Kia Carens Diesel iMT vs AT: Real-world performance tested

• Automatic preferred choice amongst buyers
• Diesel manual was re-introduced recently

The Kia Carens has been a popular MPV, attracting buyers looking for a slightly premium vehicle than the ever-popular Maruti Suzuki Ertiga. The latter isn't offered in the diesel guise, but the Carens offers both diesel and petrol powertrains. And, also with the choice of manual and automatic transmissions. Notably, the oil-burner offers two automatic transmission choices — a conventional six-speed AT and an iMT. We've compared the two earlier for the real-world mileage, and here's how the MPVs performed in terms of acceleration and drivability.

Kia Carens diesel engine and gearbox specifications

The 1.5-litre diesel engine powering the Carens churns out 113bhp and 250Nm of torque. It comes mated to either a six-speed clutch-less manual (iMT) or a six-speed torque-converter (TC) automatic transmission.

How quickly do these MPVs accelerate?

0-60kmph

0-100kmph

These tests are performed on the V-Box and show the vehicle’s performance in a straight line. In the 0-60kmph sprint, the TC gearbox helped achieve a slightly faster time of 5.3 seconds than the iMT model which took 5.9 seconds. In the run to 100kmph from the standstill, the TC was again faster than the iMT with recorded durations of 11.8 seconds and 12.9 seconds, respectively.

How is the drivability of these MPVs?

20-80kmph

40-100kmph

Now, the V-Box test for the AT is done in kick-down. Meanwhile, for the iMT, we consider in-gear acceleration as the gear shifts have to be done manually. As a result, the figures will be different but give a great idea of the pulling power of both these MPVs. The conventional AT took 6.9 seconds to complete the 20-80kmph sprint in kick-down and 9 seconds for the 40-100kmph acceleration test in kick-down. On the other hand, the iMT took 9.5 seconds for the 20-80kmph run in third gear and 11.26 seconds for the 40-100kmph sprint in fourth gear. These figures are not outstanding but satisfactory for a seven-seater MPV.