Looking only at the spec sheets, it's easy to dismiss the
However, in practice the vehicles are quite different. They're both big girls, but the angular Sorento is something of a sexier, younger sister to the Santa Fe's more dour and homely visage. The Kia's firmer suspension tune means that she's also the more agile sister and--identical horsepower numbers be damned--we'd swear she also has a bit more pep in her step. Available fold flat third-row seating also means that the Sorento is also the more flexible of the two. Flexibility is always good.
Perhaps we've gotten a bit carried away with the "hot sister" metaphor, but our point is that we like the Sorento so much more than we did the Santa Fe (at least in front-wheel-drive configuration). But how does the young CUV stack up against the competition from Toyota and Honda?
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Discuss: 2011 Kia Sorento EX: The Santa Fe's sexier sister
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