I promised a little review of the KIA Sorento over the weekend, so here it is.

Driving

The Sorento drives very well for a car of it’s size. There is certainly under steer when cornering with any sort of aggression, but that is to be expected. The 2.5 4 cylinder diesel lump has plenty of torque and allows you to sit comfortably at motorway speeds without too much droning and wind noise. The gearbox has a relatively long throw, but this is common in 4×4’s. Fuel economy seems pretty good on the diesel engine; would hazard the 3.5ltr petrol would be a little less thrifty.

Style

Like I mentioned before it’s certainly no Range Rover Sport but it does look OK. There is certainly a passing resemblance to the Lexus RX300 from the front.  There is plenty of room inside and everything seems bolted together with no squeaks or rattles (the car has done 12000 miles, so this is a good sign).

4×4

I had very little chance to test these abilities. However the little green laneing I did worked out fine, the ground clearance is not as high as it could probably be, but the overhangs are not large so it should be difficult to beach on that front.

Spec

The spec I had is the XE 2.5d version, the kit included was fine (multi changer, some leather etc) there are 4 airbags, ABS, EBD, self levelling suspension, LSD, Alloys, fog lamps, air-con and a remote glass tailgate opening.

Overall

I would give this a good [rate 7.5].There is a lot of car for the 19,000 pound asked, however you could probably look at a 3 year old Range Rover for the same money. Hop along to the website and have a look for yourself.