2013 Kia Sorento 35l V6 Dohc 24v Reviews
The Auto Connection Expert Review
Editorial Director
April 3, 2013
Likes
- The right vehicle at the correct time
- Half-dozen-cylinder's pace
- Ample passenger, cargo infinite
- Third-row seat, for those who need 1
- Bluetooth, USB, and Sirius standard
Dislikes
- Mid-grade interior trim
- Soft-sided treatment
- Base four-cylinder is sluggish--but rare
- Kids-only third-row seating
Buying tip
features & specs
2WD 4-Door I4 60
2WD 4-Door I4-GDI EX
2WD iv-Door I4-GDI Sixty
It'southward an easy telephone call among crossovers: the 2013 Kia Sorento has the right features, the right fuel economy, and the right size.
The Kia Sorento knows a thing or 2 about reinvention. Dorsum in 2011, it gave up on the truck-based formula that it had relied on since it was make-new, chucking it all for a version of Kia's mid-size Optima platform and a new mission as the brand's mainstream crossover. Trading off-road talent for on-route fluency has paid off: Kia tin hardly proceed up with sales at its Georgia assembly plant. But more of import, it's crafted a crossover that offers shoppers a practiced culling to a slew of best-sellers--Escape, CR-V, Edge, and Equinox among them.
The Sorento returns for the 2013 model twelvemonth with no major mechanical changes, and just a few updated features. Information technology remains a value-rich vehicle, even in base form, with all kinds of configurations and options--engines, transmissions, traction systems, seating--to appeal to virtually any railroad vehicle heir-apparent. It's all wrapped in good-looking, nicely detailed sheetmetal that doesn't play to outdated SUV cues, and doesn't get overboard on mimicking carlike shapes or worse, borrow from boats. Handsome in a middle-of-the-road manner, the Sorento's charm merely dulls a chip when the plastics in the cabin undergo a tougher scrutiny. They're not shiny, and they're matched well--they're merely not as lush equally you lot think they'll be, with all the tight fits and spare lines.
About Sorento drivers will want to leap instinctively for the superlative 5-half dozen drivetrain, but in that location's a four-cylinder in the heart worth examining. It's not the base two.4-liter, 175-horsepower four, though--skip that one and the manual that's only available with information technology. It's sluggish and dated, and delivers depression gas mileage that's but start by its low base of operations price. The mid-range iv, with direct injection, is up to snuff: it'due south a 191-hp four that spins sweetly enough, and delivers as much as 30 mpg highway co-ordinate to the EPA'due south ratings, with a well-sorted automatic transmission and expert handling that gives more weight to comfortable ride than to even moderately brisk cornering. Opting into the V-6 version is something we'd reserve for drivers who tow on occasion, or for those who regularly run the kiddie carpool and utilize all of the bachelor seats.
Review continues below
The base Sorento comes out of W Point, Georgia, as a v-seater, and even for adults, those seats have ample leg room and expert head room. The seats themselves are supportive--even amend when they wear leather. There's a third-row offered on some models, just that bench is simply for those nether v feet alpine, with the dexterity to jump into the manner-back, and the distractions to ignore the depression seating position. Cargo space is fine, mostly, simply a seven-seat model with the back row raised won't exit much room behind for any cargo.
Strong safe scores from both the Feds and the IIHS put the Sorento in good stead with the competition, equally does the assortment of standard equipment--ac, power features, Bluetooth, satellite radio and a USB port are present and accounted for on every version. If you get spendy, the SX offers standard navigation, leather, and has an available panoramic roof, but prices zoom by the $35,000 marker, at which point the Sorento runs into some bigger, richer hired hands--vehicles similar the Ford Flex and Explorer, the GMC Acadia, and likely, the upcoming Nissan Pathfinder.
Bonny and mod, the Kia Sorento has shaped up into a distinctive, handsome crossover.
The Kia Sorento is an old vehicle--at to the lowest degree, by Kia standards. With a slew of redesigned cars and crossovers in its lineup, Kia has penned new entries in nearly every class of machine since information technology introduced the Sorento in 2011. The big ute gets at least some of the credit for bringing new buyers to the make'southward showrooms--it's a handsome vehicle, with none of the thickness or frumpy lines of its predecessor. It's more balanced in all, with a forepart end that bears the new signature front terminate of most of Kia's vehicles, 1 with a grille integrated tightly with wide headlamps. Trim down its sides, with a smooth urban-shuttle theme, the Sorento ties all its angles together well with a glassy greenhouse and a full-stop rear cease that brings all the themes to a succinct finish.
The cockpit has a common look and feel, simple without looking plain. The nuance is capped in serviceable-looking plastics, and punctuated by big gauges laid out clearly, and etched with large, clear fonts. The eye stack is topped by a big LCD screen, which is itself flanked by big air vents and sits atop knobby climate controls--the big, round kind that are easy to operate without staring at the controls instead of the road. The uncomplicated await but is dulled by lots of difficult plastic. Most of information technology looks expert, fifty-fifty the woodgrain trim that bisects the dash horizontally, but there's very little of the soft-touch plastic we've grown more than used to, even in less expensive vehicles.
