Smarter Sorento on new track
October 29, 2009
Prefer your Sorento hard or soft; rough or smooth? If your allegiances are for a slightly rough-edged but dependable big toughie, then the previous version of Kia's off-roader will hold more appeal.
Such was the view of my lunch partner at the launch of the 2010 Sorento, held in Queensland the other day.
A writer for an outdoorsy mag who makes it his business never to test any vehicle without at least a couple of tonne on the hook, Mike told me the outgoing Sorento has a real following with those who take the 'sport' part of SUV really seriously. For brawn for the budget buck, they didn't come any better, he reckoned.
But those days seemed to be over, he added with a tinge of sadness. This new model we'd been driving around Coolum, Queensland, that morning?
Well, my new pal didn't want to be seen to be rude to our hosts ... but, gee, he had the feeling the blokes in the boat ramp and mountaineering club weren't going to be quite so keen on it.
With everything that made the previous car so adept at big boy towing and off-roading - the old-school body-on-frame structure, selectable four-wheel drive, low-range ratio gears and live rear axle - having been dropped, the 2010 model was definitely taking any easier road, Mike opined.
I know what he means. Now known as Sorento R (after the new R-series engine) this is definitely not the rig it used to be. What has been a useful but utilitarian workhorse hauler has become a lot more sophisticated, now.
Indeed, basically the old knockabout truck has become a new citified car. There's even a front-wheel drive model, hoped to emulate the success of the two-wheel-drive Sportage Urban. I dunno how Mike's going to break the news on that one!
Well, it's a changing world, but the world of change that has occurred to Sorento is for the better.
Perhaps the 2010 edition will lose some old friends, but arguably these are mates it no longer needs. Fact is that tall, top-heavy, flat-footed off-roaders just don't cut it with the city-bound crowd that constitute the primary clientele these days. We want style, we want pace, and we want a much easier drive.
The only way Sorento was ever going to achieve broadened appeal was to lose some bulk - a whole 215kg, in fact - and gain a lot of smarts. Which is exactly what it has done, while also delivering big advances in quality and refinement.
Price-wise, it's set to cause a stir. The range starts with the $46,990 automatic front-drive seven-seat model and the four-wheel-drive versions start at $49,990 for the manual LX five-seater, $55,990 for the auto EX seven-seater and $63,990 for the Limited seven-seater.
Undertaken at a cost of $307 million, the model's transformation would not be possible without Hyundai. There's no acknowledgement that it was Kia's parent that not only freed up the cash but also scrap-piled the old rear-drive-based chassis in favour of an architecture shared with the Santa Fe.
You'll never pick the blood-tie by sight, because of Kia's whole new look, sculpted under the direction of design guru Peter Schreyer. As smart as it appears, though the fresh skin is potentially less ultimately relevant than some of the other changes.
The big change is the adoption of a monocoque body, which allows all sorts of new structural considerations, not least with improved integrity in a crash.
Standard fare of six airbags and stability control also took Kia to a maximum five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP - the same top score it should earn from independent Australian crash test body, ANCAP, in December.
Towing capacity is reduced to between 2000kg (auto) and 2500kgs (manual) and the Sorento hasn't lost all off-road potential, though it'd be imprudent to throw it into the deepest, smelliest end of the swamp.
A hill descent control, hill start assist and a four-wheel-drive lock features now constitute the heavy end of the four-wheel-drive hardware pack. Ground clearance has dropped by 20mm, so approach and departure angles suffer accordingly. Even the tyres are now more seal-tuned.
Kia reckons it's still a tough rig, but our drive route didn't exactly hammer home the point. The 'off-road' was nothing more than simple drive through a pine forest on gravel roads that even a Corolla could have coped with.
Maybe we should have gone straight for the school zone - I suspect that's what a heap of owners will do. To reinforce its potential as an option to traditional MPVs, there's also now a seven-seat option to the standard five-pew layout.
Kia is also looking to lighten the load on owner's pockets, by revising the entire engine range. The only choice for New Zealand is a diesel, but that's no problem.
The new 2.2-litre four replacing the previous 2.5-litre produces 17 percent more power and 10 percent more torque, while using more than 20 percent less fuel. A claimed ability to sip just 6.6 litres per 100km as a manual and 7.2L/100km as an auto is of particular merit.
The new diesel puts out 145kW of power but torque differs depending on the choice of transmission. Both boxes are new but the manual can only cope with 421Nm of torque, whereas the auto - also a six-speed - gets the full-strength 445Nm. And yet it can't tow as much?
The auto is the faster model, with 0-100kmh in 10.2 seconds, but it's not easy to pick the manual as being the weaker model. In either application, the maximum muscle occurs at a low 1800rpm so acceleration is strong and refined. It'll pull effortlessly virtually from walking pace.
