Kia quietly shifting focus into premium sector
ROAD TEST: Redesigned Sorento has the goods, performance to take on much more pricey luxury SUVs
The all-new 2016 Kia Sorento should not have surprised me. Oh, I know the Korean automaker’s tag line is “The Power to Surprise” and over the past few years, each new product introduction brought a surprisingly improved new model. These wickedly competitive vehicles should bury the memories of the cheap-to-buy and equally cheapfeeling Kias from the past.
So it’s no surprise the new 2016 Sorento mid-sized crossover shoots to the top of its crowded mid-size class that includes such stalwarts as the Honda Pilot, Nissan Pathfinder and Mazda CX-9. But — surprise, surprise — the Kia also challenges a few luxury brand offerings such as the Acura MDX and Infiniti QX60.
The Sorento nameplate has been around long enough to be one of those forgettable early Kias. First seen in 2003, the original was a traditional, truck-based SUV doing its best to mimic a 1990s Ford Explorer. But for 2010, the second-generation model moved to the mid-size Optima sedan’s unibody platform, with room for five or seven passengers. It was a huge leap forward in quality, packaging, features and drivability and quickly became a bestseller for the automaker here in Canada.
The 2010-15 Sorento offered a slightly bigger body than compact crossovers such as the Honda CR-V or Toyota RAV4. And while the 2016 model grows in size enough to be considered mid-sized, there’s also more refinement and the availability of features usually found on much higher-priced vehicles.
Yet despite Kia’s upscale ambitions, the base, front-wheel-drive, five-passenger Sorento LX starts at a competitive $31,059 (all prices include freight and pre-delivery inspection fees). It is powered by a 2.4-litre four-cylinder gas engine rated at a 185 horsepower and 178 pound-feet of torque and a six-speed automatic transmission is standard across the range. All-wheel drive will cost you another $2,100 and the 240hp, 2.0-L turbo-four is available in the $36,259 Sorento LX AWD.
If you want room for up to seven passengers, you’ll need the $35,744 Sorento LX, which comes with traction at all four wheels and a 290-hp and 252-lb.-ft., 3.3-litre V-6 as standard fare. My tester was a fully-loaded $50,259 Sorento SX+ AWD V-6.
A $50,000 Kia crossover may be surprising to you, but the Sorento, along with the new Kia Cadenza and K900 luxury sedans, is quietly being pushed as a “premium” Kia — and it is worthy of this adjective. The topline Sorento SX+ drives, tends to its occupants and makes its driver grin equal to or better than a comparably-equipped $60,000-plus Acura MDX or Infiniti QX60.
One way the Kia competes with those Japanese luxury crossovers is evident by simply opening one of the Sorento’s four doors. Almost all of the interior surfaces are of the softtouch variety with two-tone colour schemes available. And, as I discovered in the recent Kia Sedona I spent a couple months piloting, Kia’s ergonomic designers have been hitting it out of the park lately. Compared to the MDX or QX60, all of the Sorento’s controls are easier to find and use. Plus, Kia’s latest UVO infotainment system is one of the easier interfaces to use with clear and well-organized graphics and a simple menu hierarchy.
I wasn’t surprised to find a heated steering wheel, heated and cooled front seats and heated rear seats in the Sorento SX+. These features are now becoming commonplace in almost any top-line Kia. And if you think you need to pay extra for a luxury badge to get the latest in safety kit, think again. Along with the many creature comforts, every 2016 Sorento comes standard with front side airbags and front- and second-row side-curtain airbags. My SX+ model had a backup camera, rear parking sensors, blind-spot and rear crosstraffic warning systems, plus lanedeparture and forward-collision warning systems on board.
To be fair, most buyers of mainstream-brand mid-size crossovers don’t have athletic driving dynamics at the top of their wish list. But beyond the top-notch interior design and full suite of features, the new Sorento has leaped ahead of its Japanese luxury-crossover competition and drives more like a luxury crossover from Germany.
Kia claims it used more highstrength steel than ever before in the 2016 Sorento, which is one reason the Kia moves with a solid feel and heft typically experienced in German cars.
The new Sorento also excels as a comfortable and luxurious highway vehicle. I recorded a remarkable 9.8 litres per 100 kilometres fuel consumption average on a trip from Ottawa to Toronto and back.
Relative to its size, the big Kia also handles quite competently. There’s minimal body roll while cornering and the steering is accurate, with plenty of communication about what’s happening at road level. Again, this is what you would find in, say, a BMW X5. (Yeah, I just favourably compared a Kia to a BMW. Get over it.)