Kia Sorento
Mileage 2114 List price £39,100 Target Price £37,489 Price as tested £39,505 Test economy 35.9mpg
AS WE MOVE towards a hybrid and electric future, we’ll all have to get used to driving cars with automatic gearboxes. And while I’m a bit old-fashioned and am not looking forward to waving a final goodbye to manuals, I’ve got to admit that a slick auto ’box like the one in my Kia Sorento does make life rather easier when you’re driving around town.
I’m enjoying making use of the Sorento’s different driving modes, too. Eco is laid back and ideal for motorway cruising, while Sport doesn’t suit the car as well, because it makes the engine thrashy and the performance jerky, but Smart makes a nice compromise between the two.
It works by using data from the accelerator, brakes and steering to create a bespoke set-up that should suit the driver and the driving conditions. It’s not perfect, but it provides punchier performance overall than Eco mode and quicker responses when pulling away, while still keeping the engine pretty quiet.
I’ve also been finding out how useful the Sorento is by undertaking trips to the garden centre and recycling depot. While you’ll not find any underfloor storage (because the hybrid battery sits beneath the boot floor), there’s still enough room to accommodate a couple of carry-on suitcases with all three rows of seats in place.
Start folding the seats down, meanwhile, and the back of the Sorento starts to look more like a van. As well as there being levers on each side of the second-row bench itself, there are a couple of buttons in the boot so you can do it remotely without opening the side doors, so it’s really easy to create a massive load bay.
With the second and third seat rows down, I got a 6ft by 2ft trellis in the back of the Sorento with space to spare. And on another day it swallowed an unwanted armchair without a struggle.
Make no mistake: the Sorento isn’t just a huge car; it’s a hugely practical and very well thought out one, too.