First Look - Kia Sorento

Named after the Italian coastal city of Sorento, Kia's all-new model is set to duke it out in the highly competitive mid-to-upper 4WD (SUV) market segment.

It's competitors will be the likes of Ford's Escape and Honda's CRV, yet it falls in between genres somewhat, and is slightly bigger and tougher than these soft-roaders. While it's no Land Rover, many are already comparing it to Mitsubishi's acclaimed Pajero.

Some will say that Kia can't do that. But, when you look at what the new 4x4 offers - you realise that, yes, they can compete with the likes of Honda and Mitsubishi.

People may still be writing Kia off as "just another Korean car maker," but things they are a changin'. Back in 1944, Kia made bicycle wheels. Now it makes cars.

Kia PR types often like to draw comparisons with what Japanese car makers faced in the mid-70s. People thought their cars sucked, to be honest. They were cheap, so many equated this to poor build quality.

Now the likes of Honda, Nissan and Mazda get both the young-uns foaming at the mouth with their respective new sportscars and those with a few more years under the belt understand their engineering and reliability is equal to any - no questions asked.

For Kia then, this is an important model - a stepping stone to bigger and better things. It hopes that the new vehicle will change people's attitude towards Kia vehicles.

Does this mean it's a make or brake vehicle?

No. But despite this fact, there is a good chance, with some clever marketing, that Kia will sell thousands of its all-new four-by-four.

Early reports from over the pond in Yankee land are giving the new Sorento two big thumbs up, with the interior treatment and smooth-revving engine in particular getting big praise.

While speculation was rife matching the medium-sized Kia SUV with a choice of 2.0-litre and 2.5-litre inline four and V6 engines respectively, we now know this is not the case.

Instead, the new Sorento will be packing a rather fiesty 3.5-litre V6, with dual overhead camshafts, four valves per cylinder and aluminum cylinder heads. Shame it's not all-alloy, but we'll let it slide. This time...

Peak power is an easy-to-live with 142kW @ 5500, with a peak torque of roughly 295Nm occuring @ just 3000rpm, which will translate to a fairly athletic go-getter, both on and off the road.

Speaking of which, it is as yet unclear whether Kia Automotive Australia will be offering both the two and four-wheel drive models, or just the latter.

America gets both models, while their favourite neighbours, the Canadians, get only the 4WD. We would expect to get only the 4WD models here in Australia.

At this stage in the game, there is no talk of a manual version - but the four-speed auto on offer comes with a two-speed transfer case and limited-slip differential, which should be just the ticket when things get muddy.

Focusing on the 4WD model, two variants of this will be offered. The first emulates the CRVs of this world, driving the front-wheels and diverting power to the rears when they slip.

The second variant will be a full-time 4WD model (and possibly a little bit dearer), which automatically splits torque between front and rear wheels as needed and both variants will come with low range gearing for good measure.

Affording the new Kia 4WD competency both on and off the road is a fairly conventional suspension rig. Up front we're looking at independent doube wishbones and the rear gets coil springs with a five-link solid axle.

Together with good ground clearance (20.8cm), short overhangs and hopefully some rugged footwear, the new Kia Sorento is likely to be a jack-of-all-trades when it launches here late 2002, early 2003.

Brakes wise, the Sorento gets solid discs all-round, though at this stage it looks as like ABS will be a cost extra on all models. It is expected that all Sorento variants will get 16-inch alloy wheels and twin front airbags.

While no features are set in concrete for the Aussie release, this is what the American's get in the base model:

To be first seen locally at the Sydney International Motor Show in October, pricing is expected to start at about $35,000 and rise to about $40,000 for the top-of-the-line leather luxury models. The vibe surrounding the new Kia Sorento is positive and Kia is very optimistic about its new off-roader.

The new look will also be one of the key selling points for the new Kia, and considering it resembles the Lexus RX300, it shouldn't be too hard to find keen buyers. With midly flared wheel arches, the angular lines and inspired front-end work well together. In fact, we'd go so far as to say it looks a lot better than many of the more established sellers in today's medium 4WD segment.

We'll give you full run-down on the new five seater Kia after it's launched at the 2002 Sydney Motor Show, and while there are a few details to be sorted before it arrives in Australian dealerships, one thing is for sure - Kia is no longer a small-time automaker thanks to the new 3.5-litre Sorento.