The Sorento once was the car that turned Kia around. In the earlier years of this millennium, Kia was a very boring manufacturer.
For people who didn't like cars and wanted to get from A to B for a very low price. Almost like it was only meant for elderly people.
But then, the Kia Sorento popped up. A cool SUV for a very low Kia-price. It became incredibly successful, but times have changed.
Cars are now taxed by the amounts of CO2 they emit so the Sorento was out-taxed of Dutch markets.
However, Kia has learned. This fourth generation is only available as a hybrid. And hybrid means it won't emit as much CO2 so the taxes...
will be lower. That means this is quite a big SUV for a price which makes you absolutely consider it.
If you like subtle designs, you might want to look the other way. The Kia Sorento is everything but subtle. I think the designers were thinking of...
the American market when they drew this car. It's big, the vertical rear lights... It kind of reminds me of a Cadillac.
On the sides, there's a fun design-element. Take these windows, with this little shark fin. You might remember the Kia Proceed Concept from the IAA...
2017, and they've taken that design element and put it on here. At the front, there's the big and brash again.
The hood hangs over the nose, like a cap. It's not subtle in any way, but it's a statement. And it's quite good looking.
So it's a big car, something that absolutely translates into the interior. It's enormous in here. And not only in the front, but on the rear seat as well.
If I sit behind myself, I've got lots of legroom. Even the third seating row, which is standard, is very spacious.
It's huge on the inside, so it's very practical. Also, it's good to know I'm driving the Executive Line,
which is the most expensive version available. However, it has all of the options selected as standard. The only optional extra you can choose besides...
it, is metallic paint. The rest all comes as standard. Think of comprehensive safety systems, a blind-spot camera in the dials,
which activates when I use the indicators. Depending on which side, you'll get the desired view.
Very handy, and a very fun gimmick at that. It also comes with a 360-degree camera, which gives you a bird's eye view. There's a...
Bose-audio system, a panoramic sunroof, it's all standard. Leather upholstery, you name it and it will have it.
Then there's the dashboard. It's very busy, which makes very clear that you've got a lot of features to work with.
The funny thing is that you've got this big screen over here. Or rather, it's two screens that flow into each other.
That kind of gives you that Mercedes-Benz-feeling, which is funny, because Mercedes has removed that from their S-Class.
And Kia is just getting started with it.
Right, it's a hybrid so there's a combined power output of 230 horsepower and 350 Nm of torque. More than enough for this big car.
It's not a light car, but the engine is perfectly capable of moving it around. The engine is connected to an automatic six-speed gearbox.
And it's a comfortable gearbox. It's not incredibly fast, it's not incredibly smooth, but it does its job perfectly well.
The cooperation between petrol and electricity is very smooth. You can easily do big parts of journey on electricity only, and you won't notice...
the transition to petrol. And if you do, it'll be barely noticeable.
And if you think this car looks American, you might fear the fact that it feels American to drive as well. However, fear not, because that...
isn't the case. It's not a hard or sporty car, but it's not too soft or too weak either.
The rear axle is actually quite sturdy. Not too much, but sturdy enough.
The steering is very light. It won't really involve you in the drive, but it's sharp enough and it feels very solid.
Together with the quiet interior, it's a very pleasant travel car for long journeys. But is that enough to beat the Mazda? Let's find out.
Because let's be honest, this is the biggest competitor for the Kia. The CX-5 might not be the youngest anymore, but it's still one of the best.
Not the best, but it's up there. That's because of a lot of things. First of all, despite the smaller design, it's very spacious on the inside.
The legroom is very good, the headroom is decent and the boot is more than big enough. However, the big party piece in this CX-5...
is the interior. And that goes for all Mazda's. The Kia has an incredibly busy interior, whilst this is much more subtle.
It's a quiet dashboard, but everything you see is incredibly refined. Nice materials, good finishing and a very coherent design.
Some Asian manufacturers tend to put all kinds of parts together to create a dashboard. That's not the case in here,
this could've been an European premium-interior if you ask me. It's really good-looking. Ergonomically as well,
because of the central controller. You can use it for the volume, but you operate all kinds of other functions with it on the screen.
The screen itself is a little bit out of date though. It's a tad small and the touch-functionality doesn't work when you're driving.
Luckily, you can operate it through these buttons. But the total package is just very good in this car. And I haven't even mentioned the...
drive yet. That also is at the top of this segment. This car isn't hard, but it's very sporty.
The steering is very direct and sharp, but not very nervous. Of course, that's mostly because of the four-wheel drive, which means...
it remains very stable in quicker corners. It doesn't really heave and it has a very nice balance.
Then there's the engine, which is the 194 horsepower-version of the SkyActiv G. Just like we know from Mazda, it's naturally aspirated...
so no fooling around with turbo's. It's a 2.5-litre, so it's a very old-fashioned engine, or rather a very old-fashioned concept.
And I like that. It's a very quiet personality. The build-up of power is very smooth which makes it very nice to drive.
Just like in the Kia, it's connected to a six-speed automatic gearbox. And I don't really like Mazda's automatic gearboxes.
They're a little slow and they tend to remain in a single gear for too long. The rev too high as well. If I would buy this car, I would get it with...
a manual gearbox. Luckily, you can get a manual gearbox on this car. And that's a very, very good gearbox.
And we've arrived at the difficult point to make a choice. As you know from me, I won't come with a hard conclusion.
For that conclusion, you've got to read the test in the magazine. I'm not finished with the comparison yet.
I'm able to give you an indication though. Both cars cost around the same, even though you'd think the Kia is bigger.
But because they cost around the same, we're able to compare them. And if you choose with your senses, you have to choose the Kia.
Both have a very luxurious trim, but the Kia literally has everything. Also, it's incredibly spacious and more practical than the Mazda.
This will be your first choice. However, if you're choosing with your heart and you actually like driving, you should get the Mazda.
The Kia drives very well, but the Mazda drives incredibly good. I do recommend you getting the manual gearbox,
but the rest of the drivetrain is good. The atmospheric, big engine is incredibly refined, just like the chassis.
This is clearly the better driver's car. So the choice is up to you, the most practical or the most fun.