Kia Sorento review: For the family man

The Kia Sorento is a muscular SUV with room for the whole family and a hybrid powertrain to save the family money.

What's Great

• Excellent fuel mileage for a car of this size, averaging 17.7km/L during our test.
• Lots of equipment as standard, such as wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a Bose sound system, heated and ventilated seats, a gigantic panoramic sunroof, and adaptive cruise control with driving assist.
• It has a touch-sensitive control panel that can be toggled between infotainment and climate controls, a solution we prefer over a full-on screen.

What's Good

• While it is a little funny that a vehicle that looks this rugged and muscular only has front-wheel drive, it does help with the fuel efficiency and the range you get from a tank.
• A third row of seats is useful for larger families, and you can lower the rear seats down for more storage space anyway, though the size of the third row means it's reserved more for children than adults.
• One of the most well-rounded 7-seater SUVs on the market today. 

What's Not Great

• Though efficient, the Sorento's 1.6-litre, turbocharged hybrid engine with a combined 212hp is a little weak for a car of its size and carrying capacity, with a century sprint clocking in at a leisurely 9.3 seconds.

The Kia Sorento is definitely a large car, but at just under 5m long and 2m wide, it avoids going into unwieldy territory and is still easy to drive around town and in tighter carparks, especially with the aid of the Surround View Monitor that's included as standard.

The Sorento is powered by a 1.6-litre, turbocharged, four-cylinder engine mated to an electric motor and a six-speed automatic gearbox. Combined, the powertrain puts out 212hp and 366Nm of torque.

A seven-seater SUV is a great alternative for the minivan-shunning family man, thanks to sharper looks and comparable cabin space for children and other belongings.

The Sorento's interior is very well laid out, with generous use of physical buttons, a refreshing change from the industry trend of having everything on a screen. The actual infotainment screen is no less functional or capable in this car, too, as compared to any of those screen-heavy offerings.

The ride quality of the Sorento is distinguished and unbothered by imperfections in the road, perfect for not waking the baby.

The third row of the Sorento has two reasonably large seats, though legroom is still at a premium. Both seats have Isofix anchor points, though, so small children can be put back here without issue.

With the rear seats up, cargo space is a usable but fairly limited 179 litres. However, you can lower either or both of the rear seats to get up to 708 litres of boot space, highlighting versatility as one of the benefits of having a 7-seater SUV.

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This article was first published in Motorist.