Kia Sorento 2020 Review

Completely new from the ground-up, the 2020 Kia Sorento has landed with a fresh look, extra safety and as much technology as a German limousine.

It arrives in local showrooms from mid-September in turbo-diesel form only. Petrol-powered Sorentos will also be offered and should arrive in November.

The new high-riding seven-seat wagon is the first Kia to ride on the Hyundai/Kia group’s latest N3 SUV platform, making it longer (+10mm) and wider (+10mm) than before, with more cargo space, a longer wheelbase (+35mm) and a middle row that slides further forward than its predecessor (+45mm).

The boot can now hold 616 litres (with five seats in place) or a hefty 2011 litres with the second and third rows folded flat.

In top-spec GT-Line guise, the Kia Sorento’s standard equipment includes quilted Nappa leather seating, heated and ventilated front seats, heating for outer seats in the middle row, a heated steering wheel, rain-sensing wipers, auto high-beams, a huge panoramic sunroof and plenty more.

There are manual sun blinds for the second row, eight cup-holders throughout and general storage is plentiful. It feels like a very premium offering to boot, with soft plastics or materials at just about every touch point inside the cabin.

On the outside, the 2020 Kia Sorento has been restyled. It adopts Kia’s new design language, including a ‘tiger nose’ grille, LED daytime running lights and sharper lines and creases throughout.

Kia says ride quality and cruising comfort has been improved thanks to the new Sorento’s stiffer body structure. And, that’s all just the beginning.

Plenty has been changed for the fourth-generation seven-seater. And as a first impression, you’d be forgiven for thinking it was from a brand that has more premium roots than the once cheap and cheerful Kia.

Pricing for the 2020 Kia Sorento range starts from $45,850 plus on-road costs in petrol-powered entry-level S grade.

Throughout the range, two engine options are available. The petrol variants feature a 200kW/332Nm 3.5-litre V6 petrol paired to an eight-speed auto that sends power exclusively to the front wheels.

The turbo-diesels are exclusively all-wheel drive. The engine is a 2.2-litre four-cylinder rated at 148kW and 440Nm. It is mated to a new eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.

Four equipment grades are offered: S, Sport, Sport+ and GT-Line. Thus the eight variants are two down on the 10 in the third-gen Sorento range, but the line-up will be augmented by the first plug-in hybrid and plugless hybrid powertrains in early and late 2021 respectively.

The only option is premium paint, which adds $695 to the SUV’s price for all grades.

The test car we’re in here is the flagship turbo-diesel GT-Line – priced from $63,070 before on-road costs.

Kia Australia is currently running drive-away pricing for every 2020 Sorento variant, making our tester $64,990 drive-away.

Every Sorento is covered by Kia’s seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, along with seven-year roadside assist and capped-price servicing.

With servicing, diesel-powered Sorento models need to visit the workshop every 15,000km (or 12 months) and will cost $1287 over the first three years, and $2393 over five years.

Kia says service pricing for Sorentos with the V6 petrol engine will be announced closer to their arrival later this year.

When its maker calls the 2020 Kia Sorento is its ‘most high-tech car ever’, it’s not kidding.

Standard features include autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with cyclist and pedestrian protection, as well as oncoming vehicle detection that will apply the brakes if it detects oncoming traffic when making a turn at a junction.

Other tech includes adaptive cruise control, rear cross traffic alert, lane following assist, driver attention warning and a new blind-spot view monitor (only on GT-Line) that displays the vehicle’s blind spots within the instrument cluster when an indicator is switched on.

While it’s a great idea in theory, the cameras are placed a little too far back to be useful.

Inside the cabin, there’s a total of seven USB sockets and two 12-volt plugs – enough for every passenger – as well as four child-seat ISOFIX anchorage points.

The top-spec GT-Line variants come with 64-colour mood lighting and a Bose sound system.

A large 12.3-inch instrument cluster is complimented by a full-colour head-up display, while a 10.25-inch touch-screen sits in the centre of the dash.

Noise comes from an excellent 12-speaker BOSE surround sound system, which includes a ‘Sounds of Nature’ function, to offer the calming sounds of a warm fireplace, rainy day, snowy village or (strangely, but surprisingly ‘iso’ prescient) a busy café – among others.

Safe Exit Assist is also fitted to Sorento GT-Line grades for the first time in a Kia. This is to stop rear-seat passengers opening the doors into approaching cars or cyclists.

And, perhaps the coolest feature of all? The 2020 Kia Sorento GT-Line can park itself!

The system, called Remote Start Parking Assist (RSPA), allows the Sorento GT-Line to autonomously drive itself in and out of parking spaces or tight spots, forwards and backwards, where needed.

Kia says it’ll automatically brake if it detects another car, cyclist or pedestrian in the way.

