As impressed as I was with the Optima, I am a little underwhelmed by this 2011 Kia Sorento. However, it’s nice to see that this front-wheel-drive, four-cylinder model is about $6,000 less than the last one I drove.
I still think the Sorentos are good-looking, but I find them a bit too crude, with a too-rough a ride and unrefined handling.
These are not a bad-looking utes. In fact, the exterior styling is arguably its best feature. And the steering is decent, quick with good on-center feel. This is not a pothole-friendly car, however. Tire noise is a bit high, too. I have no beefs with the four-cylinder. I don’t think the six-cylinder is even necessary in this case.
ASSOCIATE EDITOR JONATHAN WONG: We’ve had a lot Sorento variants funnel through the office in the past few months and for the most part, I’ve been fairly pleased with them from a dynamics standpoint. The more performance-oriented SX version with its tight drive character and flashier exterior fixings was interesting, but I had a huge problem with the interior quality. That previous SX that I drove stickered at $35,890 and the hard plastics making up the majority of the interior were just unacceptable at that price.
With this EX model, the interior remains disappointing at $29,340, too. I realize that this car is optioned up pretty well with navigation, a rearview camera, leather seats with front seat heaters and more, but it’s still clear that Kia skimped in this area and that’s just a downer. Why? Well, because the rest of the Sorento is pretty darn good.
It looks fairly nice with the company grille and simple lines. The interior from an ergonomics point of view is good with large controls that are easy to operate on the fly. Steering is tight with OK response, and the brakes offer good grab with a solid pedal feel. Like Wes, I was impressed with how well this four-cylinder moved this 3,600-pound tub around. Transmission shifts were also decently speedy and smooth. Ride quality is on the rough side, however.
During my weekend, we did get hit with a good amount of snow (again) and I did struggle with this FWD Sorento as I trudged through the roughly nine inches of accumulation received in my area. I will say that the traction control cuts power way too early and some more allowable slip would have probably prevented me from getting stuck the three times that I did. You can kill traction fully, but then the tires’ lack of grip in the snow hurt me there. These Kumho Solus KL21s are horrendous in light snow, deep snow and ice. Anyway, I ended up having to take the ice scraper and clear out the snow from behind the front wheels to get unstuck, which wasn’t cool.
Much like my conclusion after previous drives of other Sorentos, this car is interior and ride-quality upgrades away from being ready for prime time. Oh, and if you live in an area which gets snow, a tire upgrade.