Review continues below
Kia'south assembly quality reached global standards a few years ago, and the Georgia-built Sorento is no exception. For its price, the difficult plastic on the nuance and doors is understandable, and it's all pieced together with higher up-average fit and terminate.
V-6 Sorentos take plenty muscle, but the direct-injected four may be the all-time lucifer for the Sorento's soft-handling mission.
Last year'southward improver of a new, more advanced iv-cylinder engine overcast our Kia Sorento recommendation a scrap. In its commencement year on the market, nosotros overwhelmingly brash you to pick the optional V-6 over the base four-cylinder, even with the slight gas-mileage and bigger cost penalty it exacted.
Final year Kia introduced a third way--a new directly-injected four-cylinder with midrange power, excellent fuel economy, and decent acceleration. We withal recollect the Five-6 is the best model for those who plan on ordering all-wheel drive, and for those who need the seven-seat model and plan on filling their crossover with passengers and stuff on a regular basis--simply the direct-injected iv is a skillful option for commuters who use their Sorentos a little more than lightly.
The base four-cylinder lacks the punch and fuel-economy numbers to arrive anything more than than a frugal alternative. Information technology'south rated at 175 hp, and offered with the six-speed manual or automated manual and front- or all-wheel drive. It's sluggish, and not that much less expensive than the updated four-cylinder with direct injection that's offered on the Sorento Lx and EX. With 191 horsepower and up to thirty mpg on the EPA highway cycle, this engine turns in a little more dissonance--a typical DI-induced ticking--merely besides juices the Sorento slightly more than the base engine. The relatively lightweight Sorento feels a little more than responsive with information technology, and seems well capable of 0-60 mph runs of less than nine seconds.
Anyone planning on moderate to heavy-duty use with the Sorento should spend up to the 3.5-liter Five-6. With either front- or all-bike drive, the 276-horsepower 6 pairs with the six-speed automatic for ample power, smooth and eager shifts, and brisk trips to the redline that enable clean-and-jerk maneuvers to highway speeds without much protestation. Gas mileage isn't fifty-fifty that bad, compared to some of the five-seat competition, every bit long as all-wheel drive remains an pick, non a foregone conclusion. If you don't live through more than a few weeks of wintertime each yr, think twice before adding all that weight to the bottom line.
If you recall you demand it, the optional all-wheel-drive system sends most of the ability to the front end wheels, but when traction changes, it can transport fifty percent of the power to the rear wheels. Drivers tin can also lock the differential at a 50:50 ability dissever, and Kia includes downhill descent control and hill-hold assists, but no truthful depression range (or whatsoever real need) to make this a truthful off-road vehicle. Still, the Sorento can tow three,500 pounds in some trims.
The Sorento'southward ride quality is a touch on more rumbling than you might expect on structure riddled interstates, but y'all'll mostly discover noise and a calorie-free impact experience. It'south more than softly sprung than the RAV4 and CR-Five, with steering that'south willing but not uncommonly quick, and a whiff of torque steer for front end-bulldoze models. It'south the kind of benign handling you look for in family vehicles.
Review continues below
A mid-size package with an available third-row seat gives the latest Kia Sorento the right stuff to accept on a wide swath of crossovers.
The Kia Sorento was new two years agone, and since the 2011 model-year renovation, its crossover transformation has won over significantly more buyers than the old, trucky SUV model had in its final years on the market. The 2013 model's essentially carried over, and all the same maintains the versatility that makes it a great option for carrying people and cargo around boondocks or on long highway cruises, while leaving off-roading for more capable SUVs.
The Sorento sits on a 106.iii-inch wheelbase, and is 184.iv inches long. That puts it squarely in the center of the crossover segment, with the new Honda CR-V and Ford Escape just bare inches shorter, and vehicles like the Chevy Equinox and Ford Edge checking in just an inch or and then, and a cubic foot or so, larger. That said, the Sorento has a spacious feel once y'all climb inside--the combination of a depression footstep-in elevation, and a somewhat alpine roof and doors, make it feel somewhat bigger within than competitors, specially the newest Escape and the RAV4.
Most passengers will fit well in the Sorento's front and second-row seats. In front, the saucepan seats have good bolstering on the backrest, though the seat bottoms could use more than formed-in support. Head and leg room are on par for the class. I row back, nearly adults will take enough knee and leg room for good comfort, and head room is ample plenty for six-footers, besides. The seatbacks can be reclined for more comfy long-distance rides.
The Sorento tin be fitted with a 3rd-row seat, a novelty in the course, aside from the third row in the Toyota RAV4. We don't consider the Mitsubishi Outlander's puny 3rd-row bench suitable for anyone other than small-scale children. The Sorento's seat won't carry anyone taller than five feet, and the seat cushion sits almost on the flooring to create what head room is there, simply as a substitute for a minivan, the 7-seat model does a fair job of balancing convenience and flexibility.
On that annotation, the tertiary-row seat folds apartment to reveal a cargo expanse with a decently low load flooring, and the second-row seats fold forward to betrayal a total of 72.5 cubic anxiety of hauling room. With the third-row seat in place, cargo room drops to a beggarly ix.1 cubic feet, and the seatback itself sits close to the rear hatch glass.