The manual would conceivably be the handier choice for - you know, dirty work - but the example I drove was blighted by a short travel clutch with a vicious bite. If they're all like that, I wouldn't bother. In sixth gear, it's relaxed and obviously economical.
The MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension is carried over from the previous model, but has been improved, says Kia. Dirt roads present no issues for the car, but it's on the seal where greatest improvement is felt. It's still no car - the level of body rolls testifies to that, and there's a vagueness to the steering, too.
But the ride is comfortable and easily soaks up bumps and ridges. How much roar the tyres (17s or 18s, depending on the spec) will generate on our coarse chip remains to be tested. Certainly, the engine is far from vocal, and wind noise seems well-suppressed.
Looks-wise, Sorento is much more cohesive now; in fact, it's pretty sharp. Kia's new signature grille looks good here, along with wraparound black bezel headlights, while there is a simple tailgate and large lights at the rear.
The width stays the same as before, but the track has been widened front and back so that the wheels fill the wheelarches and that 10mm lower stance gives it enhanced presence. Roof rails, added as standard fare by Kia NZ, improves its appearance.
The driving position is improved by the long overdue provision of tilt and telescopic adjustable steering and although the wheelbase has been shortened, there's more room - moving the dashboard forward, pushing the tailgate back, incorporating thinner seats ... all contribute. In saying that, the top level car's twin sunroof cuts into headroom and the third row of seats is really just for kids.
Luggage space is 258 litres with all seven seats in place, 1047 litres with five seats, and 2052 litres if all but the front seats are folded - all in all, a 15 percent increase. The floor is reasonably flat.
Leather upholstery is standard to the Limited, along with dual zone climate control and a reversing camera in the Limited model that displays in the rear view mirror when reverse is selected. Other models have velour fabric and manual air conditioning and Kia maintains its policy of including the nice touch of full iPod integration. The biggest disappointment is the unfathomable, almost unreachable, location of the trip computer control on the main display panel.
Kia New Zealand general manager Todd McDonald is confident Sorento R will raise his brand's image in the SUV sector, regardless that this part of the market has taken some heavy damage over the past year.
"People who want a remarkably spacious, smooth and powerful vehicle to transport them to the ski fields with improved capability on slippery mountain tracks or to visit favourite beach spots, and be able to tow a boat or caravan without fear of getting stuck, now have it all in one package."
There's perhaps only one fly in the ointment - the updated Hyundai Santa Fe, due in a couple of weeks, is likely to take the very same drivetrain, and will be priced to compete.
What this means to you: The old car wasn't bad but the new is much better.
Such was the view of my lunch partner at the launch of the 2010 Sorento, held in Queensland the other day.
A writer for an outdoorsy mag who makes it his business never to test any vehicle without at least a couple of tonne on the hook, Mike told me the outgoing Sorento has a real following with those who take the 'sport' part of SUV really seriously. For brawn for the budget buck, they didn't come any better, he reckoned.
But those days seemed to be over, he added with a tinge of sadness. This new model we'd been driving around Coolum, Queensland, that morning?
Well, my new pal didn't want to be seen to be rude to our hosts ... but, gee, he had the feeling the blokes in the boat ramp and mountaineering club weren't going to be quite so keen on it.
With everything that made the previous car so adept at big boy towing and off-roading - the old-school body-on-frame structure, selectable four-wheel drive, low-range ratio gears and live rear axle - having been dropped, the 2010 model was definitely taking any easier road, Mike opined.
I know what he means. Now known as Sorento R (after the new R-series engine) this is definitely not the rig it used to be. What has been a useful but utilitarian workhorse hauler has become a lot more sophisticated, now.
Indeed, basically the old knockabout truck has become a new citified car. There's even a front-wheel drive model, hoped to emulate the success of the two-wheel-drive Sportage Urban. I dunno how Mike's going to break the news on that one!
Well, it's a changing world, but the world of change that has occurred to Sorento is for the better.
Perhaps the 2010 edition will lose some old friends, but arguably these are mates it no longer needs. Fact is that tall, top-heavy, flat-footed off-roaders just don't cut it with the city-bound crowd that constitute the primary clientele these days. We want style, we want pace, and we want a much easier drive.
The only way Sorento was ever going to achieve broadened appeal was to lose some bulk - a whole 215kg, in fact - and gain a lot of smarts. Which is exactly what it has done, while also delivering big advances in quality and refinement.
Price-wise, it's set to cause a stir. The range starts with the $46,990 automatic front-drive seven-seat model and the four-wheel-drive versions start at $49,990 for the manual LX five-seater, $55,990 for the auto EX seven-seater and $63,990 for the Limited seven-seater.
Undertaken at a cost of $307 million, the model's transformation would not be possible without Hyundai. There's no acknowledgement that it was Kia's parent that not only freed up the cash but also scrap-piled the old rear-drive-based chassis in favour of an architecture shared with the Santa Fe.
