Test drive Kia Sorento 2002 - 2006 SUV

Kia Sorento Koreans go!

The era of licensed models assembled in South Korea seems to end gradually. All cars produced in this country are already their own development of South Korean companies, in line are SUVs. And if they all will be like the new KIA car - the Sorento model, other automakers specializing in all -wheel drive models will have to be very difficult. Koreans go!
 
A short course of history
 
The South Korean automotive company KIA, which is part of the Hyundai concern, is currently producing cars of almost all classes, ranging from the PRIDE and VISTO low -profile and ending with Carens, Carstar and Carnival minivans. From the very beginning of her career, this young company actively used the components and units of the Japanese company Mazda, which, in turn, is under the patronage of the Ford concern. True, the degree of integration of the South Korean company with Japanese or American partners has not yet reached the stage when the model developed by one branch is easily sold under other brands - so far only Ford and Mazda allow themselves, and Koreans have to develop models and engage in their sales.
 
Kia is lucky with SUVs, and the company seems to be going to use it with might and main. Her first all -wheel drive jeep, the fat man of Sportage, became almost cult in many markets. Demand has repeatedly exceeded the proposal, and despite the absolutely unknown brand, sports was well bought in Russia, in Germany, and in general throughout Europe. Having made his debut in his homeland in 1991, Kia Sportage with a single 3-door body began his advance on consumer wallets. In 1995, when the expansion of the European market began, the Koreans developed a five -door modification on an elongated base, which later became the most popular. They produced Kia Sportage, by the way, in Germany - at the factories of the famous convertible company Karmann. In 1997, sports began to collect in Russia - the demand for this inexpensive SUV was so high. And two years later, eight years after the start of production, Kia Sportage was slightly modernized, and a long -bous Sportage Grand modification with an elongated rear overhang appeared. In this form, this car is produced to this day - a very enviable fate. Especially when you consider that this was the first independent model of a novice company.
 
And the second SUV company - Kia Sorento - has every chance to repeat this success. If only because, like Sportage in the early 90s, Sorento is also in its class with an optimal set: good assembly quality, pleasant design, very acceptable price and excellent equipment. For Koreans, the Koreans can be delivered perfectly for the design of this car: the car turned out to be beautiful, quite original and at the same time international in spirit. There is not a single line that outstanding Korean origin, so the German, Japanese, and American SUV could have looked so well. Apparently, the artists had all competing models as a visual aid.
 
And judging by the appearance, Koreans consider Lexus RX300, Mercedes -Benz ML, BMW X5, etc. Look at the back stand - in this angle, the car surprisingly resembles Lexus, and the profile is almost like ML. In general, the overall style of external design is clearly oriented to buyers of expensive luxury SUVs. In the parking lot near the office, Kia Sorento will not look like a poor relative among the above competitors. In the tested version, with painted bums and moldings, all passers -by were generally stopped - they clearly liked the car. And in the city, the owners of other SUVs sometimes cast oblique glances, clearly evaluating this jeep of an unknown brand. Even the traffic cops, who stopped us to check, looked more at the car, and not at the documents. It seems that with the advent of this car, the phrase Korean jeep has acquired a new meaning. And this became obvious when we met at the gas station, a little older - Hyundai Galloper II. It immediately became clear how far the Korean auto industry stepped over the past ten years - from the production of licensed models to the full cycle of their own development. And the Russians still can’t learn to collect a new Niva normally - Americans, there, they called ...
 
The appearance of Sorento is also interesting in that, with all the similarity to other models, it has a pronounced personality. Seeing once, it is unlikely that later you will confuse it with the SUV Other company - the car is very bright, memorable. And although this Korean is far from the shocking of Ssangyong Rexton, you also can’t call him gray and faceless. But the interior disappeared slightly: high -quality and stylish, but not as interesting as external design. It can be called a little conservative: everything seems to be as it should, but the Koreans did not grab the last trends of fashion. And the plastic is visually unnecessarily harsh, and the plywood on the sides of the central console is clearly superfluous, and the design of the panel is some kind of faceless. However, I probably demand too much, because this is still not Lexus.
 