Review continues beneath
The Sorento's condom operation has been a strong point.
With at least to a higher place-average crash exam scores from both of the major agencies, the 2013 Kia Sorento has much to provide families in the fashion of safety. It doesn't offering some of the latest optional safety technology you lot'll find on other SUVs and crossovers, but the basics and a few options earn it a high score here.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety calls the Sorento a Top Rubber Choice, which ways it earns a "skilful" score on all IIHS crash tests, including a new roof-beat out score. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), meanwhile, rates the Sorento at 4 stars overall; iv stars each for frontal impacts and rollover protection are offset by a v-star side-impact protection score.
Each 2013 Sorento comes with dual forepart, side, and curtain airbags; anti-lock brakes, traction and stability command; and active headrests.
Visibility is fine, even with the Sorento's substantial rear roof pillars. A rearview camera is offered on loftier-finish versions, simply it'southward packaged with an expensive navigation organization. Bluetooth, however, is standard on all models.
Every Sorento has satellite radio and Bluetooth; panoramic sunroofs, navigation, and ventilated leather seats are pricey options.
Both the five- and seven-seat Kia Sorento crossovers come with a generous list of standard equipment, bumped up a little more than for the 2013 model year.
Kia sells the Sorento in 3 trim levels--base LX, EX and SX. In Sixty trim, the Sorento offers standard power windows, locks and mirrors; air conditioning; prowl control; an AM/FM/CD player with satellite radio and steering-cycle sound controls; a USB port; Bluetooth; and a tilt/telescoping steering bicycle. Base of operations prices still range in the low-$20,000s, though the Sorento's no longer the sub-$20k deal information technology was when it was new in the 2011 model year. The V-6 engine is optional on this trim level, and when it's ordered, the third-row seat comes with it.
The Sorento EX adds on pushbutton beginning; automatic headlamps and fog lights; a power driver seat; rear parking sensors; and a rear spoiler. EX V-6 models, along with the tertiary-row seat, go a rear air conditioner. The Sorento SX, meanwhile, has its own torso kit and sporty wheels; it also gets a standard navigation system with voice commands, as well every bit a heated steering wheel, ventilated front seats, and Infinity speakers.
A proficient value in base of operations form, the Sorento can swell in price to more than $37,000 with options. We'd opt for the rearview camera, only every bit an option on Sixty and EX models, information technology's bundled with a navigation system that's a considerable uptick, given the Sorento's depression base price. Infinity audio brings better sound quality, but navigating the Sorento's sound system has some foibles that will take a few clicks and taps to become used to. Leather seats and a panoramic sunroof are also offered.
The Sorento also gets a choice of newly styled wheels; a power passenger seat; a ventilated driver seat; power-folding side mirrors; and upping the tech ante, UVO. The UVO arrangement is Kia's version of the same Microsoft code that underwrites Ford's SYNC system. It uses Bluetooth connections to drive some vehicle functions by voice, for hands-costless functioning of the phone and audio controls. It's not quite every bit sophisticated every bit SYNC, just information technology's a smart commencement step into less distracted driving.
Review continues below
The Sorento'south avant-garde 4-cylinder gives it the gas mileage of some v-passenger competitors.
Compared to some five-seat crossovers, the five- or vii-passenger Kia Sorento has very good fuel economy.
Ford's Border and Chevy'due south Equinox come to mind: with direct injection the Chevy hits 32 mpg on the EPA highway bike, simply the more than avant-garde four-cylinder Sorento, with a six-speed automatic and front end-bicycle bulldoze, is rated at 21/30 mpg. The Edge'south turbocharged edition gets upwards to thirty mpg, besides.
With all-wheel drive, the direct-injected Sorento's gas mileage drops to 20/26 mpg. And opting for the base 4-cylinder without direct injection lets economy numbers dip to 20/27 mpg with manual manual.
The V-6 Sorento carries over its fuel economy numbers over again into the 2013 model year. The forepart-drive automatic-equipped crossover is rated by the EPA at twenty/26 mpg; with four-wheel drive, it's still competitive at 18/24 mpg.
Note that four-cylinder versions of the 2012-2013 Sorento are amongst a set of vehicles found to have overstated fuel-economic system numbers. Kia initially submitted figures of 22/32 mpg (25 mpg combined) with 2WD and 21/28 (23 combined) with 4WD to the EPA, which allows automakers to self-certify fuel economic system. On a confirmation check of several vehicles, the EPA found the Sorento's bodily tested fuel economy to exist 21/30 mpg (24 combined) with 2WD or 20/26 (22 combined) with 4WD. Owners can register with Kia to receive reimbursement for the gas consumed above and beyond expected levels; more details are found at KiaMPGInfo.com.
Review continues beneath
Continue Reading
The Car Connection Consumer Review
Apr 28, 2015
2013 Kia Sorento 2WD four-Door V6 SX
Overnice ride, nice handling and a practiced family vehicle.
people found this helpful.
Source: https://www.thecarconnection.com/overview/kia_sorento_2013
0 Response to "2013 Kia Sorento 35l V6 Dohc 24v Reviews"
Publicar un comentario