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Road Test Review: Kia Sorento Premium

Wednesday, 11 November 2020

Kia has revealed its new-look for the Sorento SUV, inspired by the small Seltos that has just arrived in New Zealand.
The Sorento’s sharp new looks contain an even sharper interior.
The Sorento’s sharp new looks contain an even sharper interior.

For the newest incarnation of its flagship Sorento SUV (for now at least – Kia could potentially follow Hyundai’s steps and bring the larger Telluride here…), Kia has ditched the generic, almost apologetic styling of the last one and come out swinging with a handsome, modern new look. But does the vehicle under the sharp new looks measure up?

So what sharp new powertrains are propelling this thing then? Hybrid? PHEV? Fully electric?

While the Sorento’s diesel engine is excellent, we can’t help but feel it deserves a more high-tech electrified powertrain.
While the Sorento’s diesel engine is excellent, we can’t help but feel it deserves a more high-tech electrified powertrain.

Yeah… none of those. And that is probably the new Sorento’s biggest weak spot at this stage.

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The longer you look at the Sorento the more details you see in its design.
The longer you look at the Sorento the more details you see in its design.

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As well as being high quality and handsome, the Sorento is also supremely practical and comfortable.
As well as being high quality and handsome, the Sorento is also supremely practical and comfortable.

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The only engine currently available in the new Sorento locally at launch is a revised and updated version of Kia’s 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel that now produces 148kW of power and 440Nm of torque.

This is hooked up to a new 8-speed wet clutch dual clutch transmission that drives all four wheels and is currently the sole drivetrain across the entire Sorento range.

The Sorento’s interior gives the Europeans a very good run for their money. Except Kia asks less of that too.
The Sorento’s interior gives the Europeans a very good run for their money. Except Kia asks less of that too.

The engine is nicely flexible and torquey, propelling the Sorento at an excellent rate for a biggish SUV. It is also impressively smooth and refined. So how exactly is it a weak spot?

Yeah, exacty: how is it a weak spot?

It’s not that the excellent drivetrain is weak, it's more that the rest of the Sorento is so up-to-the-minute in terms of technology, styling and quality that it seems just out of sorts that it isn’t powered by an equally cutting-edge powertrain – battery or PHEV at the very least.

The quality of the Sorento is a testament to how far the Korean carmakers have come in a relatively short time.
The quality of the Sorento is a testament to how far the Korean carmakers have come in a relatively short time.

So, yeah, it is actually a compliment to say that the Sorento actually outclasses its style of propulsion, regardless of how good that diesel engine actually is.

But that will change next year, as Kia has recently announced it will be bringing the plug-in hybrid version into New Zealand early next year. No electric-only range has been confirmed by Kia at this stage, but with a 1.6-litre petrol engine combined with a 67kW motor and 13.8kWh battery to produce a combined 195kW of power and 350Nm of torque, the PHEV should at least match the diesel’s performance while providing a far more appropriately cutting-edge form of propulsion. Diesel is just so 2015.

So would it be better to wait for that one then?

Not necessarily – I am a huge PHEV fan, so I would, but while diesel may have drastically fallen from favour, it still has its place.

And if that place is under the bonnet of a fantastically comfortable, extremely well-equipped, handsome SUV, then that’s still a pretty good place for it to be. And diesel is still the preferred fuel of a lot of people, particularly those in the Sorento’s customer demographics.

As previously mentioned, the engine is nicely flexible and feels strong across its rev range, while the transmission is a sweetly slick shifter.

This pairs up to an impressive level of ride comfort and a superbly composed chassis – it feels agile enough for a big SUV, but never at the expense of comfort. It is very softly American in its approach to handling though, so don’t expect ‘agile enough’ to mean much more than ‘soft but beautifully controlled’ – this sure ain’t a sports car. But then neither should it be.

At first glance (and in photos) the new Sorento looks handsome, yet quite conservative (in a distinctly Volkswagen-ish way). But get it in front of you and spend longer looking at it and starts looking a bit more special.

Details abound, and while some, like the sporadic splashes of satin chrome, are a bit garish, things like the subtle creases above the wheel arches – that don’t show up properly in photographs – really start engaging your eye.

This is a seriously handsome SUV in the metal (and the right colour) and its obvious that Kia has gone above and beyond to get it right. And that is a feeling that is only strengthened when you climb inside the Sorento.

So it looks good inside too?

Oh most certainly, yes it does. But it isn’t just the striking and modern design that grabs your attention – it is the deeply impressive levels of quality on display that stand out.

Build quality has been something Kia nailed on its interiors quite a while ago, but the sheer level of both build quality and material quality in the Sorento takes things to an almost high-end European level.

Throw in the high level of equipment, technology and safety and you begin to seriously question the need to actually buy a high-end Euro, when something like this Kia offers similar, if not better quality and equipment. Seriously.

Of course, that Euro-challenging quality and tech does come with a price, and while $76,900 seems like a hefty price to pay for a Kia, it is simply an indication of just how far the Korean manufacturers have come in the last few years that the Sorento Premium completely and utterly justifies that asking price.

Any other cars I should consider?

The first and most obvious competitor the Sorento faces is the mechanically-related Hyundai Santa Fe, a facelifted version of which is due here shortly. While you could always usually say that the Hyundai was a better looking, higher quality thing, you can no longer be so bold. Put it this way, the new Santa Fe will have to be exceptionally good indeed to be the top dog this time.

Other large roughly-circa-$80k SUVs include the less refined, but more off-road capable offerings like the Ford Everest, Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, and Jeep Grand Cherokee.

At the smaller, but sportier end of the spectrum there is the Skoda Kodiaq RS, just in case you feel like a bit more fun is needed in your SUV.