You'll never pick the blood-tie by sight, because of Kia's whole new look, sculpted under the direction of design guru Peter Schreyer. As smart as it appears, though the fresh skin is potentially less ultimately relevant than some of the other changes.
The big change is the adoption of a monocoque body, which allows all sorts of new structural considerations, not least with improved integrity in a crash.
Standard fare of six airbags and stability control also took Kia to a maximum five-star safety rating from Euro NCAP - the same top score it should earn from independent Australian crash test body, ANCAP, in December.
Towing capacity is reduced to between 2000kg (auto) and 2500kgs (manual) and the Sorento hasn't lost all off-road potential, though it'd be imprudent to throw it into the deepest, smelliest end of the swamp.
A hill descent control, hill start assist and a four-wheel-drive lock features now constitute the heavy end of the four-wheel-drive hardware pack. Ground clearance has dropped by 20mm, so approach and departure angles suffer accordingly. Even the tyres are now more seal-tuned.
Kia reckons it's still a tough rig, but our drive route didn't exactly hammer home the point. The 'off-road' was nothing more than simple drive through a pine forest on gravel roads that even a Corolla could have coped with.
Maybe we should have gone straight for the school zone - I suspect that's what a heap of owners will do. To reinforce its potential as an option to traditional MPVs, there's also now a seven-seat option to the standard five-pew layout.
Kia is also looking to lighten the load on owner's pockets, by revising the entire engine range. The only choice for New Zealand is a diesel, but that's no problem.
The new 2.2-litre four replacing the previous 2.5-litre produces 17 percent more power and 10 percent more torque, while using more than 20 percent less fuel. A claimed ability to sip just 6.6 litres per 100km as a manual and 7.2L/100km as an auto is of particular merit.
The new diesel puts out 145kW of power but torque differs depending on the choice of transmission. Both boxes are new but the manual can only cope with 421Nm of torque, whereas the auto - also a six-speed - gets the full-strength 445Nm. And yet it can't tow as much?
The auto is the faster model, with 0-100kmh in 10.2 seconds, but it's not easy to pick the manual as being the weaker model. In either application, the maximum muscle occurs at a low 1800rpm so acceleration is strong and refined. It'll pull effortlessly virtually from walking pace.
The manual would conceivably be the handier choice for - you know, dirty work - but the example I drove was blighted by a short travel clutch with a vicious bite. If they're all like that, I wouldn't bother. In sixth gear, it's relaxed and obviously economical.
The MacPherson strut front and multi-link rear suspension is carried over from the previous model, but has been improved, says Kia. Dirt roads present no issues for the car, but it's on the seal where greatest improvement is felt. It's still no car - the level of body rolls testifies to that, and there's a vagueness to the steering, too.
But the ride is comfortable and easily soaks up bumps and ridges. How much roar the tyres (17s or 18s, depending on the spec) will generate on our coarse chip remains to be tested. Certainly, the engine is far from vocal, and wind noise seems well-suppressed.
Looks-wise, Sorento is much more cohesive now; in fact, it's pretty sharp. Kia's new signature grille looks good here, along with wraparound black bezel headlights, while there is a simple tailgate and large lights at the rear.
The width stays the same as before, but the track has been widened front and back so that the wheels fill the wheelarches and that 10mm lower stance gives it enhanced presence. Roof rails, added as standard fare by Kia NZ, improves its appearance.
The driving position is improved by the long overdue provision of tilt and telescopic adjustable steering and although the wheelbase has been shortened, there's more room - moving the dashboard forward, pushing the tailgate back, incorporating thinner seats ... all contribute. In saying that, the top level car's twin sunroof cuts into headroom and the third row of seats is really just for kids.
Luggage space is 258 litres with all seven seats in place, 1047 litres with five seats, and 2052 litres if all but the front seats are folded - all in all, a 15 percent increase. The floor is reasonably flat.
Leather upholstery is standard to the Limited, along with dual zone climate control and a reversing camera in the Limited model that displays in the rear view mirror when reverse is selected. Other models have velour fabric and manual air conditioning and Kia maintains its policy of including the nice touch of full iPod integration. The biggest disappointment is the unfathomable, almost unreachable, location of the trip computer control on the main display panel.
Kia New Zealand general manager Todd McDonald is confident Sorento R will raise his brand's image in the SUV sector, regardless that this part of the market has taken some heavy damage over the past year.
"People who want a remarkably spacious, smooth and powerful vehicle to transport them to the ski fields with improved capability on slippery mountain tracks or to visit favourite beach spots, and be able to tow a boat or caravan without fear of getting stuck, now have it all in one package."
There's perhaps only one fly in the ointment - the updated Hyundai Santa Fe, due in a couple of weeks, is likely to take the very same drivetrain, and will be priced to compete.
What this means to you: The old car wasn't bad but the new is much better.
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