2023 Kia Carnival vs 2024 Hyundai Venue

The 2023 Kia Carnival presented itself as a stylish and upscale minivan, diverging from the typical minivan aesthetic. It featured a distinctive design with high-tech lighting, an intricate grille, and decorative roof pillar trim, which contributed to its attractive appearance. The SX Prestige trim, in particular, offered a sophisticated interior with dual instrumentation and infotainment screens, dual power sunroofs, and quality materials that prevented it from feeling cheap. The Carnival's interior was designed to provide a sense of quality, with a robust transmission shifter and upscale dashboard trim.

In contrast, the 2024 Hyundai Venue, while smaller and more affordable, offered a sense of genuine style with its appealing design. The Limited trim, with its Ecotronic Gray paint, gave the Venue a mature and subdued appearance. Inside, the Venue featured unexpected style elements, such as stripes and piping on the seats and white trim around the dashboard air vents. Despite the use of hard plastics, the Venue's interior didn't look cheap, and the digital instrumentation and 8-inch touchscreen infotainment display added a touch of modernity. The Venue's design was thoughtfully executed, making it a stylish and high-quality small SUV.

The 2023 Kia Carnival was equipped with a 3.5-liter V6 engine, delivering 290 horsepower and 262 lb-ft of torque. This powertrain, paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission, provided a satisfying driving experience, especially in Sport mode. The Carnival offered a firm, sporty ride quality, and its handling was commendable, although it lacked all-wheel drive and hybrid options. The Carnival's brakes performed well in most situations, but there was a one-time issue with brake fade during a mountain descent. Overall, the Carnival was enjoyable to drive, offering a balance of power and comfort.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue, on the other hand, featured a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine producing 121 horsepower and 113 lb-ft of torque. While not particularly powerful, the Venue's lightweight design and continuously variable transmission (CVT) allowed it to navigate city and suburban environments with ease. The Venue's nimble handling and excellent visibility made it well-suited for urban driving. However, the Venue's suspension struggled on rough and irregular pavement, resulting in a busy ride quality. On the highway, the Venue could maintain speed, but the engine and CVT produced unpleasant noises under heavy acceleration. Despite these limitations, the Venue offered decent fuel economy, averaging 30.3 mpg during testing.

The 2023 Kia Carnival offered a unique driving experience, with a lower driving position and SUV-like center console arrangement. It featured three types of upholstery, with the SX Prestige trim offering genuine leather. The Carnival's interior was equipped with a three-zone automatic climate control system, heated and ventilated front seats, and a heated steering wheel. The VIP Lounge Seats in the second row provided comfort but limited cargo space to 86.9 cubic feet. The third-row seat was spacious enough for adults, and the Carnival offered ample cargo capacity behind it, with a smart power liftgate for easy access.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue, with its increased ground clearance, provided easy access to the front and back seats. The driver's seat had a manual height adjuster, and the steering wheel offered tilt-and-telescopic adjustment. The Venue's interior featured appealing fabric inserts and artificial leather bolsters, with heated front seats for added comfort. While the back seat could accommodate three people, it was more comfortable for two. The Venue offered limited storage space and lacked rear air conditioning vents. Cargo room was on par with a compact car, with 18.7 cubic feet of space behind the rear seats and 31.9 cubic feet with the back seat folded down.

The 2023 Kia Carnival SX Prestige featured impressive technology, with 12.3-inch digital instrumentation and infotainment touchscreens. The digital instrumentation offered lush graphics and changed appearance based on the time of day. The infotainment system included Bluetooth, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, SiriusXM satellite radio, and Kia Connect Ultimate connected services. Additional tech features included Quiet Mode, Passenger Talk, and Passenger View with Night Vision. The optional dual-screen rear-seat entertainment system offered streaming capabilities, but teenagers preferred using their own devices.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue featured an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment display with modern graphics and logical menu structures. Standard features included Bluetooth connectivity, wireless Apple CarPlay, wireless Android Auto, and a six-speaker sound system. The Venue Limited added a navigation system, SiriusXM satellite radio, a wireless smartphone charger, and Bluelink+ connected services. However, the switch from wireless to wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto was a drawback. Despite this, the Venue's infotainment system was sophisticated, with an impressive native voice recognition system.

The 2023 Kia Carnival came equipped with a comprehensive suite of driver assistance and collision avoidance systems, including forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, and lane-keeping assist. The Carnival's rear-seat reminder system used ultrasonic sensors to detect movement, and the Safe Exit System warned occupants of approaching vehicles. The EX trim added Junction Turning Detection and Highway Driving Assist, while the SX trim included a surround-view camera and Blind-Spot View Monitor. The Carnival received a Top Safety Pick rating from the IIHS for 2022, but the NHTSA had not performed crash tests at the time of review.

The 2024 Hyundai Venue featured Hyundai SmartSense, which included forward-collision warning, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assist, and a rear-seat reminder system. The Venue SEL added blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert, while the Limited trim included cyclist detection. The Venue lacked adaptive cruise control and lane-centering assist. The IIHS gave the Venue Good ratings in three crash tests, with an Acceptable rating for the Limited trim's LED headlights. The NHTSA awarded the Venue an overall rating of four stars.