Vehicle: 2011 Kia Sorento EX-V6 Luxury
Price as tested: CDN$41145
Performance: In just over a decade, Kia has transformed from building unremarkable car like the original Sephia to a world-class carmaker. Kia has proved its worth with the impressive Soul, Forte to versatile Rondo. Kia decided its time to redesign its mid-size Sorento SUV. Is it as impressive as other products in Kia’s stable? We will find out soon.
The new Sorento is powered by both a 4 and 6-cylinder engines. While the base 2.4 liter 4-cylinder with 175hp and 169 lb/ft of torque are adequate for Sorento’s weight, its the uplevel V6 that is the engine of choice. Both of these powertrains come with Kia’s variable valve timing technology. This DOHC 3.5 liter V6 has 276 horses and 248 lb/ft of torque at driver’s right foot, which is a willing workhorse given Sorento’s 4131 lb of leather and wood-trim luxury on our EX-V6 trim. While both the horsepower and torque figures aren’t exactly class-leading, its the seat-of-the-pants feedback suggest otherwise. The throttle response is quick and linear, without feeling overly responsive. Mated with Sorento’s uplevel V6 is 6-speed Steptronic. Steptronic means manumatic in Kia’s language. It allows driver to have manual control when entering a corner for a quick downshift, however, a lack of paddle shifters on the steering means this function is redundant. Another problem is what Toyota have learned from Toyota’s playbook, always leave it at 4th gear in manumatic mode. Given its a manumatic mode, it should leave full control to the driver instead of relying on computer. However, the gear ratios are perfectly matched to this engine’s powerband. The 1st and 2nd gears are short enough for peppy acceleration. 3rd and 4th to keep the engine always in boiling while 5th and 6th are tall enough for highway cruising. Kia has wrapped all of the powertrain in a very linear, smooth and refined manners. Its level of refinement and NVH are so good, its as good as anything else from Nissan and Toyota. Which, dare I said, how sweet it is. 
Handling: Unlike the original Sorento which rides on body-on-frame structure, Kia decided its time to change it to unibody construction. The reason why Kia decided to use unibody constructon for the new Sorento is due to its impressive rigidty and stiffness given its purpose. Combined with a decent AWD system that’s able to deliver power to the offending wheel accordingly. The new Sorento basically can go anywhere else regardless of weather conditions. Its locking center differential can even improve the active safety at all driving conditions. When pushed the Sorento through corners, Sorento provides sure-footness without losing any confidence. The steering provides decent enough driver feel and feedback, its also responsive to driver input. Its ESC acts as a secondary defence to its AWD system. Whenever the AWD can’t save the vehicle from rearing its ugly heads, ESC would step in during emergency. In a nutshell, its really hard to get Sorento out of control in most driving conditions. There are some body rolls and understeer when pushed. Everything else is all well-tempted and controlled with all the electronic nannies. If there is one slight drawback, however, its the ride quality which feels firmer than most of its peers. That’s very obvious when driven the Sorento over washboard pavements and expansion joints.
Brakes: With 4-wheel discs and standard ABS, the Sorento provides better than expected braking feel and feedback. The brake feels solid and easily modulated, while ABS won’t step in unnecessarily until absolutely necessary.
Interior: With Sorento’s squared cut-off and low liftover, its luggage space is impressive when fold down both 2nd and 3rd row seats. Except for the rear glass which doesn’t open independently from the tailgate, which is a slight oversight in Kia’s part. The rest of the back has been extremely well layout.
If you intended to buy the Sorento as a 7-seater, think again! As with most SUV with 3rd row of seats, you are either carrying 7 passengers without any luggage space. Or just simply fold down the 3rd row permanently for proper luggage space.
As with most SUV with 3rd row of seats, its a torture just to sit at the back there. There is almost no headroom and legroom is a joke. Its simply a cruel punishment even for a short trip. If you just want to sit 7 persons comfortably, go buy a Rondo or Sedona instead.
The rest of the interior is finished in classy materials. Both the plastic and leather are completed in high-quality soft materials. All those switchgears have a high-quality tactical feedback whenever you turn a knob or press a button. Everything else from stereo to dual-zone climate control are initutive. Instrumentation gauges are clear and analog. The Panoramic sunroof on our EX-V6 Limited really have brighten up the interior. Without this Panoramic sunroof, our black tester would feel rather sober. With this sunroof, it opens up the whole interior amusingly.
Conclusion: Kia’s slogan is called “The Power to Surprise”. Their latest Sorento really given me lots of surprises and smiles over the day I test drove it. Its comfortable, except for the ones who have to sit at that optional 3rd row seats. It handles relatively well with a proper AWD system. The powertrain refinement is impressive. The use of materials and fit-and-finish are just plain world-class. In short, the new Sorento will be another homerun.
OVERALL VERDICT FOR 2011 Kia Sorento
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Performance: 4/5
Handling and ride/fun-to-drive: 4/5
Interior/ergonomics/user-friendliness: 4.5/5
Fit-and-finish/build quality: 4.5/5
Cargo/accessibility/layout: 4/5
Value-for-money: 4/5
Overall rating: 4/5