So far, we’ve only reviewed the best pants 2022 Kia Carnival SX Prestige with a seven-passenger configuration including a “VIP Lounge” second row seat with deployable legroom and the option of a deep recline. It sunk. However, it is probably a better choice for families with older children who don’t have to be in a car seat and can therefore take advantage of those extra features.
If that’s not you, I recommend the eight-passenger configuration. Each small truck has some sort of second row trick up its sleeve. The Honda Odyssey Yes Magic Slide chair horizontal slide. Non-hybrid people Chrysler Pacifica there’s Stow ‘n Go. Toyota Sienna has the captain’s seat of the Super Long Slide. The 2022 Kia Carnival Not only does it offer VIP Lounge seats, it offers “Captain Kirk chairs.” Let me explain.
Second row seats in the middle Carnival not just a quasi-jumping recliner placed between the captain’s seats, as in the eight-passenger chair Sienna (upper left) and Pacifica. Like By Odyssey (upper right), the seats are wider and therefore more comfortable, although still flatter and narrower than those outside.
That’s where the Odyssey and Carnival diverge.
While the Carnival’s can’t be taken off as easily as the ones in the Odyssey or the others, it does have the ability to slide back and forth to a truly silly degree. Bringing it forward allows mom or dad to easily transport their precious cargo in a forward-facing car seat. Doing so also provides people in the rear seats with more headroom and/or easier visibility for children in rear-facing car seats.
Then it got crazy.
You can slide it back to the third row. This can also free up shoulder space with three people sitting across, or make it easier/possible to fit three car seats. You’ll also get leg room in the third row of outboard seats. This versatility is exceptional.
But it really doesn’t stop there.
You can move the middle seat all way back where the third row of seats fold down to the floor. This creates an unusual five-person seating arrangement. If there is another pickup truck that can do this, please let me know.
Doing this allows all three to have unlimited shoulder space and the person in the middle to have ample, roomy legroom. You also save more cargo space than if you raised 40 sections of the third row of seats to seat that extra person (which you have to do with just two captain’s seats in the second row).
Sitting there is unusual. There’s nothing on either side of you or you’re surrounded by luggage. There’s also no armrest (nor is there an inner armrest for the captain’s chair, that’s a specific side). And, admittedly, the seats are firmer and flatter than in the third row.
This placement would be why I named the festival’s middle chair the “Captain Kirk chair.” Actually not because Enterprise bridge, but because of the same name was once used to describe an unusual solo chair. You see, on KLM’s 747, there are two Business Class zones. One is upstairs, and the other is at the nose. Below that, pairs of seats line the fuselage, leaving a large gap in between each side – just enough for a business class seat to lie flat. I once heard it dubbed the “Captain Kirk chair”, ironically, by the head That Corporate PR. It’s a perfect description, in both the 747 and the Carnival.
So, with Sulu and Chekov ahead with their respective computer terminals, let’s take a look at some of the other features of the Festival’s second row.
This is the space provided for climbing up to the third row of seats. Obviously, with the Captain Kirk chair, you can’t exactly climb over the captain’s chairs. Hmm, that means there are captain seats and captain Kirk seats. I guess that’s confusing. Admiral Kirk Chair? Maybe, but only if you pronounce “Admiral” like Ricardo Montalbán.
Anyway, this space is not that great. In addition, the door protrudes a lot. My wife reported that it was difficult to maneuver around the door while securing our son in a rear-facing car seat when the outboard captain’s seat was pushed all the way back.
This, by the way, is a long way back from the captain’s chairs outside. The VIP Lounge chair goes much further, as does the Sienna Super Long Sliding Chair. This is similar to the Honda Odyssey.
Third-row comfort may seem similar to other pickup trucks, but sitting back-to-back closer could tell the difference. I would say it has a nicer look to it than the Sienna, while also having a less cavernous look thanks to the larger rear quarter windows.
One feature that I like is the ability to move the front passenger seat forward using these controls. They are useful when making sure there is enough space for rear-facing car seats.
This trim level, SX (without Prestige), includes a touchscreen display that attaches to the front seats. Among its features is the Sound of Nature feature (see video at the bottom of this page) found in many Kias, Hyundais and Genesises. If your child wears headphones, this can act as a white noise machine for naps without letting other people in the car hear the rain.
The downside of those screens is that it slightly reduces the number of slideable second rows to access the third row. Worse, it significantly reduces the space between the front seat and the rear-facing child seat. You have to slide the front passenger seat further forward than you would without those screens – if you wanted to.
All in all, I’m a big fan of this configuration. I still think it would be more beneficial for my family to travel in Sienna’s Super Lounge chair, but I do recognize Captain Kirk’s versatility, especially compared to the eight-passenger, non-Sienna Superlong Sienna. . Really, all the different second-row seat designs are the main differentiators of the four competing minivans (well, aside from Sienna’s game-changing energy saving). Each offers something different, but neither is necessarily better. They just satisfy different needs and preferences.
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