Introduction

The Kia Sorento is a mid-size SUV that packs a big V6 engine. It seats five with lots of elbow room. It's built like a truck, with a separate truck-style frame. It will go most anywhere its rivals can off road. Yet the Sorento maintains a civil attitude on the pavement. On the road or off, it is nimble and comfortable. Its long wheelbase and wide stance give it stability at high speeds and in corners. What sets the Sorento apart is its price: $5,000 to $6,000 less than comparable SUVs. Yet it comes loaded with standard features. For 2004, Kia has made the Sorento more appealing to enthusiast drivers. A manual transmission is now available and a new Sport Package adds Michelin tires, alloy wheels, fog lights, step bars, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, a roof rack, and remote keyless entry.

Walkaround

The designers of the Kia Sorento seem to have done what sometimes seems impossible in the SUV market: They designed an SUV that doesn't look like anything else. From the side, particularly around the C-pillar, there's a slight resemblance to the Lexus RX 300, but the front of the Sorento has an individual look, if somewhat suggestive of the Mercedes M-Class. From the rear, the Sorento has distinctively broad shoulders, thanks to a shoulder line that steps out and sweeps around the tailgate. The truck's width, greater than most of its competitors', is apparent from this angle. Sorento's headlights have stylish clear covers. Out back, Kia managed to do something different with the taillights, where a circle of red dots light up in a spoke-like pattern. The Sorento's front and rear overhangs are short, a sign of efficient design. Shorter overhangs are better for handling and for driving off road. The Sorento has about the same length wheelbase as a Toyota Highlander and Honda Pilot, but the Sorento is shorter in overall length. That makes for a stable platform. Visually, the Sorento EX is distinguished from the LX by color-keyed mirrors, two-tone bumpers and body cladding, fog lamps, and some bright trim inside and out.

Interior Features

The Kia Sorento is a roomy vehicle, offering exactly the same front and rear headroom, a little more rear shoulder room, and a little more leg room front and rear than the Jeep Grand Cherokee. Three adults will fit in the Sorento's back seat, with generous leg room and four cup holders. The Sorento is built to a price, however, and this is most evident in the interior fittings. The EX has splashes of woodgrain trim, which is plastic doing a poor job of imitating wood. (Then again, the woodgrain trim in the Toyota Highlander isn't that great, either.) The woodgrain surrounds the center stack on the dash and splashes of it are on the door panels. The steering wheel rim on the Luxury package Sorento is half leather, half woodgrain, where a full-leather wheel would be nicer to grip. The interior is loaded with features, however. A display on the EX provides readouts for outside temperature, compass, altitude, and barometric pressure, good for fishermen, boaters and other outdoors people. (Off-hand, we can think of no other car in history that has offered a barometer.) And there are lots of places to put stuff: An overhead console offers sunglasses storage, map lights and a garage door-opener pocket. The center console has double bins, and there are useful cubbies, including a soft-touch, slide-out storage bin and a tip-out coin bin, both felt-lined. A storage bin under front seat is standard, and the big lockable glove box has a map shelf plus the usual room. There are four power points: two up front, one for the second row and another in the cargo area. Those who frequent colder climes will appreciate the rear defroster and rear wiper, and the hot-wire windshield de-icer. The automatic shifter is easy to reach and has a straight fore-and-back pattern. The control for four-wheel drive is a twist knob on the dash to the left of the steering wheel. You can shift into low range when it gets really tough. The ignition key is on the dash, easier than fumbling to find a column-mounted keyhole behind the steering wheel. The cargo area is accessible through the main hatch, or through the glass rear window. There's another storage area under the cargo area floor. A cargo cover comes standard. The full-size spare tire is mounted under the vehicle and, if the model has alloy wheels, the spare is mounted on an alloy wheel as well. The rear seat flips and folds 60/40 to form a flat floor with a cargo capacity of 66.4 cubic feet with the rear seat folded. With the seat raised, there's 31.4 cubic feet of cargo room.