New 2022 Kia Sorento Review: 2.2CRDi AWD SXL

The most common association with sailing is a graceful yacht moving serenely along on a gentle breeze while the beautiful people aboard soak up the sun in perfect comfort.

Sure, sailing can get violent and quite nasty in stormy conditions and high seas – but that’s not the image anyone wants to see, so stick with me on the graceful and serene scene!

The on-land comparison is the Kia Sorento that sails along the highways, serene and comfortable, moving its occupants in a generally stress-free way.

The turbo-diesel engine has ample power and torque to make this happen effortlessly, the seating has the right amount of support to make the long-haul pain free, and there is enough tech to make even the most cell phone addicted teenager sit up and take notice.

And yes, as noted in our ‘dislikes’ there are a couple of things we feel should be included in a car hovering on the million mark.

Since I am also well past the schoolchildren phase of life, the fact this ‘Soccer Mom’s’ dream has three rows of seats is of less importance than the rearmost row being rear seats that quickly fold flat (60:40), providing up to 2 011 litres of usable luggage space – and do not have to be removed in order to do so.

Obviously the most direct opposition to the Sorento is the Hyundai Santa Fe. Both are AWD and share the same engine with each having one or two minor items of difference – the Kia has a 6-year maintenance plan, whereas the Hyundai a 6-year service plan; the Kia has LED front foglamps while the Hyundai does not; it has a rear and surround view camera, the Hyundai does not.

And, the Hyundai is R84 495 cheaper than the Kia.

It all boils down to a choice of features. Having spent a week with the Sorento, I could not point to any one item that is strictly unnecessary or irrelevant.

This latest generation of the Sorento is part of a complete makeover of the Kia product range and its corporate brand identity initiated with the new (and much more) stylish logo design. Equally, the car itself has grown from a fairly utilitarian iteration (circa 2002) to being quite a handsome beast.

As is the norm in the word automotive, this new version is 10 mm wider than the previous generation and 10 mm longer thanks to a new platform that also sees the wheelbase extended by 35 mm.

The front of the Sorento has h a new interpretation of Kia’s ‘tiger nose’ grille, and the headlamps feature a new ‘tiger eyeline’ LED daytime running light. Also new are the vertical tail lamps, which wrap around the side of the body. 

The cabin introduces a design, based around twin digital displays in the dashboard. The 12,3-inch digital driver instrument cluster is twinned with a 10,25-inch touchscreen infotainment and navigation system at the centre of the dashboard. 

When activating the indicator, the left- or right-hand cluster in the dash responds by showing the blind spot view from the mirror cam. This, although taking some getting used to, is supremely useful when overtaking or changing lanes as well as kerb-spotting in delicate reverse parking manoeuvres.

Of the various display options, one I like is the visual that sits between the two dials and shows, in bar graph style, how much drive is being sent to the front, rear or both sets of wheels at any time. The full-time AWD automatically distributes power according to road conditions, gradually reducing grunt to the rear until it becomes front wheel drive only, for increased efficiency.

Included in the technical luxury specification is a wireless charger for your cell phone and a BOSE surround-sound system more than capable of blowing away the mental cobwebs or drowning out the anguished “are we there yet” squeals from the rear seats

The new four-cylinder, 2,2-litre ‘Smartstream’ diesel engine fitted to the Sorento produces 148 kW at 3 800 r/min and 440 Nm of torque between 1 750 r/min and 2 750 r/min. 

With a new aluminium block – 19,5 kg lighter than the cast iron block of its predecessor – the new engine is 38,2 kg lighter compared to that found in the third-generation Sorento and is paired with Kia’s new eight-speed wet double-clutch transmission (8DCT). 

Kia claims an average fuel consumption of 6,8 l/100 km and our test route confirmed it frugal nature with a real-time figure of 7,1 l/100 km – this including a short section of dirt road to experiment with handling and traction.

Going back to comparisons with its running mate, the Hyundai Santa Fe – the Sorento rides on 235/55 R19 wheels and tyres with the Santa Fe on 255/45 R20 rubber, giving it slightly greater ground clearance than the Kia.

However, the Sorento is more than capable to tackling roads less travelled and, with Hill Descent Control standard can master some fairly tricky situations with a minimum of fuss.

Its overall stability on and off road is thanks to the change from the original ladder-frame chassis to a monocoque design from the second generation onwards and, in this version the much-revised suspension geometry makes the overall ride more supple, comfortable and agile when needed.

In fact, despite it 4,8 metre length the Sorento never really feels like a big car and, equipped as standard with Kia’s Vehicle Stability Management (VSM) and Electronic Stability Control systems it is easy to maintain control under braking and cornering.

Pretty much plain sailing.

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