Another arrival in the Butler family puts the Kia Sorento’s safety suite in the spotlight.
- Drivetrain performance
- Practical and spacious
- Impressive active-safety suite
- Grabby brakes at walking pace
- 20-inch tyres take the edge off the refined ride
- High boot loading height
Things I’ve learned in the last few weeks. One, NSW is awful at dealing with coronavirus outbreaks. Two, the Olympics are a godsend when you’re on paternity leave in lockdown. Three, the 2021 Kia Sorento is not as big as I first thought, but it is a lot more family-friendly.
I’m not going to wade any deeper into the first two because, well, they’re obvious. And because Drive is not a website dedicated to berating the NSW Liberal Party or blowing smoke up the IOC. Instead, let’s talk about the third one.
I grabbed the Kia again a few weeks ago while awaiting the arrival of Son #2. At Drive, we go through eight to 10 test cars a week, but I needed to get off that automotive merry-go-round because baby arrivals don’t fit neatly in with our complex test car booking schedule.
So I jumped into the Sorento, again. No hardship because it’s a great family SUV. Good enough to win Drive Car of the Year 2021, and on paper the perfect shuttle for second son’s first car journey home from the hospital. Oh, and in case you missed the first update of this series, you can read it here.
| 2021 Kia Sorento GT-Line AWD | |
| Engine configuration | 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel |
| Power and torque | 148kW at 3800rpm, 440Nm at 1750–2750rpm |
| Transmission | Eight-speed dual-clutch automatic |
| Drive type | All-wheel drive |
| Tare weight | 1908kg |
| Fuel consumption (combined-cycle claim) | 6.1L/100km |
| Fuel consumption (combined cycle on test) | 8.2L/100km |
| Boot volume | 187L to third row, 616L to second row |
| Key competitors | Hyundai Santa Fe | Mazda CX-9 | Toyota Kluger |
Two more things I learned in the last few weeks. Double prams are heavier than they look, and the Sorento’s boot floor is higher than you think.
The second point was no great surprise because my ageing kelpie cross refuses to jump that high after an hour in the park, whereas she had no such qualms with my old Skoda Octavia wagon. I made the mistake of tempting her up into my personal car – a 2011 BMW X5 – once and am still googling ‘how to get deep claw gouges out of rear bumpers’. That kind of thing doesn’t go down well on test cars, so I lift her up instead. All 20kg of her.
Double prams are a touch lighter than that, but only just. The Mountain Buggy Duet (the only double pram narrow enough to navigate a standard doorway) we recently bought weighs 14.7kg and takes up the entire boot floor with the third row folded flat. Add to that a baby seat on one side of the middle row, and a newborn’s capsule on the other, and there’s not a lot of room left for, well, anything.
Remember, this Kia Sorento GT-Line is a seven-seater. Right now, however, it’s a two-seater plus child-life, which sounds a lot like wildlife for a reason. Here’s a question for the parents out there: which kid’s baby seat do you insert traffic-side and which do you put on the kerbside? Don’t tell me I have to choose a favourite already?
The middle row is usually deep enough for adults even with the front seats way back, but it’s not quite deep enough for capsules or rear-facing baby seats. To accommodate those, front-seat occupants are forced to compromise, even the driver. It’s no hardship if you’re under six foot like me, but anyone taller will find things a little more cosy than they may like. And the middle seat is next to useless for anyone or anything but nappy bags.
The Sorento’s front passenger seat has a wonderful convenience feature: electric slide and rake adjustment on its central side so you can move it from the back seat. This comes in handy when slotting baby seats in and out, and also if bigger people jump into the second row.
Speaking of the second row, the Sorento’s built-in, retractable window blinds are great for keeping the sun off a newborn’s sensitive skin, or out of the eyes of a sleeping infant. Anything that keeps them sleeping longer is a boon in my book.
Another feature I’ve been enjoying is – wait for it – the remote smart parking assist function, which lets you start the car and move it backwards or forwards from outside the car. I really expected this to be a gimmick, but I’ve had need to use it twice in three weeks. That’s partly because putting offspring in both sides of the middle row requires opening the doors as wide as possible, and narrow public carparks generally don’t make allowance for that. Sure, I could just jump into the car and move it. But then who minds the baby while you’re doing that?
I’m also coming to terms with the wing mirror cameras, which display inside the instrument cluster when indicating to change lanes or turn. It is becoming second nature to use them, and that was unexpected.
| 2021 Kia Sorento GT-Line AWD | |
| Colour | Snow White Pearl |
| Price (MSRP) | $67,290 drive-away, excluding options |
| Fuel tank size | 67L |
| Servicing 5yr | $2393 |
| ANCAP safety rating | Five-star |
| Warranty | Seven years / unlimited km |
In fact, all of the Sorento’s safety nannies have helped out over the last few weeks, if only to calm a tired driver dad’s nerves. I consider myself a safe driver – who doesn’t? – but the lack of sleep that comes with two kids under 15 months means I’m realistic enough to know my senses are not as sharp and my attention is not as focused. Lane-keep assist, lane-change assist, blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic warning have all proved their worth one time or another recently, and early enough that the traffic around me was none the wiser.
I’ve also stopped trying to drive economically and started enjoying the Sorento’s ‘Sport’ driving mode. Not because I’m a speed freak – two babies on board, remember? But I like the sharper response and more urgent acceleration, which takes the heat out of everyday driving scenarios like pulling out from side streets, merging with faster traffic on freeways, and just generally getting on with the journey. Turning the drive-select dial two clicks anti-clockwise is quickly becoming a part of my startup routine, right after starting the engine and engaging D for drive.
For the record, the 2.2-litre turbo diesel’s fuel economy average is still hovering around 8-9 litres per 100km, which I think is acceptable for a big car with seven seats and all-wheel drive. Oh, and also for the record, the Sorento’s low-speed creep problem has not gone away. But I’ve just lowered my smooth parking standards and am learning to live with it.
Next month is our last with the Kia Sorento GT-Line diesel, and right now I will be sad to see it go. So much so, I’m doing the sums on whether I can financially bridge the gap between selling my BMW X5 turbo diesel and buying a GT-Line diesel for $67K plus on-roads.
How important are school fees, really?
In the meantime, if you’ve got any questions, fire away below.
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