The 2008 Sorento continues Kia's Power to Surprise

The 2008 Sorento continues Kia's Power to Surprise

2008 Kia Sorento
By: Jim Robinson

LAKE LOUISE, Alta.: Kia has come from the back of the auto industry pack to become one of the leaders in the matter or a few years. The Korean automaker bills itself as having the "Power to Surprise" and it surely has done that.

For instance, April set an all-time sales record for Kia while sales in June of this year were up 13 per cent over June 2006. In terms of quality, it rose last year from 24th to 12th in J. D. Power quality ratings, finishing ahead of such names as BMW and Acura.

Quality and price are the tools Kia has used to make these gains, coupled with its no quibble 5-5-5 warranty.

Kia has also gauged the Canadian market very accurately. The Rondo CUV that offers a V6 engine and all-wheel-drive for under $24,000 is a roaring Canadian sales success, with Kia having trouble trying to get enough to meet demand.

In designing the 2008 Sorento, Kia vice-president, sales and marketing, Dean Tesser said, "Canadians want four-wheel-drive (4WD) systems especially for our climatic conditions."

The 2008 Sorento then is strictly 4WD not an all-wheel-drive. As such, Kia went with a body on frame design not a unit-body or car-based chassis. With nine steel cross members on the frame, this is a stout truck. It is designed to go where the getting is tough with two steel skid plates below and 208 mm (8.2 inches) of clearance from the lowest point on the Sorento to the ground, which is greater than Toyota Highlander or Jeep Grand Cherokee. With the nose and tail bobbed off for traversing tough terrain, the approach angle at the front is 28 degrees and 26 degrees at the rear.

There are two trim levels differentiated mainly by engine and drive train. A five-speed automatic with sequential manual shift mode is found on both versions. Standard equipment includes four-wheel disc brakes with ABS and traction control, Electronic Stability Control (ESP), and a brace of seven airbags including one for the driver's knees.

The Sorento LX that starts at $32,495 has a 3.3-litre DOHC V6 with 242 hp and 228 lb/ft of torque with a part-time 4WD system that is primarily rear-drive but with torque being able to shift to the front with the drive mode controlled by a rotary knob on the dash. This system can tow up to 3,500 lb. Fuel consumption is listed at 14.0L/100 km city and 9.2L/100 km highway.

The LX luxury priced at $38,995 is equipped with a 3.8-litre DOHC V6 with 262 hp and 260 lb/ft of torque with a full-time 4WD system that can shift torque up to 50:50, front:rear, again with a rotary knob to the left of the steering wheel. In this guise towing is listed at 5,000 lb and fuel economy at 14.0L/100 km city and 9.8L/100 km highway.

Both engines run on regular fuel.

The $6,500 difference between the two Sorentos is engines and 4WD systems plus things like climate control and 17-inch wheels on the LX Luxury compared to manual air and 16-inch tires on the LX. There is a lot more on the LX Luxury like leather and power sunroof, but the Kia.ca website spells it all out.

One thing worth noting is both versions come with full spares mounted on alloy wheels, not donut tires that should not be driven more that 100 km.

From the outside, the 2008 Sorento is little changed in appearance with the exception of a few things like a revised grille. Beneath the skin, much was changed like the frame, which is shared with no other Kia or Hyundai (that own Kia) for that matter.

Kia made a big deal at the Sorento press launch about the cost differences between it and its main competitors. It's a bit like apples and oranges, but the base LX is about 27 per cent less than a comparably equipped Ford Explorer XLT and about 18 per cent less than a Nissan Pathfinder S.

What the Sorento should have made more about is the size compared to price. The LX is a mid-size but has most of the equipment of some of the current compact SUV/CUVs on the market. The back seat is roomy enough for big adults with 878 litres (31.7 cu. ft) of cargo area behind the second row seats.

A Quebec colleague, Sylvie Rainville, has a brother who is the owner of a first generation Sorento. They are a family who love to go on fishing trips into the many lakes and streams north of Quebec City. The first generation has a 3.5-litre V6 with 192 hp that she said just wasn't enough to haul five adults into the bush. With the 3.3-litre, she said its 242 hp would be fine but the extra 20 hp of the 3.8-litre would probably be the one she would be suggesting to her brother.

While we put on something like 700 km in two days from Calgary to Jasper and back, none of the driving was off-road. One Calgary-based journalist did take another route he knew that included gravel stretches. His remark was the Sorento was very solid which it should be with a gross vehicle weight ratio of 2,560 kg or 5,644 lb., but washboards had to be taken slowly due to the stiff suspension.

I drove the LX Luxury on the way up to Jasper and the LX on the route from an overnight stop in Lake Louise to Calgary. My sense is that the 17-inch tires intensified the road irregularities with the 16-inchers on the LX giving a smoother ride. BUT, the route to Calgary was on the billiard table flat Trans Canada Highway while the road to Jasper, while well maintained, had suffered from frost heave rippling.

If you have never taken the drive from Lake Louise to Jasper in the summer, do so. It is 240 km of one breath-taking vista after another. I don't know how many times I stopped to take a beauty shot of the Sorento against a majestic view only to find another just around the next bend.

With no radio reception to speak of, my co-driver and I (another long-time auto journalist) talked about all the people we've seen come and go over the years and how automobiles and the auto industry has changed, which eventually led to Kia and how it has come from nowhere.

Twenty years ago when the Hyundai Pony was new, the thought of a Korean car company being able to compete in a major segment, let alone being a leader in terms of quality, was unthinkable.

Yet Kia, in a decade, has improved by leaps and bounds.

They have done their homework, seen where buying habits were going and met the market with the products people want with the 2008 Sorento being the latest.

Dean Tesser assured me Kia wouldn't get caught like it did last time with too few Rondos and that there is a steady stream of 2008 Sorentos on the way.

Kia is going to need every one.


KIA SORENTO SUV 2008 AT A GLANCE

BODY STYLE: Mid-size SUV.

DRIVE METHOD: front-engine, four-wheel-drive.

ENGINE: 3.3-litre, DOHC V6 (242 hp, 228 lb/ft): 3.8-litre DOHC V6 (262 hp, 260 lb/ft)

FUEL ECONOMY: 3.3-litre, 14.0/9.2L/100 km city/highway; 3.8-litre, 14.0/9.8L/100 km city/highway.

PRICE: LX, $32,495; LX-Luxury, $38,995.

WEBSITE: kia.ca.

All content contained in this or any other yorkregion.com website including but not limited to textual, audio, video and any graphics are copyright 2000-2008 Metroland Media Group Ltd. and can not be used in any part without expressed written permission, with the exception of content in the yorkregion.com Pen & Pixel section, which requires the written consent of the authors.