It’s
not easy to stay competitive in the hotly contested world of crossover
vehicles, but the Kia Sorento
is managing to remain one of the best.
Of
course, “best” is a relative term in a category where there just aren’t any bad
vehicles these days. Most crossovers look and drive so much alike that only
subtle differences set them apart.
On the
2015 Sorento, three
things impress me:
— The
direct-injected V6 engine and six-speed transmission make a perfect couple.
Acceleration feels smooth, confident and sophisticated with 290 horsepower and
crisp shifts. Highway fuel economy of 25 mpg is a nice bonus with all that
power.
— Kia’s digital interface, called
UVO, is ridiculously easy to use. Most of today’s cars come with touchscreen
systems that can add needless steps to complete simple operations, but I found
UVO to be simple and intuitive when linking up with my iPhone. If you’re the
kind of person who doesn’t want to read a book to learn how to change the radio
station, you’ll love this system.
— Kia’s warranty coverage is
awesome. With 10 years or 100,000 miles of protection on the powertrain and
five years or 60,000 miles on the basic warranty, it’s some of the best “peace
of mind” in the car industry.
While
my V6-powered test car was wonderfully devoid of weaknesses, there’s one thing
I wish could be improved in the lineup: the four-cylinder base engine.
The
2.4-liter four-cylinder makes roughly 100 horsepower less than the six-cylinder
does, but it’s only rated for 2 mpg better than the V6 at 27 on the highway.
For that kind of power tradeoff, I’d prefer to get somewhere in the 30-mpg
range, so the V6 seems like the much more appealing option to me.
Other
than that, there’s just not much to complain about on this crossover.
The interior
has a tight feel, comfortable seats and the kind of soft-touch materials that
have become expected in this competitive class. Its body is attractive enough,
if not particularly distinctive, and its steering and brakes feel spot on.
There
aren’t many changes for 2015 because, frankly, this car doesn’t need them. It
got a major update for 2014 that included a revised chassis and suspension,
fresh interior and new powertrain, making it as close to an “all-new” car as
you can get, really. All those improvements helped it remain a top contender.
For the
2015 model, the four-cylinder engine
was tweaked to provide slightly better gas mileage — although still not as efficient
as I’d prefer — and its UVO electronic system was updated to the latest
version.
Overall,
this crossover does what it’s supposed to do. It’s powerful, refined,
comfortable and reasonably spacious for hauling families and all their stuff.
Pricing
starts at $24,300 for the base LX model and ranges up
to $39,900 for the luxurious Limited trim.
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