2018 Kia Sorento GT-Line S Review

Driven: 2018 Kia Sorento GT-Line S 2.2 CRDi 8-Speed Review

These times, we have usage of Kia’s latest model, the Sorento. Can this flagship SUV be the standout choice in a competitive market?

What’s the Kia Sorento GT-Line S about?

Look, everybody will be saying a similar thing. Ten years or two ago, a Kia will be an option for all those with limited funds who just need to get from A to B. These were often mocked because of their shoddy quality and horrendous selection of materials. But again, these were inexpensive and were under warranty, so people didn’t care how dreary these were.

Fast forward ten years, and things have shifted. Kia was the 10th biggest selling car manufacturer in 2017, before brands like Honda and MINI, and just behind Hyundai and Toyota. With justification too, as they’ve seriously in leaps and bounds since that time. A Kia is now able to be just as viable a choice as a Ford or Volkswagen.

Now Kia have launched the all-new Sorento. They’ve adorned it with a fresh look and brought it up to the premium segment. Actually, seemingly right at the throat of Land Rover, yikes. Can the Sorento dethrone the king?

The Kia Sorento nails the complete premium SUV look. It includes a suave style, leaning extremely slightly towards the brutish end. It features the giant Kia signature ‘tiger nose’ lower grille, giving it an intimidating presence. But it combines the muscular front fascia with a sleek, sweeping roofline that follows to the rear. The trunk isn’t as exciting, but it’s inoffensive.

Sealing the complete aesthetics of our range-topping Kia Sorento GT-Line S is ‘Gravity Blue’. This deep shade of blue gives it an executive finish, consistent with other available colours in the Sorento range. This might alter the public’s perception of the model. Sitting on 19″ five spokes alloy wheels wrapped around 235/55 tyres with bending headlights, it includes a dynamic feel.

The powertrain possibilities on the brand new Kia Sorento are very limited. Every UK model irrespective of its trim level includes Kia’s 2.2-litre turbodiesel inline-4 engine. It usually is on the previous Sorento and older Hyundai SUVs, this time around featuring fourth-generation common rail injection. It produces 197 bhp and 441 Nm of torque.

An eight-speed automatic transmission may be the only available option for the GT-Line models. It’s up two gears from the prior Sorento, and commensurate with today’s premium vehicles. It powers all wheels, propelling the SUV from 0-60 mph in 9.1 seconds, with a high speed of 127 mph.

It’s much less efficient as its rivals though, mustering 43.5 mpg and emitting 170 g/km of C02.

How does it drive?

The engine is powerful enough nevertheless, you need to wait until around 2,000 rpm for the torque to activate. Despite its heavy build, the automobile will not struggle when tackling inclines or overtaking on the motorway.

The engine might not be as refined as you anticipate. You will surely hear it while standing beside it. However, when driving, it’ll happily thrum along at a muted pitch. If you don’t really strangle the engine, you won’t feel even the slightest buzz through the driver inputs.

The 8-speed automatic transmission is understandably tamed. The shifts should never be hurried, it’s very soft and gentle. It chooses the proper gear usually, keeping the revs low and engine quiet. Perhaps a little too lax for spirited drives.

Because it weighs two tonnes, the Kia Sorento isn’t really at the leading edge of sportiness. It’s no agile car, it wallows around corners, but never feels threatening.

With ingenious four-wheel drive, the Kia Sorento has a lot of traction to manoeuvre around corners confidently. It feels very secure, however, not assertive enough to inspire confidence in the driver. In the end, the suspension is optimised for comfort instead of B-roads.

It includes a supple ride, negotiating speed bumps easily. However, if the street is specially perilous, the large 19″ wheels of the GT-Line S begin to upset the ride. The suspension doesn’t react quite quickly enough to cope with successive undulations. It never gets too aggravating though.

The Kia Sorento was muted throughout. Wind noise would only penetrate the cabin at high speeds. Road noise also becomes audible, maybe because of the large wheels again.

Overall, the Sorento felt pleasant to operate a vehicle. It’s particularly obedient to driver inputs, which can be an important trait that big, ungainly SUVs commonly lack. The steering is inert when used but it’s responsive and precise.

What is it truly like inside?

The within of the Sorento is where Kia have really excelled. That is especially very important to the brand as the inside is an integral area of the experience when breaking in to the luxury end of the marketplace.

It includes a welcoming mixture of leather upholstery and soft-touch materials. Of course, this being the priciest model, you may expect leather seats, with a 10-way power adjustable driver’s seat and an 8-way adjustable passenger seat. The seats have become comfortable even on long journeys, with a lot of side support when tackling corners.

As you’d expect, space is plentiful with ample leg and headroom in leading of the automobile.

The clean design found inside other Kia models exists here aswell. The dashboard is quite uncluttered and symmetrical, with only an 8″ touchscreen infotainment system with a provision of buttons and dual-zone climate control found here.

This being the most notable of the number model, it incorporates a variety of tech, including: Park assist, heated seats, 360-degree cameras, adaptive cruise control, a 10-speaker Harman Kardon audio system and a panoramic sunroof. The inside is trimmed with a combined mix of palatable contrast stitching, satin chrome accents and piano black plastic.

Build quality is quite robust and everything is on a par with Kia’s European rivals. The rearmost seats fold easily with an individual tug on the straps on the seat backs. When you can only just access the rearmost seats in one side, it’s a simple process.

With the press of a button, the electric boot opens up to reveal a modest cargo space. But fold the trunk seats, and a cavernous 605-litres of luggage space will be produced accessible to you. It’s worth noting that assuming you have the keys and stand at the base of the Sorento, the electric boot will open automatically after a brief delay.

THE KNOWLEDGE

As the Kia Sorento didn’t provide a particularly captivating driving experience, this is a viable option. The automobile is quite restrained, it looks good, it drives well, and it’s very practical.

I particularly liked the actual fact that though it had traction control, it’s never intrusive even though under unfortunate circumstances. Kia touted this fact too, stating that torque is redirected swiftly to guarantee the Sorento is always planted before Electronic Speed Control intervenes.

Verdict

So, may be the Kia Sorento GT-Line S worthwhile? The price is a difficult pill to swallow, starting at £40,000. This places it squarely amongst some stiff competition, like the Audi Q5 S-Line, Land Rover Discovery Sport HSE, Peugeot 5008 GT and Škoda Kodiaq.

However, for the purchase price, you do get yourself a nice seven-seater SUV with the great features you’d expect from reduced car. That is an evolution for Kia.

At the other end of the spectrum, a base Sorento KX-1 continues to be a well-equipped car at £29,000. You get the same engine, seven seats, alloy wheels, All Wheel Drive and cruise control. I’d pick the KX-2 for £3000 more though, as you get leather upholstery, 8″ satnav and dual-zone climate control. Fork out a little more for the KX-3 and you’d get largely the same features as the GT-Line S.

To summarize, the Kia Sorento is an extremely competitive option for the low trims. It’s an excellent no-nonsense car that’s extremely practical with a seven year guarantee.