I give up, the crossover utility vehicle is new station wagon. There I said it. For what seems like forever, I’ve been advocating the station wagon over SUVs and crossovers. However with the distinct exception of Volkswagen’s Jetta/Golf Sportwagen, Americans steadfastly refuse to buy them, even when an automaker like GM builds one as awesome as the late Cadillac CTS-V. Thus I am giving up the battle and accepting defeat. Buying cars is often an irrational choice but modern crossovers like the latest Kia Sorento have overcome most of my complaints and are about as rational as many customers will get.
My long-time irritation with SUVs and crossovers dates back to the days when they quite frankly were terrible vehicles to drive. Even if they didn’t outright rollover, they had a disconcerting tendency to feel tippy while changing direction. I, like most people never went off-roading with vehicles and had no need or desire to drive old-school SUVs. In the course of my engineering career working on electronic slip control systems (ABS, traction and stability control) I worked on a lot of SUVs and none could match the driving dynamics of even the most mundane of cars.
OK, this is the modern station wagon
However, starting with the introduction of the first car-based crossovers like the original Toyota RAV4 in the mid-1990s, the equation has changed. Consumers that liked the taller stance of traditional SUVs but not the terrible ride quality, mediocre packaging and thirst for fuel had a new option. Over the years, crossovers have steadily improved and now pretty much match the capabilities of my favored station wagons. Aside from sitting taller and still using more fuel, there isn’t much to distinguish a modern crossover from a wagon that might be made from the same car-based platform.
When Kia developed the original Sorento midsize utility, that debuted in 2003, they followed the old-school rear/four-wheel-drive body-on-frame formula. By the time the second generation arrived as a 2010 model the Korean brand had adopted the modern front/all-wheel-drive unibody template and the latest edition that came to us for 2015 has received a similar level of refinement to the rest of the company’s lineup. Like the other Kias I drove in 2015, the Sorento is fully competitive with the best in their respective segments.
The design of the Sorento is a reinterpretation of the last model that takes the visual themes that Kia has been developing for most of the last decade and adds a bit more sophistication. The sharply creased sheetmetal of the first generation of models developed at the end of the last decade under the guidance of design chief Peter Schreyer has been softened slightly. At the same time, the lines and the surfaces have a bit more curvature, giving the shapes a sense of muscularity and sophistication. The changes are subtle in isolation, but the overall impact is quite noticeable.
Kia’s design language is growing up with subtle detailing
From the compact Forte to the Sedona minivan to the midsize Sorento crossover, there is also more attention to details. This runs from the chrome perimeter that separates it from the surrounding sheetmetal to the sculpting around the fog lamps and the detailing in the rear lamp clusters. Clearly, someone has spent time on shaping this vehicle without simply throwing spaghetti at the wall. A careful editing eye ensures that it doesn’t look overwrought.
Similarly the cabin has been upgraded with improved materials and a thoughtful design that makes the most important controls easily accessible without creating clutter. The touchscreen radio is flanked by columns of switches to provide direct access to the most used functions without resorting to the screen itself. Just they should be, rotary knobs are used for volume and tuning. Below that, physical controls with rotary knobs for temperature provide easy management of the climate control. At the bottom a row of switches allow the driver and passenger to manage the available heated/ventilated seats and the heated steering wheel.
Click here to compare the Sorento to some of its competition
The comfortable and supportive seats are wrapped in a merlot Nappa leather the high-end SXL trim and that heated wheel gains temperature rapidly, a bonus on cold winter mornings. My tester was equipped with the standard 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine which means it has two rows of seats. The second row has ample head, leg and shoulder room for three adults. Those that need a small third row of seats will need to step up to a V6-powered Sorento.
Kia’s infotainment systems are similar to Hyundai’s with the same basic user interface graphics. The design is clear and legible and the screen is relatively responsive. Like most automotive embedded voice control systems, the vocabulary and ability to recognize variations on point-of-interest names for navigation is limited. It also requires you to go through multiple steps to enter a destination unlike using Apple Siri or Google Now. So far Kia hasn’t indicated when they will add support for Android Auto or Apple CarPlay although now that Hyundai has begun its rollout, it should arrive sometime in 2016.
Over the past decade, the nature of in-vehicle entertainment has evolved significantly. Previous generations of this type of vehicle typically offered rear-seat entertainment packages with screens to allow kids to watch movies or play games on the road. Now that almost everyone has a smartphone, tablet, laptop or some combination of the three, passengers can bring their own media into the vehicle and the most important thing is making sure that the batteries don’t run out. Recognizing this, Kia has the situation covered. A storage bin below the dashboard has a USB port and dual 180-watt, 12-volt outlets. Another USB and 12-volt outlet can be found in the bin under the center armrest and rear seat passengers have access to a USB, 12-volt port along with a 110-volt AC outlet. Device power on the road should not be a problem.
The $2,500 technology package includes HID headlamps
The Sorento I drove came with the $2,500 technology package that includes HID headlamps, radar-based adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning and a surround view monitor system. While visibility out of the Sorento is generally very good, the downside of any taller utility vehicle is limited ability to see what is immediately around the perimeter of the vehicle. Here, the multi-camera systems that provide a birds-eye view around the vehicle are extremely helpful both for maneuvering and avoiding running over bicycles in the driveway or worse, children. The adaptive cruise control system used by Kia is a full-speed system that will bring the car to a complete stop and resume with a tap of the button on the steering wheel and the deceleration is smooth and seamless.
Kia has taken a slightly different approach to its midsize crossover from sister brand Hyundai. During its last redesign, Hyundai split the Santa Fe into two models, the four-cylinder five-passenger Sport and the longer V6-powered, three-row version without a suffix. At 109.4-inch wheelbase and 187.4-inch length, the Sorento splits the difference between the Santa Fe variants and offers both engine types and seating configurations.
The 2.0-liter turbo in my Sorento tester is an updated version of the unit found in the Santa Fe Sport I drove last summer. While rated output is down slightly to 240-horsepower and 260 lb.-ft. compared to the Santa Fe, it’s probably a more accurate representation of true capability. The compression ratio has been increased to 10.0:1 and despite hauling around nearly 600-pounds more mass than the Hyundai, the Sorento felt significantly more responsive than the smaller model. The Kia isn’t going to run with the likes of the 2.7-liter Ecoboost-powered Ford Edge Sport, but it has more than adequate performance for daily driving and schlepping the kids to school and family vacation road trips loaded with gear.
The EPA rates the Sorento at 22 mpg city, 32 mpg highway and 25 mpg combined. I saw a very impressive 27 mpg during my week of driving the Sorento which carried a very reasonable as-tested sticker price of $36,615. Dynamically it exhibits none of the bad behavior of old-school SUVs with a comfortable ride, well controlled body motions and good solid steering and brake feel. It’s certainly not as sporting as some of the high-end utilities available today but it doesn’t embarrass itself either. While a still prefer a lower ride height, I could learn to live with something like the Sorento. Having said all that, fashions change and just as station wagons gave way to minivans and then to SUVs and now crossovers, who knows what’s next? Maybe the wagon will come back, or the new vans coming from Chrysler and Honda in 2016 will take things in a new direction.
Click here for full specifications of the 2016 Kia Sorento
