End times, schmend times
The chunky Kia is one car for every occasion – school runs, thousand-mile days, the apocalypse… By Alex Tapley
It’s not a cliched sump guard ’n’ snorkel kind of 4x4, but the Kia Sorento really does have genuine all-road ability. It feels so strong and secure, and has decent ground clearance and suspension travel, so if the road surface turns from tarmac to gravel to grass to mud, the Sorento just takes it all in its amiable, competent stride. It has a choice of drive modes and chassis settings primed for all sorts of surface, but the defaults are fine.
The same ‘sure, why not?’ feel applies to its on-road vibe, too. It’s comfortable, so it’s never nagging you to take the direct route home. It has an easy 500-mile range between fills, thanks to a combination of 67-litre tank and reasonable fuel consumption, so you don’t worry about heading into unknown territory in search of a fine sunset for some photography.
And the (non-plug-in) hybrid petrol engine plays a part here too.
It’s not particularly powerful at 226bhp, but the torque is decent at 258lb ft, and the delivery – aided by the turbocharger and the e-motor, driving all four wheels through a six-speed auto – is seamless. You just don’t need to think about it.
Ditto the ride quality and handling. Sure, you can’t throw it around, but on most roads it just flows along very nicely, soaking up any bumps. That’s true however heavily or lightly it’s loaded. I’ve done a lot of work trips with the big boot and back seats carrying heaps of camera gear. Whenever I have taken the family anywhere in the Sorento, it’s been eminently accommodating. And little ’uns love going in the third row, even if
Count the cost
Cost new £39,505 Part exchange £30,037 Cost per mile 16.2p
Cost per mile including depreciation 85p there’s nobody in the second row.
In terms of design and tech, the Sorento isn’t even trying to match the keenest German and Scandinavian rivals. Instead we get a wise mix of screen-based and physical-switch controls; most adjustments that need making on the move can be done without taking your eyes off the road, which is surely pretty important.
The ‘2’ trim level doesn’t have a sat-nav, which suits me fine as I always end up using my phone, and the upholstery is cloth rather than leather. Over the months the seats got a bit grubby – the cumulative grubbiness you only really notice when you give a car its final clean; maybe leather would have been quicker to wipe clean. But cloth is better suited to the unshowy approach that works so well in this good-value, family-friendly, work-ready, all-round package.
The Sorento just takes it all in its amiable, competent stride