118 GARAGE
GETTING DOWN AND DIRTY TO DETERMINE THE MERITS OF ALL-WHEEL DRIVE
Sorento’s AWD ability under the microscope; what Genesis really means; and Puma fails the twinkle toes test
IRECKON there’s a broad rule of thumb that can be applied to the essentialness of all-wheel drive on cars and SUVs. If the platform is fundamentally rear-drive, you can almost surely do without it, if you’re happy to live on the edge. Witness the Porsche 911 GT2 RS versus Turbo S, or Lamborghini Huracan LP-2 models. However, if the platform is born as a front-driver, there’s every chance you do want AWD; evidenced by Golf R versus GTI, or a bunch of fast AWD Audis versus their front-drive counterparts.
This thinking carries over to the Sorento. It’s a front-drive platform that really does benefit from AWD.
Without giving too much away about next month’s COTY coverage, our testing this year, as in the past, gave us plenty of time to evaluate the field on closed dirt roads within the proving ground. Now, while this is a great way to really probe a car’s traction, ESC and ABS calibration, I’m not going to pretend it isn’t a ridiculous amount of fun, either. Sometimes the biggest challenge is keeping a steely face for the photographers when, on the inside, you’re whooping like a teenage girl at the Magic Mike stage show.
Well, at least that’s me when a car’s ‘ESC off’ button actually does what it claims. In the Sorento, as with plenty of other SUVs, ‘ESC off’ is not off at all, merely a reduction of the threshold of intervention. We had both the diesel AWD and V6 petrol front-driver at COTY, and in both cars the ESC calibration was revealed to be about as lenient as arriving
late to a booking with Madam Lash, instantly clamping down on the first hint of a slide and slow to release the brakes and restore throttle response once the loose moment had been regathered. Switching it off helped things plenty, allowing a small amount of lift-off oversteer to tighten a line or hold a balanced throttle through faster sweepers with the car past the edge of traction. But as for full freedom to really get the Sorento swinging and pivoting through the tighter turns, no chance.
I guess this comes down to how different car companies interpret corporate responsibility. It’s fair to argue that no-one really needs to be on the lock-stops on public dirt roads, and for most buyers in this segment, the whole analysis of loose-surface dynamics is going to be a moot point anyway. But it’s still interesting that some companies, like Mazda, tune their ESC to recognise competent drivers and not intrude when appropriate inputs for car control are being made, and provide an ‘off’ setting that really does mean off.
But back to the question of allwheel drive; the dirt section of the proving ground was a conclusive demonstration of the effectiveness of the Sorento’s system, when driven back-to-back with the petrol frontdriver. Even though the petrol V6 makes less torque than the diesel four, it still funnels sufficient twist to those front wheels to have them fairly overwhelmed with the power-down task on a loose surface.
Generous helpings of throttle with steering lock applied brings quite violent axle tramp and sees the wheel writhing in your hands like a snake being wrangled by Steve Irwin’s mini-me kid.
The diesel suffers none of this, thanks to the AWD system’s ability to quickly funnel the torque rearward when needed, leaving the steering largely uncorrupted. It delivers a level of calm, power-down competence missing from the front driver.
So if you regularly drive on dirt or visit ski resorts in winter, the Sorento for you is definitely the diesel AWD. But if you’re diesel averse, don’t forget the hybrid 1.6-litre turbo-petrol four with electric assist is due in Oz in the first quarter of this year. And, yes, it does drive all four wheels.