[MUSIC PLAYING]
ELANA SCHERR: Last time I drove the Sorento,
I called it functional but not inspired.
That's hardly flattering.
For 2021, Kia's small three-row SUV
is back with a tough new look.
Like Sandy at the end of the movie Grease.
Has Kia taken the Sorento from basic to bombshell?
It's only one way to find out.
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The previous Sorento was fine.
As in, it looked fine.
It was sort of rounded.
Sort of squared.
Not really minivan-shaped.
But not like a beefy SUV either.
The 2021 redesign makes the Sorento look
more like Kia's big SUV, the Telluride.
With tall, upright fenders, dramatic lighting and grill,
and these chiseled side panels.
Kind of elegant and tough at the same time.
I know that looks are subjective,
but I think it would be hard to find anyone
who doesn't think that this is an aesthetic improvement
over the last one.
I mean, I guess maybe the designer of the last one.
Sorry, buddy.
Kia gives us a lot to choose from with this car.
The Sorento comes in five different trim levels.
This here, is the very tippy top.
SX Prestige X-line.
The SX Prestige gets 20-inch wheels, LED taillights.
LED headlights are standard starting with LX.
And a bunch of interior upgrades that we'll get to in a minute.
The X-line is the off-road package.
So this Sorento is all-wheel drive.
It also has a snow mode and smoked silver
trim, which will clearly make it more capable when
going off-pavement.
Perhaps more importantly, it has 8.2 inches of ground clearance,
rather than a measly 6.9.
There is not a speed bump in town that is going to stop us.
Queen of the shopping center, right here.
Do these cosmetic changes run deep?
Let's take a look inside.
What makes the Sorento unique among smaller SUVs,
like the RAV4 and the CRV, is that it's
just a little bit bigger on the outside.
But it also has a third row.
I can't even remember anything about the previous version
Sorento interior.
There's not any part of the car that looks cheaper or more
expensive than any other part.
The materials are all softish.
There's some nice trim pieces.
Which probably tells you everything
you need to know about it.
The 2021 Model is going to be much more memorable.
We've got embossed leather, metal and wood
inserts, a large touch screen, and many well-placed USB ports.
You could charge everything you own in here.
Not only does the Sorento have a lot of charging port,
it also has a lot of cupholders.
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8.
That is a lot of beverages.
I feel hydrated just thinking about it.
Judging a car by charging ports and cupholders
does seem kind of silly at first glance.
But just wait until you're on a road trip and everybody's
got to charge their iPhone, iPad, Android phone,
USB-powered George Foreman grill.
Plus they need a space to keep their water bottle,
and like six different energy drinks.
It actually is useful.
There aren't very many constants in life.
But you can never have too many cupholders.
And charging ports.
I mentioned that my fancy-shmancy Prestige
trim here got a whole bunch of interior upgrades.
Like this panoramic sunroof, 10 and 1/4-inch touch screen.
And a digital gauge cluster that does cool
animations for you when you change driving modes.
These leather seats are heated and cooled.
It has a 12-speaker Bose stereo and a 360-degree camera.
For parking, or just for admiring the top of the car.
When you get to the top-of-the-line stuff,
you really do get just like a laundry list of options.
And some of them are useful and some of them
are just kind of gimmicks.
But one thing that I can say about all of the Kias
that I've been in recently, and in particular the Sorento,
the layout is just really smart.
It's not just that it has a bunch of USB ports,
it's that they're in the right place to use them.
You know there's three up here.
Right where you would keep your phone.
So your cord isn't going to be tangled up
with your shifter running across the console.
And then you've got cupholders.
And you've got another little pocket here
that would work to put a phone or work for the key fob.
Normally I'm not really a fan of like, specific usage cubbies.
I don't like to be told what to do.
I don't want to keep my sunglasses up there,
console designer.
I don't want to.
But I got to admit this spot right here,
perfectly designed for sunglasses
and exactly where I want them to be.
So, all right, I'll follow your rules, Sorento.
One last thing.
In my love affair with charging ports.
These guys right here, in the back of the seat.
That's brilliant.
That's so smart.
Because not only is it easier to get to if you're
sitting in the second row.
If for some reason you need to plug in something for, say,
a smaller child who's in the second row,
you can do it without having to reach back here.
Or turn around or look what you're doing.
Just reach it right there.
So smart.
The updated Sorento has four engine options.
Gone is the V6.
The base engine is a 2.5-liter four cylinder.
Then there's a new turbocharged 2.5-liter four cylinder,
and two hybrid powertrains.
This is the turbocharged 2.5-liter with the eight speed
automatic transmission and it is a proper little beast.
Like actually fast.
The Sorento is fun to drive.
It handles nice.
And I've thought this about other Kias that have been in.
The match-up between the throttle and the braking
is really good.
It just feels well-balanced.
And did I mention that it's like proper fast?
That's great.
The turbo four cylinder gets about average fuel economy
for an SUV this size.
It's slightly better than the V6 Honda Passport,
and not quite as good as the Toyota RAV4.
Although to be fair, the RAV4 is a little bit smaller
and doesn't offer a third row.
If you do need better mileage, there's
always the two hybrid options.
There's a standard hybrid that's front-wheel drive only.
And then there is a plug-in hybrid
that offers all-wheel drive.
The Sorento has a bunch of different driving modes.
So you can put it in a smart mode, which
sort of uses all the different modes to decide
which is best for you.
There is, of course, sport mode.
The best mode.
Comfort.
Eco.
I have to say I don't notice a huge difference between any
of the modes.
In some cars, there's like a really dramatic cut
in the throttle response in the snow mode.
Or a really dramatic increase in throttle response
in the sport mode.
It's not the number one selling part of this car.
There are little changes, but it's not really dramatic.
It's not like what you'd find in a Porsche 911.
If you were cross-shopping those two.
I don't miss the V6 at all.
I really like this turbo four cylinder.
The only thing that the V6 did better
was that the tow rating used to be 5,000 pounds.
Which is above average for an SUV this size.
And now it's only 3,500 when you equip it with the tow package.
So if you were planning on using this to haul your fifth wheel,
you might want to step up a little bit.
All right.
It is time for the third-row test.
Can I get in?
Would I want to sit there on a long road trip?
Can I get out if I don't want to sit there on a long road trip?
Oh, that was easy.
That was a lot easier than the last Sorento.
And now we've got the seat all the way back
and plenty of leg room.
Plenty of headroom.
This is pretty comfortable.
I've got a cupholder, charge port, tiny little window.
Wish it was a little bit bigger.
These seats are kind of flat and it's not
like the most comfortable seating position.
You know, no thigh support.
But it's not bad.
I would give it a B plus maybe even an A minus.
I could definitely sit here for a short road
trip, no complaints.
As you might expect from a small SUV with three rows of seating,
there is not a ton of space when you have all of the seats up.
It's enough room back here for, I don't know,
five bags of groceries.
Or one midsize video host.
There is a little bit more space in the underfloor cubby.
But, I mean, it's a pretty tiny cubby.
If you drop this third row, which is easily done.
You can get up to 45 cubic feet, depending on how you
have the second row configured.
That is more than the Honda Passport.
And more than the Volkswagen Tiguan.
With all three rows down, you have 75.5 cubic feet.
And that is big for a small SUV.
These days it feels like Kia can do no wrong.
Seriously, they are killing it with their new cars.
The 2021 Sorento took a useful, but uninteresting, crossover
and made it truly fun to drive.
And worth turning around to take a look at parking lot.
You're on the hunt for a small family SUV,
this one is definitely worth looking at on the dealer lot.
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