Gadgetory

the 2016 Sorento vies with the Sedona minivan as Kia's largest vehicle kia calls the sorento a crossover utility vehicle or CUV for short it comes in l LX e x sx and limited trim models we have the limited trim model back here with a 2-liter direct injection turbo charged engine that's one of three engines available we also have all-wheel-drive this can have you have the front wheel drive as well in this limited trim model we have a panoramic sunroof and we have two rows of seating good for five passengers to get three rows for seven passengers you need to go up to the v6 option that's going to decide it for a few people in the center of the dashboard here we have an eight-inch touchscreen now this comes standard in the DX SX and limited trim Sorrento models you don't get it in the lower trim I'm not crazy about this interface we've got buttons down the side for quick access to some of the features then we also have a main menu screen a whole screen full of menu icons to get to the different things it's a little bit confusing a little bit duplicative with this navigation system here the maps look good and there's good traffic coverage but we don't get perspective view maps we only get top-down view maps we have some app integration here so if I want to use Google search to find a destination I just hit my Navi button hit local search and then I can enter in any search term and get results but the way this works is it's actually tethered through my phone using my phone as a hotspot so you have to have a Wi-Fi hotspot in the car either your phone or a mobile device but that's what you need to make the apps work in this car that's not a great system because not everybody is gonna be able to figure out how to tether the car to a hotspot for audio sources I have the typical ones I've got bluetooth streaming here I've got a USB port down here I can plug in iOS devices and USB drives full of music I actually have a USB port in the back but that's only for charging that's not actually connected to the audio system I've got HD radio and satellite radio as well and this top-trim sorento comes with a 12 speaker infiniti audio system 630 watt so that's a lot of good sound quality there and Kia's also included a system called clarify this is a audio technology that she tries to bring back some of the lost sound in highly compressed audio files but I've noticed that the audio sounds a lot better when plugged into the USB port rather than playing through bluetooth stream you know I think that's because it's reconstructing some of the lost details in compressed audio files so I like that now see what happens when I put it in reverse I get this nicely detailed surround view camera system so I can see behind me I can see a top-down view of the car and I also press these buttons to get different views I can see straight behind me I can see a corner of the car and if I put it in Drive while the camera mode is on and I'm creeping forward I can actually see a front view of the car in front of me so that's convenient I also have adaptive cruise control and a blind-spot modern aiding system in this car with the tech package and finally on my instrument cluster I've got an LCD panel for my speedometer there's real analog gauges on either side but the centre is pure LCD and you get a nice little informational display which shows you audio or navigation or whatever you want to switch it now I mentioned the 2-liter four-cylinder engine under the hood of this car that's got direct injection as do the other engine options for the Sorento and it also has a turbocharger so that gets us 240 horsepower 260 pound feet of torque which is decent for this vehicle almost up to the levels of the v6 that's mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission and we've got a manual mode here so I can choose gears that takes the place of a low range idea so if I need 3rd gear 2nd gear I can choose those this goes through an all-wheel-drive system in this vehicle it's actually a front-wheel drive platform but they've run power to the rear wheels and torque will shift between the front and rear axles automatically depending if there's wheel slip and I have a button on the console where I can actually lock the differential and get 50% report the front and rear I want to do that if I'm in a situation where I really need power at all four wheels like if I'm stuck in snow or saying something like that with this driveline I get 19 miles per gallon city 25 miles we all in a highway I'm not the greatest members in the world I'm driving this car I've noticed that it doesn't really take out very fast when you're making a rolling acceleration so right now I'll just punch it and it takes a little while to pick up and that's because the automatic transmission takes a little while to add the extra mm that you need it takes a little while to ship down I got to say overall the driving character of the Sorento is very nice and comfortable doesn't take much thought which is kind of idea behind these kind of cars you just get in and go all right let's price out our 2016 kia sorento now base model and L trim with a 2.4 liter four-cylinder engine will go for twenty four thousand nine hundred dollars we've taken a big leap up to the limited trim model with that 2-liter turbocharged engine this goes for thirty nine thousand nine hundred base we've added all wheel drive for eighteen hundred dollars and that tech package with adaptive cruise control and the surround you camera system for $2,500 that puts us with destination at a total of forty five thousand ninety five dollars that's a big chunk of money this is a pretty well-equipped pretty nice SUV