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The 2016 Sorento vies with the Sedona minivan as Kia's largest vehicle.
Kia calls the Sorento a crossover utility vehicle or CUV for short.
It comes in L, LX, EX, SX and limited trim models.
We have the limited trim model back here.
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With a two litre direct injection turbo charged engine, that's one of three engines available.
We also have all wheel drive, this can [UNKNOWN] has a front wheel drive as well.
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In this limited trim model we have a panoramic sunroof.
And we have two rows of seating, good for five passengers.
To get three rows for seven passengers, you need to go up to the V6 option.
That's gonna decide it for a few people.
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In the center of the dashboard here we have an eight inch touch screen.
Now this comes standard in the EX, FX and limited trim Sorento models, you don't get it in the lower trim.
I'm not crazy about this interface, we've got buttons down the sides for quick access to some of the features.
Then we also have a main menu screen.
A whole screen full of menu icons to get to the different things.
It's a little bit confusing, a little bit duplicative.
With this navigation system here, the map looks good and there's good traffic coverage.
But we don't get perspective view maps.
We only get top down view maps.
We have some app integration here so if I want to use Google search to find a destination I just hit my navi button, hit local search, and I can enter in any search term and get results.
But the way this works is it is actually tethered through my phone using my phone as the hotspot.
So you have to have a wi-fi hotspot in the car either your phone or a mobile device.
But that's what you need to make the apps work in this car.
That's not a great system because not everybody's gonna be able to figure out how to tether the car to a hot spot.
For audio sources, I have the, the typical ones.
I've got Bluetooth streaming here.
I've got a USB port down here.
I can plug in eyeless devices and USB drives for music.
I also have a USB port in the back, but that's only for charging.
That's not actually connected to the audio system.
I've got HD radio and Satellite radio as well.
And this top trim Sorento comes with a 12 speaker Infinity audio system, 630 watts so that's a lot of a good sound quality there.
And Kia's also included a system called Clarify.
This is an audio technology that actually tries to bring back some of the lost sound in highly compressed audio files.
I've noticed.
That audio sounds a lot better when plugged into the USB port rather than playing through Bluetooth [UNKNOWN].
I think that's because it's reconstructing some of the lost detail in compressed audio files.
So I like that.
Now see what happens when I put it in reverse.
I get this nicely detailed surround view camera system so I can see behind me.
I can see a top down view of the car.
And I also press these buttons to get different views.
I can see straight behind me.
I can see of a corner of the car and if I put put it in drive while the camera mode is on and I'm creeping forward, I can actually see a front view of the car in front of me, so that's convenient.
I also have adaptive cruise control and a blind spot monitoring system in this car with the tech package.
And finally on my ischema/sp cluster, I've got an LCD panel for my speedometer.
There's real analog gauges on either side, but the center is pure LCD, and you get a nice little informational display which shows you audio or navigation or whatever you want to switch it to.
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I mentioned the two liter, four cylinder engine under the hood of this car.
That's got direct injection as do the other engine options for the Sorrento.
And it also has the turbo charger, so that gets us 240 horsepower, 260 [UNKNOWN] of torque, which is decent for this vehicle, almost to the level of the V6.
That's made into a six speed automatic transmission.
And we've got a manual mode here so I can choose gears.
That takes the place of a low-range idea, so if I need third gear or second gear, I can choose those.
This goes through an all-wheel drive system in this vehicle.
It's actually a front-wheel drive platform, but they run power to the rear wheels, and torque will shift between the front and rear axles automatically, depending on if there's wheel slip.
Now I have a button on the console where I can actually lock the differential and get 50% of the torque to front and rear.
I'll want to do that if I'm in a situation where I really need power in all four wheels, like if I'm stuck in snow or sand, something like that.
With this driveline I get 19 miles per gallon city, 25 miles per gallon highway.
And not the greatest numbers in the world.
Driving the car, I've noticed that it doesn't really take off very fast when you're making a rolling acceleration.
So, right now I'll just punch it, and it takes a little while to pick up.
And that's because the, automatic transmission takes a little while to.
Add the extra oomph that you need there.
It takes a little while to shift down.
I've got to say overall the driving character of the Sorrento is very nice and comfortable.
Doesn't take much thought, which-.
This is kinda the idea behind these kind of cars, you just get in and go.
All right, let's price out our 2016 Kia Sorento.
Now, base model and L trim with the 2.4 liter, 4 cylinder engine would go for $24,900.
We've taken a big leap up to the Limited trim model with that 2 liter turbo charged engine.
This sells for $39,900 base.
We've added All Wheel Drive for $1,800 and that Tech Package with Adaptive Cruise Control and the Surround View Camera System for $2,500 dollars.
That puts us, with destination, at a total of $45,095.
That's a big chunk of money but this is a pretty well equipped, pretty nice SUV.
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