Is the Kia Carens turbo-petrol 1.5 AT really fuel-efficient?

- Kia Carens updated with a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine

- The older 1.4-litre turbo-petrol discontinued

Kia has updated the Carens with a new 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine and an idle engine start-stop system. The new powertrain now gets a boost in performance, but is it fuel efficient as well? Our real-world city and highway mileage tests reveal this. For reference, the officially claimed figures for the 1.5-litre engine paired with a seven-speed DCT gearbox stand at 17.9kmpl.

Kia Carens turbo-petrol 1.5 AT mileage in the city

In our city run for the fuel economy test, the Kia Carens covered 75.3km and utilised 6.9 litres of petrol. This shows a calculated mileage of 10.8kmpl while the instrument cluster indicated 10.5kmpl. This is not an impressive figure but fair enough for a six-seater car that weighs 1,460kg. It should be noted that the Carens comes with auto engine start-stop tech which aids in saving fuel. And, if one wants to extract the maximum mileage, one can switch to the Eco drive mode.

Kia Carens turbo-petrol 1.5 AT mileage on the highway

Out on the highway, the Carens expectedly returned a higher mileage. It consumed 5.2 litres of fuel on the highway sprint of 89.1km. This equates to a highway fuel efficiency of 17.1kmpl, which is close to the MID-indicated fuel economy of 17kmpl. Thus, the 45-litre fuel-tank capacity gives an adequate driving range for a long-distance trip.

Carens engine and gearbox specifications

This 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine produces 158bhp and 253Nm of torque. Apart from the seven-speed DCT, this mill can also be had in a six-speed iMT which returns 17.7kmpl (claimed). Power figures remain the same. Otherwise, the lower variants of the Carens are offered with a 1.5-litre naturally aspirated petrol engine that makes 114bhp and 144Nm of torque. This engine is only available with a six-speed manual transmission. On the other hand, there's an even more frugal 1.5-litre diesel engine. It is offered with either a six-speed iMT or a six-speed torque-converter automatic transmission.