FIRSTDRIVE KIA SORENTO:WHEN AMERICA wanted to show the world it was serious about getting good at soccerball – or whatever its called – it sensationally hired the sport's most famous asset to get the football rolling, writes MARK NICHOL
Kia is obsessed with conquering Europe, so what better way to signal its intent than by having a David Beckham moment of its own: snaffle the man who designed the Audi TT and ask him to be the famous face of the assault. But, as LA Galaxy discovered, one star in the ranks does not a world-beating team make; the other players have to raise their game too.
And so Kia has embarked upon doing just that, building a state-of-the-art factory in Slovakia to knock together European flavoured cars, all with industry-leading seven-year warranties. They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, in which case Kia is lavishing high praise indeed on its competitors.
The latest form of flattery is the new Sorento, which has, until now, been a utilitarian 4x4 for those whose priorities are space, muddy track ability and good value – with image and interior ambience some way down the list.
That’s not to cast aspersions on current owners, though – the Sorento is good at what it does. It’s just that it’s a bit, well, plain.
The European landscape has changed somewhat since the original’s 2003 launch. More of us like our off-roaders because they make the neighbours think we’re doing okay, but there’s this whole recession thing now too, so more than ever we want to avoid paying the tax man – or the man at the pumps – too much for the privilege. Nor do we want to go off-road in them.
Cue much use of the words “premium” and “crossover”, meaning the cabin gets an extreme makeover and the engine only drives the front wheels – unless you absolutely need it to drive all four, in which case you can pay more for the privilege; a front-wheel drive car is lighter, and that means better fuel consumption and less emissions.
It also gets the much-needed automatic gearbox for easy about-town driving – alluringly, now in the same tax band as the manual version, which itself has dropped into Band E.
So Kia has essentially moved the Sorento away from the countryside towards suburbia. A bold move, but one that could pay off massively if it works properly by appeasing its traditional audience while clawing family buyers in – the type looking for something more substantial than a Nissan Qashqai, but less burdened by tax than the four-wheel drive Land Rover Freelander, for example. That’s a nice little niche waiting to be filled right there, surely?
In fact, with the market for big SUVs in Ireland virtually flat-lining after the property crash, Kia’s approach to the Sorento could prove a very cute one indeed.
Let’s look at the tangibles then. Power comes from a 194bhp 2.2-litre diesel linked to either a six-speed manual or an automatic with the same number of ratios, and it’s all sitting inside a chassis that’s completely new. The body-on-frame arrangement of the old car is ditched in favour of a modern monocoque, making the whole thing lighter and sturdier, which means it uses less fuel, performs better and rides with more assurance.
The end result is that there’s nothing much wrong with the new Sorento: it’s neatly styled, inside and out, spacious, powerful in the lower rev ranges while staying relatively miserly with its tank reserves, and the auto gearbox is particularly impressive, in that it perfunctorily chooses the appropriate gear at all times.
Seven seats are standard in the new Sorento, too – it’s well equipped even in basic trim, has a five-star EuroNCAP rating and will no doubt carry Kia’s lovely seven-year warranty. And because CO2 emissions are down – and thus VRT – the new Sorento should actually be a little cheaper than the outgoing car.
But there’s an element of damning it with faint praise here, and that’s because the Sorento, perhaps not surprisingly, is suffering from something approaching an identity crisis with its trendy new image.
It’s lost its utilitarian, go-anywhere appeal, but it just hasn’t got the image or quality to be considered anything other than a “budget” choice. The front-wheel drive version might be relatively cheap, but its cabin plastics are below even those in the Kia Cee’d hatchback, while the ride is lumpy, because the springs have been firmed up to bias it more as a road car.
As a faux-SUV it might look the part – the design flair of Kia’s star signing has made an impact – and will appeal to some when it arrives in February for that reason alone. Yet, as a crossover, it falls short of rivals like the Qashqai+2. Thoroughly decent, but the Korean team isn’t a world superpower just yet.
Factfile: Kia Sorrento 2.2 CRDi
Engine:2.2-litre CRDi diesel, 194bhp, 421Nm torque
Transmission:six-speed automatic or manual
0-100km/h:9.6 seconds
CO2 emissions:174g/km
L/100km:6.6
Price:from €40,000 (est)