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Qashqai quasher? Image by Julian Mackie.

Qashqai quasher?
Kia has moved the goalposts for the all-new Sorento, setting its sights on families instead of farmers. Can it succeed?

   



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| First Drive | Vienna, Austria | 2010 Kia Sorento |

Let's face it, not many of those thinking about buying a Nissan Qashqai at the moment is also planning a trip to a Kia dealership. Well, from February that could change, because today's bargain utilitarian 4x4 will become next year's SUV-type crossover when the new Sorento hits showrooms.

Yet that's a bigger gamble than you might think: Kia has shifted 900,000 Sorentos worldwide, despite it lumbering along on an antiquated chassis and hardly enjoying the visual appeal of the average WAG's face. Making it two-wheel drive as standard and marketing it at up and coming family buyers might just backfire spectacularly; it will have to be good.

In the Metal

The Sorento looks tidy rather than attractive. Kia's stylists have clearly been ordered to rein in the sort of cartoonish excess that gives the Soul its unique brio. At the same time, the Sorento's lines manage to conceal rather well the fact that it's a pretty large car, and from no angle does it look ugly or ungainly. Inside it's a similarly well-resolved piece of cabin design, albeit without much flair.

Unfortunately, run your finger along the top-level plastics and where you might expect to feel something spongy (read: premium), what you actually get is scratchiness; it's as hard and archetypically oriental as Bruce Lee. It's a shame too, because the looks suggest something better. Essentially it's like a grown up Soul, in the pejorative sense.

On the positive side, the clean cabin design makes all the controls simple to find and reach, and the driving position has plenty of adjustment so it's easy to get comfy. It's also a very well packaged, erm, package. Available with five or seven seats, choose the former and you're endowed with a substantial boot that has a flat loading deck, handily concealing a big under-floor compartment. It's the usual story with seven seats: minimal third row legroom and boot space in exchange for the extra occupant capacity.

In the Metal

This is a Kia, so value is its aim. And that means prices should be reasonable, kit generous, running costs low and warranties long. It doesn't hit the shelves until February 2010 though, so price and spec are to be confirmed, but Kia reckons there'll only be negligible increases compared to the current car, and it's likely a 2.4-litre petrol engine will be offered from launch alongside the diesel. Nobody will buy it of course, but it's nice to have the choice.

At present it looks like two trim levels will be offered - LX and EX - with the former well equipped and the latter slightly more so; the luxury stuff is on the options list. Standard kit includes 17-inch alloys, air conditioning, electric door mirrors, a remote tailgate release, and both a USB and an iPod socket. Downhill Brake Control, which automatically limits the speed to 5mph on steep downward inclines, is standard too. Opt for EX and you add front fog lamps, dual-zone climate control, and a leather wheel and gearstick top. Oddly, the steering wheel only adjusts for reach on the EX model, which essentially reserves basic comfort for higher-end buyers.

Driving it

Kia has ditched the current car's body-on-frame chassis and replaced it with a modern monocoque that basically improves every element of the driving experience, as well as reducing weight (by 215kg, if you must know) - to the benefit of performance and fuel consumption.

And it shows, because the ride, handling and refinement are greatly improved. It isn't perfect though: it thankfully resists rolling about like a dingy at sea - as we feared it would - but the trade-off is a good dose of cabin vibration on any road less than perfect. That said, we briefly drove a front-wheel drive petrol model that seemed to fare better at smoothing out roads, but we'll reserve the right to change our minds on that until we try one in the UK. Whichever engine / drivetrain combo you opt for, however, there's too much wind noise from the front pillars at high speed, as well as tyre roar, making it a fairly noisy thing on the motorway.

But you can see what Kia is trying to do. The maker claims improved off-road performance for the 4x4 version, which we didn't get the chance to verify beyond a few gravely stretches between fields, but it's on-road manners are much better and it makes a decent case for itself as a spacious, comfortable and relatively economical family car in front-wheel drive diesel form. We'd probably push buyers towards an auto gearbox too, because the new six-speeder is a good match with the diesel in that it seems to select the most appropriate gear at all times - and that's all we ask of these things; it's surprising how often that seemingly simple task is just too difficult.

Worth Noting

The Sorento has been awarded the coveted five-star Euro NCAP rating - further boosting its credentials as a big family car, particularly as it scored highly for child impact protection. It's the third Kia in a row to get the award, and the result of the maker's apparent efforts to become Korea's answer to Volvo. Electronic stability control is standard, as is the downhill brake control mentioned earlier, six airbags (including curtain ones, which, as it happens, a Mercedes safety engineer we spoke to recently claims are absolutely imperative), tyre pressure monitoring and electronic brakeforce distribution. So, your nippers are safe.

Summary

There isn't much wrong with the new Sorento, and in fact, if Kia does as it's suggesting and sets prices with value for money in mind, it will look like a shrewd purchase among the competition. However, it will have to be really cheap to undercut the well-priced Qashqai, and if it isn't then we'd recommend the Nissan. The Kia might have no one devastating flaw, but neither does it excel in any area.

Mark Nichol - 3 Sep 2009



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2010 Kia Sorento. Image by Julian Mackie.
 

2010 Kia Sorento. Image by Julian Mackie.
 

2010 Kia Sorento. Image by Julian Mackie.
 

2010 Kia Sorento. Image by Julian Mackie.
 

2010 Kia Sorento. Image by Julian Mackie.
 

2010 Kia Sorento. Image by Julian Mackie.
 

2010 Kia Sorento. Image by Julian Mackie.
 

2010 Kia Sorento. Image by Julian Mackie.
 






 

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