Kia Sorento

Our verdict

The Kia Sorento is a budget SUV that’s short on pretension and long in the tooth. Despite a recent facelift it isn’t the most exciting thing in the world. (That’s our entry for understatement of the year, by the way).

Comfort

Proof that soft suspension doesn't necessarily mean you'll be comfortable in the thing, the Sorento does absorb bumps, but pitches and flops about so much it leaves you feeling a tad queasy. Drive it slowly and it's passable. Really slowly, mind.

Performance

You can have a 168bhp, 2.5-litre diesel or..er..a 168bhp, 2.5-litre diesel. One engine then, with 0-62mph coming up in 12.0 seconds and topping out at a wince-inducing 106mph. The engine's a bit noisy and gets lost in a no man's land of turbo lag, but otherwise it's powerful enough to do the job.

Cool

As a furnace.

Quality

A redesigned dash and better quality materials can't disguise the fact that this is getting to be a mouldy geriatric in car terms. The general build quality shows improvement over previous models though.

Handling

The Sorento used to be stiffened to the point of injury to cope with on-road work. Not great. To solve that problem in the latest generation Kia has veered in the opposite direction, and made the suspension from blancmange. Fine for straight-line wallowing, absolutely useless for going around pesky things like corners.

Practicality

Keeping with the boxy theme, the Sorento has plenty of head and shoulder room for passengers and does a decent impression of a van when you fold the seats down - there's nearly 2000litres of capacity available. Proper cavernous.

Running costs

Fuel economy of 35.8mpg is actually pretty poor, but you do get a five-year all-in service deal that negates the loss (though doesn't help the planet). Residuals are OK. For a Kia.