It could be argued that Kia has been more memorable for offering the 7 year warranty then for offering substantive motoring experiences. However Kia never let the haters get to them and particularly over the last 5 years have slowly grafted hard, sweated blood, shed many tears and gradually overturned perceptions. They still have haters but that comes with the territory and as the old saying goes “love your haters, they’re your biggest fans”. Today in 2016 if you are a Kia owner you no longer have to wear a paper bag over your head, with no holes cut out, you can drive your Kia with a certain sense of pride. You can even get away with wearing a pair of Tom Fords or to a lesser extent a pair of Ted Baker’s. But in the design world there is no lesser or greater extent, every item be it from Tesco, Wallmarts, Costco, John Lewis, Prada etc. Every item you have ever seen or owned has been designed… By a designer. Therefore owning or buying into a brand culture is all about perception. It’s the clever marketing people that persuade you otherwise. In the end its all about how much crazy money you are willing to part with in order to enjoy the short lived adrenalin rush of being first in the queue to own that new designer must have what-ever-that-you-didn’t-need-in-the-first-place. Take the Kia Carens, it’s been styled by a former Audi design guru and engineered and built in Europe from the ground up specifically for more cultured European tastes. The Carens is ordinarily a seven seat MPV which is kind of sleek from some angles and some would argue stylish from other angles. The fourth generation Carens was introduced in 2013 and yet again demonstrates Kia’s step-up in quality. Dimension wise the Carens is slightly shorter and slightly less wide than the previous generation it replaces. Despite that rakish profile passengers, whether you decide to sit up front or at the rear, you won’t be short on space although the third row of seats are probably best used for small children. Like any vehicle with a third row of seats access might be a little bit vague but the seats are easy to erect and can be stored away flat at the pull of a handle which naturally opens up more rear load space. The interior quality is really where Kia have made great strides. Lots of soft touch surfaces, stitched leather inserts here and piano black finish inserts there. The quality is up there with an Audi or a BMW, perhaps the only thing lacking is the range of additional trim options. From a drivers perspective the dashboard may lack a bit of design fizz but it is an expression of quiet and neat design which is well layed out and easy to use. The switchgear and dials all feel tactile and sturdy to use, everything is solidly made. And you quickly acclimatise to the driver environment. The Carens is available in five trim grades with prices staring at £17k for the entry level 1 and up to £24k for the top spec Carens 4. So plenty of choice. Oddly Kia offer the Carens SR7 which sits in between the ‘1’ and ‘2’ trim models. The SR7 trim is offered across all models, think of it like a value pack edition which adds rear privacy glass, roof rails, auto headlights, reversing sensors, to name but a few of the extra highlights that you don’t pay too much more money for but in actuality you do (clever marketing). You also get a choice of two engines a 133bhp 1.6 GDi petro unit and the 1.7 CRDi diesel. The latter being available in two states of power, 114bhp and 139bhp. Both engines can be optioned with either a 6-speed manual or automatic. All trim levels offer generous equipment levels, lets just put it this way you would have to pay more for less in an equivalent spec Audi, but as far as we know Audi don’t do MPV’s. Oddly Kia offer the Carens ‘SR7’ which sits in between the ‘1’ and ‘2’ trim models. Kia offers the SR7 trim across all it’s range of cars, think of it like a value pack edition, you know buy one get several extras for free. so the ‘SR7’ trim adds rear privacy glass, roof rails, auto headlights, reversing sensors, to name but a few of the extra trim highlights. Road manners are for the best part predictable. And in this case that’s a good thing. The low speed ride feels a little on the firm side but overall the Carens feels comfortable over most surfaces. The exception being rough and unevenly surfaced roads where the comfort levels feel slightly unnerved. The electro-mechanical steering setup is light, offers three driving modes that increase the sharpness of the steering. Flex Steer offs Normal, Sport and Comfort steering modes for the most part I just left in in ‘normal’ mode. In doing so you get modestly informative feedback in the same way Morse-Code is the modus-operandi communications tool of the 21^st century. Which is isn’t. The Carens ‘3’, 1.6-litre GDi on test is a testimony to the pace of Kia’s development and evolution. Well it is and it isn’t, the 1.6-GDi petrol engine is smooth, quiet and it does the job but in all honesty feels underpowered becuase you don’t have the torque levels of a turbo-diesel. And unlike the diesel, the petrol engine doesn’t have the flexibility to be driven raucously because if you did the fuel consumption is sure to drop, so mentally you are always in ‘fuel-saving mode’. That said if driven sensibly you can manage upto 40mpg. Nevertheless on a day to day basis the Carens offers comfortable transport for however many passengers or however many items with you wish to ferry seats up or down, its your choice. Overall the Kia Carens feels like a premium product, but without ever saying it is a premium proposition. Ironically you will have to pay a slight premium over rivals such as the Vauxhall Zafira and VW Touran. As we always say, if you are interested in a Kia Carens don’t listen to motoring journalists telling you what spec to go for.  We say get the best you can afford and our top-tip is to always opt for heated leather seats and the biggest set of alloys on offer. And you know what? these type of vehicles don’t offend me, they are bread and butter cars, without them families wouldn’t be able to drive one another mad during that summer trip from the UK to the South of France. Or if you are reading this in Chester, from South of Manchester to the Wirral. You see cars like the Kia Carens pave pay the way for more experimental head-banging cars. And that’s why you should never be ashamed to admit to buying one.