The main thing is that, in ergonomics, the Sorento interior reaches the level of salons of the best cars of this class. The doorway is wide, the landing is convenient, even the bandwidth is not particularly needed in this case - it is quite convenient to climb into Sorento without it. Planting behind the wheel also impressed: almost like in X5! And although Kia in itself is higher (at the expense of the frame), its ergonomics can be recognized as a reference - in no frame the SUV was so convenient for me. First of all, because of the frame itself: it usually takes up a lot of space, because of which the floor in the cabin turns out very high, and there is little space for the legs. But Sorento does not have a frame: both the floor is quite low, and the threshold is low.
 
According to the reserve of the internal space, this car is somewhere in the middle between the frame and parquet jeeps of a similar dimension-there is a little more closely than in Honda CR-V, but more spacious than in Mitsubishi Pajero Sport. The front seats, in my opinion, are a little high, but this is necessary for visibility - sitting below you cannot control the front edge of the car. But at the rear seats, even very large passengers should like: there is a place to put on your legs, and you can’t rest against your head on the ceiling. In general, Sorento should appeal to tall people - as in Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, even the Sumo fighter can comfortably accommodate here.
 
The course of the young fighter
 
Like Sportage, Kia Sorento, despite the toy appearance, is a general -purpose SUV. Its body was planted on a powerful spar frame, and the company's front independent suspension is a hard bridge-beam behind. But pendants, front and back - spring. This saved Kia from the universal models of the rigidity of the pendants and provided a high level of comfort both on off -road and on the asphalt. Sorento is not easy and transmission - in normal mode, the car is rear -wheel drive, and the front axle is connected only if it is necessary to overcome the heavy section of the road. But since the transmission has an interdose differential, you can operate this car in 4x4 mode at least all year round. That is, in the winter, you can constantly ride all -wheel drive, without fear of getting stuck in a snowdrift, but in the summer to turn off the front axle in order to save fuel and improve accelerated dynamics. For especially difficult traffic conditions, a number of lowering gears are provided - simultaneously with its inclusion, the center differential is also blocked, significantly increasing cross -country ability. In addition to Sorento, you can order a self -locking differential in the rear axle - a very useful option for our conditions. It remains only to add that switching the transmission modes is carried out by a simple turn of the lever to the left of the steering wheel. To switch from the rear -wheel drive to a complete, just turn the lever into one division, but the inclusion of a reducing transmission and blocking of the center differential is carried out only after the car is completely stopped.
 
As you can see, Kia Sorento is a car of those that equally confidently feel both on a broken primer, and on the plowed field, and on the autobahn. Moreover, neither in that nor in the other, nor in the third case the owner of the car will not be forced to blush, justifying his defeat by the design features of the car. To the quarry? So in the quarry. Hunting? Yes, please, at least on Safari. Although everything could have been different, if Sorento would be a parquet SUV with independent pendants, which carries a body and ordinary all -wheel drive transmission with WISKOFTA.
 
Koreans could easily make a SURENTO SUV, leaving Loneron Rama in Mercedes-Benz ML, equipping this model with an independent rear suspension. And that's it - another competitor of the BMW X5 and other SUV, SAV etc. would have turned out But this scenario, apparently, did not suit the development of events: he saw his model certainly a general -purpose SUV, and not a flimsy parking member. And that’s right: there are practically no such models left. Almost all new medium -sized SUVs moved to the SUV class - even the legendary Mitsubishi Pajero III became independent, having also lost a spar frame at the same time. And it turns out that the buyer of a good general purpose SUV needed to either choose among old models like Mitsubishi Pajero Sport or Nissan Terrano II, or still bow to manufacturers of parquet SUVs. So the potential buyer Kia Sorento knows well: those who have lost their favorite SUV due to a change in the priority of the manufacturer will pay attention to him.
 