Of course, I had to make sure it could back up the claims, so I stood behind (and in front, in a second test) of the moving Sorento. Sure enough, it pulled up with plenty of room.

Impressive.

Even in such a large SUV, the Sorento’s 360-degree camera (only in top-spec GT-Line) makes parking, navigating tight spots or traversing drive-thrus easy.

And, if you’re not paying attention when the car in front moves forward, the Sorento will offer a ‘BING’ and display a message on the dash to hurry you along.

Another thing that may or may not matter to some is that it doesn’t have an idle-stop function. Personally, that’s a positive to me.

Overall, cabin quality is great. Aside from a small rattle from a lower part of the dashboard (near the gear selector dial – which is also responsive and tactile, by the way), it was glitch-free.

The 2020 Kia Sorento gets a revised version of its predecessor’s 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel.

The new donk, named ‘Smartstream’, is 19.5kg lighter thanks to an alloy engine block instead of the cast-iron block in outgoing models.

Kia says the new eight-speed wet double-clutch transmission (only in diesel models) improves fuel consumption by up to 15 per cent (depending on application).

Diesel-powered Sorentos are an all-wheel drive affair, while 3.5-litre V6 petrols are front-drive only.

On road, the new Kia Sorento GT-Line is really quite enjoyable to drive. Delivering its 148kW of power progressively, the dual-clutch transmission is seamless – no matter whether you’re in traffic or shifting enthusiastically via the steering-wheel paddles.

Throttle response is instant, there’s plenty of pull when its 440Nm of torque kicks in anywhere between 1750-2750rpm and the diesel is relatively quiet on the road. Unless you’ve got it under serious load, there’s no harsh clatter from under the bonnet.

It’s effortless to drive and coasts well – even so you could easily find yourself exceeding the speed limit if you’re not paying attention.

Using its excellent driver assist features, however, will combat that. Adaptive cruise control works well keeping to a constant speed.

Steering is well weighted, however, it is closer to the firmer, sporty side than some consumers may like.

As for the 2020 Kia Sorento GT-Line’s Level 2 autonomous driving functionality, it works quite well. However, by law, it only does so for about 15 seconds before telling you to put your hands back on the wheel.

It’s a reminder that despite the year being 2020, we’re still not ready not quite ready for self-driving cars.

As for ride quality, the 2020 Kia Sorento GT-Line also skews towards a firmer, sporty feel – even when the drive mode dial is set to Comfort.

Body control is impressive. There’s none of the head rolling or swaying to which some softer SUVs are prone. Indeed, it takes a large pothole or bump to really unsettle it, and the only complaint when cornering is that the seats could have a little more side bolstering to hold you in.

Whether that’s really a complaint will be subjective. It could be considered complimentary to the Sorento’s rewarding driving experience that it makes you actually want to corner a little quicker.

Given how easy it is to drive and place on the road, you tend to forget you’re driving a large, seven-seat SUV after a while.

Vision from the driver’s seat is good, with just a minor blind-spot caused by its chunky C-pillar. Rear-seat passengers get plenty of outside vision too.

From behind the wheel, there’s not a lot to complain about. My only negative is that the steering wheel feels kind of cheap, like it’s made of a slippery vinyl.

We noted too that the driver assistance features can be a little too intrusive and probably could use some more fine-tuning. In particular, the lane following assist can be too touchy if you’re not in the dead centre of the lane, tugging at the wheel a little too insistently. It also picked up some unpainted lines and markings on some roads, steering you into a non-existent lane.

When reversing, the Sorento has a slight shudder and pulsing feel to it as it moves – strange at first, but something you think less about the more you do it.

Every seat in the Sorento is comfortable, but up front the seat cushions could do with a little more support. The middle row comfortably fits three adults and even the two rear seats could happily fit two average-sized adults – probably not for a long road trip, however.

The 60/40-split middle row folds easily via an electric button atop either side of each seat. Separate slider rails and a range of backrest tilt options offer plenty of versatility.

It’s worth noting also that when the second and third are folded, there’s quite a large gap between the two (where the third-row passenger’s feet would go). That means if you’re carrying a dog for example, it’s an easy spot for it to break a leg during sudden braking or cornering.

The 2020 Kia Sorento is a step change from its predecessor, which was a pretty good thing, and even further away from the kind of vehicles the brand has delivered before in terms of sophistication, fit and finish.

Long gone are the days of the first-generation Sorento, which was an ungainly machine on utilitarian body-on-frame underpinnings as recently as the early 2000s.

Today, the Kia Sorento is stylish, refined, luxurious, safe and actually engaging and enjoyable to drive – things you can’t say for many other seven-seat SUVs even these days.

How much does the 2020 Kia Sorento GT-Line cost?
Price: $63,070 (plus on-road costs) or $64,990 drive-away
Available: Mid-September
Engine: 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel
Output: 148kW/440Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel: 6.1L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 159g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: N/A