Not many brands have soared back from oblivion as convincingly as Kia, and by looking at the 2016 Sorento, you would find it hard to believe that the Kia products were once an attraction for subprime shoppers looking for low monthly installments. The Kia warranty of 10-year/10,000-mile for Powertrain helped to wipe out those bad times.
But in comes Peter Schreyer and his design that made rapid fire enhancements to the driving dynamics, build quality, feature content which culminated into the 2011 Sorento, thus making the Kia brand a valuable product to invest bucks. The trend has been continued into the 2016 Sorento, and grille’s tiger nose now spreads more widely and is the best selling Kia crossover, after Optima sedan and Soul hatchback. The vehicle looks definitely premium with its top grade feel and material, decorating the cabin, and we would say that it will make the likes of Audi and Lexus proud. The Sorento has been stretched to three-inch lengths and bring it to the same size as the 2015 Lexus RX 350 from tail to nose. But in place of the two rows of the Lexus, the Sorento offers three-row of seats which is standard on the V-6 models. The seats of the last row, however, are for people with slender built, but Kia manages to spare four inches more than the Toyota Highlander’s 3.7.
Apart from the 2.4 Liter four-cylinder base model with185-hp and 3.3 Liter V-6 with 290 horses Kia also adds a 2.0 Liter turbo four banger with 240hp and 260lb-ft torque starting from 1450 rpm. In order to meet tougher fuel saving target, Kia is likely to feature this engine in place of the V-6. At present, the 3.3 Liter V-6 is the popular choice for its drivability and all-round performance, particularly in the SX model carrying 4313 pounds of weight with all wheel drive. The engine also matches up to the smooth personality of the Sorento, as it offers sufficient torque, a loveable exhaust note and accelerates smoothly to the redline of 6500-RPM with great enthusiasm. It is ably assisted by the clean and crisp shifts of the six-speed automatic.
When it came to performance the Sorento carrying a price of $40,595 proved to be a winner with a 7.2 seconds 0-60mph run, for our V-6 with all-wheel-drive. This timing betters the 3.6-liter V-6 4x4 Jeep Grand Cherokee and the 3.5-liter V-6 AWD Toyota Highlander. It also offered a better skidpad figure over the Grand Cherokee in 0.80g and the 70-0mph stop was a 179-feet which is 12 feet shorter the Grand Cherokee, 6 feet of the 2016 Acura MDX and 7 feet of Highlander.
The 2016 Kia Sorento cannot be a challenge to the German brands for racing on twisty roads and highways though. The Sorento, made in the USA is a crossover that is happy to ride in its own skin. The steering though with electric power is not as talkative as the German crossovers, but it weighs nicely. The Sorento is calm and is decorated well inside. Seats in the front are supportive and comfortable, feels solid while riding fast. Fuel economy is 17/23mpg according to EPA, and we observed 17mpg in mixed driving.
