February 20^th, 2003 

Sorento 4WD enters a new market

 WHEN Kia’s new Sorento goes on sale in Australia on March 1^st,  it will take the Korean car maker into a whole new area of the market with a benchmark model capable of taking on the best cars in its sector.

Despite having built a reputation with its four wheel drives, both for public markets and with its range of military all terrain vehicles, Kia has never contested the medium size four wheel drive market, until now.

This is one of the most hotly contested market sectors with high quality vehicles from Europe, Japan and the USA fighting in all the key markets in the world, including Australia.

Sorento is launched into this daunting market place as a clean-sheet design, with the keen pricing and value for money packaging that has proven so significant in other market sectors.

At 4.5m and 1.86m, it is longer and wider than the Jeep Cherokee, while its wheelbase, at 2.7 metres is one of the longest in the class. Its track  - essential for sure-footedness on the road - is also generous; at 1.5 metres it is better than the Mercedes M Class, BMW X5 and the Ford Explorer. But Kia has been careful to restrain the height of the Sorento to 1.7 metres, to ensure that it does not have any problems with low car parks or garages. Translating this into the interior, the Sorento has a boot that is both longer and wider than a Land Rover Discovery; and it has more than a metre of leg room in the front and more than a metre of head room in both the front and the back seats.

Style and ability
Clearly European in its styling with a strong, but understated elegance that comes with smooth flanks and a strong bonnet behind the new Kia grille, there is no risk of the Sorento being "over-styled".

The high ground clearance and strong wheel arch extensions, combined with the large alloy wheels shod with dual purpose tyres make the Sorento's off road abilities clear, but not over whelming for a car that will probably spend most of its life in an urban, rather than an outback life style.

Not that the Sorento lacks what is required to cross the outback.

A sturdy ladder chassis surrounds the drivetrain, with front and rear drive train protection. The drive train itself is a full selectable on the fly four wheel drive system with a full low range gearbox for serious cross country work. All of this technology is simply engaged by the use of a knob on the dashboard that provides the choice of two wheel drive, four wheel drive high range and four wheel drive low range. The system uses a free running differential which minimizes the disadvantages of free wheeling front hubs under difficult conditions such as dust, humidity and low temperatures.

Powering this drivetrain is a muscular 3.5 litre V6 engine with 145 kW of power at 5500 rpm and a tree stump pulling 295 Nm of torque at 3000 rpm. This is sufficient to provide Sorento, where the law permits, with a top speed of 192 kmh, aided by the aerodynamic efficiency of the body, which also ensures excellent cross wind stability at all speeds. The transmission is, as standard, a four speed electronic gearbox, something that is usually an expensive option on the Sorento's rivals. (It’s notable, however, that a manual transmission is not available even as an option.)

Power is nothing without control, and the suspension is a sophisticated five link system at the back and double wishbone at the front. This should enable the Sorento to absorb the worst conditions off road, from substantial bumps to Australia's infamous washboard surfaces with equanimity, while providing a fluid and comfortable ride around town.

Stopping power is provided by disk brakes on all four corners, ventilated at both front and rear with twin calipers at the front.

Comfort, convenience
The elegance of the exterior and the refinement provided by the drivetrain combine inside the Sorento to produce an interior said to be “as cosseting as it is versatile and flexible for all uses”. (No interior photos have been made available as yet.)

Large comfortable front seats face a fully equipped dashboard, twin drinks holders are asymmetric to hold every size of drink with rubber rings to guarantee no rattles; the centre armrest has two storage boxes, a top one for maps and documents and a lower with a built in CD and cassette rack; a power point for computers and mobile phones;a readout in the roof console confirms altitude, direction and barometric pressure and behind this read out are two sunglasses holders.

Air conditioning is standard with a host of vents in the front and under the front seats to keep the rear passengers cool.

The back seat is a generous three seat bench, with two lap sash seat belts and three headrests. It has its own twin drink holders and bottle holders, as well as another power socket for phones and computers, or, games and video entertainment systems. The large fold down centre armrest has another storage locker in it.

Throughout the passenger compartment, deep pile carpet and plush cloth upholstery are used. The standard CD digital audio system has eight powerful speakers, four mounted in the doors for strong bass and mid-range response and tweeter speakers at the top of the dashboard for stereo separation.

Behind the back seat is the class leading boot that offers a minimum of 900 litres under the standard luggage cover and with the back seats in place. Fold down the standard 60/40 split fold rear seats with their integrated storage spaces for the headrests and this expands to 1.9 cubic metres.

There are storage boxes on either side of the boot, a large under floor, out of sight storage area, split into convenient compartments and storage trays on top of the suspension towers. This is easily accessible through the rear door or through the rear window, which opens separately. A standard cargo net holds loads in the boot safely and securely.

Clever storage spaces are found throughout the Sorento. In the front there is a capacious glove box with two storage areas; a sliding storage tray under the front seat, a drop down locker to the right of the driver, sliding tray in the centre console, holders in the centre console for pens, coins and a mobile phone; two storage areas in the centre armrest; generous door pockets, with bottle holders in the rear pockets; rear storage bins and pockets and net pockets on the back of the front seats.

Safe and green
Developed to beat all the required safety standards in the world, Sorento's wide track, responsive steering and sophisticated suspension, as well as powerful brakes combine to assist the driver to avoid accidents. The ladder chassis has been designed specifically to work with the body shell to absorb impact, something not all 4WDs with separate chassis are designed to do. The sides of the chassis are shaped to match the side of the Sorento and absorb impact, spreading across the frame, while the front and rear of the chassis frame extend into the bumpers, again to absorb impact and take it away from the passenger compartment. The body shell has its own safety cell around the passenger compartment and crumple zones from and rear to absorb impact.

To ensure that the occupants are best positioned to survive an accident, the latest design of air bags for the front occupants work in league with pre-tensioning front seat belts. These new air bags use sensors mounted in
the seat belt buckles to determine the size of the front seat occupants and vary the inflation of the airbags appropriately by as much as 30 per cent, again, reducing the likelihood of injury.

Other safety and security features include a glovebox lid made from a honeycomb interior that protects the front passengers knees and warning lights that activate when a door is opened, while security is ensured with central locking with a master control for the driver, dead locks and an engine immobiliser.

Kia has also worked hard with the Sorento to ensure the safety of the environment, eliminating asbestos from the gaskets and brake linings; the air bag inflators are non-azide; the AirCon system uses the latest environment friendly R134a refrigerant; all plastic parts over 100 grams in weight carry material composition codes to aid recycling; some plastic components are made from recycled plastic and the body has been designed so it can easily be pulled apart and recycled at the end of its long service life.

Standard equipment includes ABS brakes, cruise control; three power points; front and rear electric windows; remote central locking; twin front airbags; power operated mirrors; power steering; air conditioning; CD stereo system with six speakers and an electric aerial; alloy wheels; remote opening rear window; roof rack with adjustable cross bars; multipurpose readout with altimeter, compass and barometer.

Kia Sorento will arrive, fully equipped and with an automatic gearbox as standard for $37,950. Optional extras include leather trim, electrically operated seats, sun roof and a wood trim dashboard.

"Sorento, quite simply, redefines Kia," said Ric Hull, managing director of Kia Automotive Australia.

"It demonstrates Kia's commitment to providing benchmark performance, style and ability without any weakening in our commitment to offering value for money and keen pricing. As such, we believe the Sorento will make a substantial impact not just in the sector in which it competes, but also to Kia's image and position in the Australian market place as a whole with enhanced sales opportunities for all our models."