| Road Test Kia Sorento 2.5 CRDi XS |
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Decent Value For Money
Whether consciously or not, people who buy the Discovery (or anything in its price range) surely do so partly to show that they can. The Sorento is not that kind of car. It's part of the long-standing Kia tradition of offering a lot for not very much money, and it has to be considered as such. It's a full-sized SUV, and a reasonably serious one at that. Mechanically, there isn't a great deal of difference between this car and the one that was launched in 2003, with which I tackled an intimidatingly robust off-road course and didn't get stuck. For the launch of the current model (reported here) Richard Dredge went charging through the dunes of the Sahara, and he didn't get stuck either. You can take it from this that the Sorento is pretty capable away from the tarmac. Such differences as there are among the oily bits relate mostly to the engine. The 2.5-litre turbo diesel engine has been upgraded significantly, and now produces 168bhp, or 30bhp more than it did previously. This has not turned the Sorento into a performance car, but it has made it a bit perkier. The towing capacity has also improved, and in a rather pleasing winner-takes-all situation the fuel economy and CO2 emissions are better too.
The 3.3-litre V6 petrol Sorento (which at the time of writing is due to arrive in the UK very shortly) comes with automatic transmission as standard. The diesels have a choice of that gearbox or, as in the case of the test car, a five-speed manual. The automatic adds £1100 to the list price, but it may be worth it, because the manual has a remarkably floppy linkage; you can move the knob at least an inch in any direction without having the slightest effect on what goes on downstream.
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