On the road and outside the roads
 
Three versions of Kia Sorento are officially represented in our market: a 2.5-liter 140-horsepower turbodiesel, four-cylinder 139-horsepower 2.4 liters and a top version with a 3.5-liter V6. The basic modification is considered to be a turbodiesella LX - its cost starts from 17.420 euros, taking into account delivery, but without customs. The standard equipment of this version includes cast discs, a pillow for the driver, a self -locking differential in the rear axle drive, an immobilizer, a driver’s seat adjustable in height and an adjustable steering column. There is also a central castle, headlight corrector, power steering, electric windows at all doors and electric regulatory mirrors with heating. The top version of the Lux, offered only with a 3.5-liter engine, also additionally has ABS with the EBD electronic distribution system, navigator and lateral airbags, wheel arches, fog lights, etc. In general, a full package, including cruise control, climate control, steering wheel with leather upholstery, heating the front seats, an automatic gearbox and even the function of heating the wipers on the windshield. This version of the SUV was on our test - full of Full worth about 26,000 euros.
 
Let's say right away: all the impressions of this test were obtained from modification with a 3.5-liter engine and an automatic checkpoint, possibly a basic turbodiesel, which costs almost half less, will be completely different. Because Sorento 3.5 is the highest class. To be honest, I did not expect Koreans to make such a harmonious and capable SUV - for me Sorento has become a real revelation. The overclocking dynamics of the car kills most of all. In 9.7 seconds, dial a hundred from a place - this is, I will report to you, the result worthy of a good sedan, not to mention the rogue. Faster Sorento only powerful SUVs like BMW X5 or American monsters with eight -cylinder engines. You press the gas, and Sorento easily breaks off, instantly gaining speed. At the same time, the engine and machine operate so clearly and softly that you just wonder. As far as I remember, the rapid acceleration on the Pajero 3.5 caused less positive emotions. In the entire range of revolutions, starting with idle and ending with the red tachometer area, the motor works very quietly. And when the provocative pressure of the gas pedal still makes him roar for a couple of seconds, a pleasant well-fed rumbling is heard from under the hood-almost like in BMW.
 
A 3.5-liter Sorento rides well at medium speeds. The maximum torque of 294 nm falls at 3000 rpm, so even smooth acceleration is highly effective. This SUV has to be held almost all the time, because its engine is so zealously taken up to work that you will accelerate up to 100-120 km/h somehow unrealistically quickly. And most importantly - comfortable. The car simply accelerates, and nothing indicates an excess of speed: neither the sound of the motor, nor the noise of the oncoming wind. Even at 140 km/h, which is quite a lot for such a car, comfort is simply amazing.
 
Everyone will like the smoothness of the course. Despite the presence of a dependent rear suspension, the softness of the Kia Sorento move is only inferior to the same BMW X5. Neither the fluctuations in the unsubstantiated masses, nor the buildup of the body - the settings of the suspensions are almost perfect, although on the long journey they may seem a little harsh. But in a turn, as far as circumstances allow, you can go at good speed, without dropping it in front of steep turns. The controllability of this car is sharpened in such a way that in the Sorento turn, it first begins to slightly slip the rear axle - there is time to lose speed and correct the error. Although it is a damn thing to ride like this, with a slight skid, on Sorento: a powerful engine instantly breaks the rear wheels into a slip, so the car, like a supercar, is slightly sideways. But even in this mode, the engine works surprisingly quietly, a complete illusion of expensive luxury SUV is created.
 
If ... ... This SUV was not produced in South Korea and carried the emblem of the KIA company not a little -known company, but, for example, some respected Japanese company, then it would not cost about 26,000 euros - this is in -First. ... This model, in the framework of the internal cooperation between Kia and its Ford cartridge, began to be sold in some markets under the Ford or Mazda brand, it would have awaited a deafening success. And she would instantly decide with the Parquet Ford Maverick (aka Mazda Tribyte), and with the new Ford Explorer - this is secondly. ... Everything was exactly as described above, that is, Sorento was produced under another brand and was more expensive, he probably would not have received such enthusiastic reviews from us. Going to another price category, Kia Sorento would compete with completely different models - this is third. But in this case, with a cost of less than thirty thousand for a car with a 3.5-liter six-cylinder engine, an automatic gearbox, all-wheel drive transmission, leather interior, climate control, etc. etc., Kia Sorento is a really unique offer for our market. And if the dealer manages to knock out good quotas, other sellers of SUVs of this price category will grind their teeth in a dream: Koreans go!
 

Source: "Avtogazeta"