bryan doesn't drive a 1M
11/21/2018 at 06:21 |
|
when you got to Melbourne did you do a hook turn?
;)
|
Bryan doesn't drive a 1M
> pip bip - choose Corrour
11/21/2018 at 17:58 |
|
I actually never had to, but I studied it in advance just in case.