When we were given the Sorento, we decided to take it for a road trip and what better place than Oklahoma state. We drove to Chicksaw National Recreation Area by the Lake of the Arbuckles. it was a 2hrs and 34 minutes drive with a total of 159 miles, so that could give us a good feel how this car performs in highway as well as city from everyday commute.
[ads id=”0″ style=”float:left;padding:9px;”]We will start from the outside design, the Sorento has received a sleek and very clean upgrade on the front. The headlights has new changes that compliments its design, for example the LED DRL in top the low beam projector and high beam reflector give that aggressive look, and reducing the size of the orange reflector and making it less prominent compare to the previous Sorento acquire a new look most car enthusiast will enjoy.
The fog lights are a vertical rectangular shape with no black bezel around them, compare to the previous Sorento flowing better with the new bumper, the front grill remains the same with the tiger nose shape but with thinner outside lines and more visible honeycomb grill. All of these changes are has a very different look for just a facelift.
While the side design still looks the same, Kia has made some changes on the back too. You will find a new design taillights but this time with an upgrade, they are LED. The design of them make a line above the license plate where previously a chrome was found. Also you will find a new lower fascia that has almost the same design the front has with the fog lights.
The engine chosen for this Sorento was the 3.3L V6 GDI known as Lamba II or G6DH, producing 294 HP @ 6,000 RPM and 255 lb-ft of torque @ 5,200 RPM. this engine was originately introduce on the 2012 Hyundai Azera but is now present for the first time in the Sorento in the LX v6, EX v6, SX and SX-L model. The transmission married to this engine is an electronically controlled 6 speed automatic with Sportmatic also the Sorento is AWD for those fun off road situations.
While driving the Sorento the shifting was very smooth and going thru traffic as well as passing other on the freeways was no problem whatsoever and using the Sportmatic actually was fun this time because the lag was minimal when changing gears. One thing you will notice when shifting to Sportmatic is the numbers in the speedometer will change to italics.
The interior was all black leather with some wood accents, it was not real wood but still was a nice touch for the interior. Once inside the Sorento it felt really great, the seats were really comfortable but one think i should mention is the space for the driver seat. I’m 6″ tall and I had to slide the seat all the way to back but once there i didn’t had any problems with the steering wheel or pedals but if you are taller than me you might have a slight problem.
Kia is now adding more technology to their new models and the 2015 Sorento is not exception. On the SX package you will find 8″ screen for the Infotainment system for music, movies and navigation, but that’s not the only screen because Kia has added a 7″ screen on the cluster for the speedometer and on the middle it’ll show different information such as the millage, mpg, radio station, compass, maintenance service and setup. Infinity was the company chosen for the surround sound system and for all the music I played it was great, definitely no need to add any subwoofer if you are into audio.
The Sorento is not all looks and here is a list of safety features:
-Dual Front Airbags
-Front Seat-Mounted Side Airbags
-Side Curtain Airbags (1st and 2nd row)
-Front Active Headrests
-Antilock Brake System (ABS)
-Traction Control System (TCS)
-Electronic Stability Control (ESC)
-Hill-start Assist Control (HAC)
-Tire Pressure Monitor System (TPMS)
One of the features I used the most of the road trip besides the panoramic sunroof which gave us a really nice view of sky was the heated and ventilated front seats, since temperature was close to the 3 digits and we all know black leather tends to get hot this helped me a lot on the road trip as well as my regular city commute.
Sitting on the back is really comfortable and having those sunshade actually does helps a lot, and if you have kids then that’s actually a most since you will buy one eventually. Having the electric outlet is actually very helpful because that can be use for those playing devices or if in a road trip, charge laptop or the camera. These fold 40/20/40
The third row seats are great but I would advice any adult seating there because of the very limited space for your legs. But for kids, you will find everything they need like rear air conditioning as well as some cigarette lighter socket for charging any electronic device.
Final thoughts
The MSRP for this Sorento is 38,300 and even tho it might be expensive, all the features you are getting is worth the price. One feature I love and is missing is the tilt down side mirror when in reverse, it comes very handy. The MPG even tho is not the greatest compare to the competition, the competition doesn’t have as much horsepower as this 3.3L V6 have. The facelift made this car more appealing and I’m sure more people will be looking at this CUV for their purchase.
Remember Kia has now release a teaser of the new Kia Sorento, so stay tuned for the last information.
