KIA SORENTO 4X4 REVIEW

My car

I bought this Kia (September 2010) after my previous (another make) 4x4 failed. I have had this through the winter months using it in anger off road to get to our horses in deep snow and ice. I have the auto box and being able to change in to the manual mode with locked differential was brilliant - the car has superb grip with standard tyres.

The car also pulls well as I have a horse box and this caused it no problems.

The interior is good despite others comments and is practical.

The only issue I have is the driving lights and the ride height. The vehicle sits very high and I have to use the lights in the position 3 which does not give great distance at night. The "fog" lamps are poor.

Otherwise this car is great and 7 seats are brilliant.

I would recommend this car to people who want value for their money and are not worried about the image of the badge.

My car

It is 8 months since I last passed comment on my KX-2 Auto but I am prompted to bump it up to a full 5-star rating this time due to the way that it cosseted me through the vagaries of the winter.

First things first and the standard Nexen Roadian rubber is OK in general but not ideal for a tough winter. I had a couple of trips across northern Europe to contend with and went for a set of Michelin Pilot Alpin which I got a great deal on in Tallinn. With good winter rubber the season was a dawdle apart from a 200km stretch of continuous black ice on a very early Sunday morning on a Swedish motorway in January - that was NOT fun.

Fuel economy has remained reasonable throughout and the manufacturer's figures are pretty much on the money. In the first 10,000 miles the car seemed to sip a little oil but this has eased off although I always keep a regular eye on such things.

I can understand the previous reviewer's point about the light settings but I beefed up my bulbs in Tallinn in the winter and this seemed to improve things.

My brother borrowed the Sorento in February to take some friends to a football match and he was fulsome in his praise which is remarkable as he is BMW, BMW, BMW. Like me he was awfully impressed with the kick-down and very quickly discovered that overtaking is a piece of cake with 40-60 accomplished with no drama whatsoever. He is seriously thinking about buying one before next winter.

I am so happy that I did not buy the Shogun as was my origi

My car

I had already decided to purchase a Shogun 5-dr in Elegance/Diamond spec and was shopping for the best deal when I read a review on the Sorento in Autocar which suggested that the new model is a revelation with a "best in class" engine. So I went along to my local dealer more out of curiosity than conviction to see the car in the metal.

The immediate impression was of a classy piece of equipment that is extremely well put together and it struck me that the common gripe about cabin plastics is rather a low shot considering some of the surfaces in my current 2009 Merc C180. The overall first impression was very positive.

The salesman offered me a spin and off we went on a near 20 mile mixed driving run with a variety of surfaces thrown in for good measure to challenge suspension and handling. The engine was eager from the off and the gearbox was smooth to the point of being unobtrusive. The performance blew the Shogun out of the water and I was quite flabbergasted by that. The big Mitsubishi has 1000cc of advantage but the net result of that is just tons of noise and no guts.

OK so the Sorento is a better "drive" but the Shogun has more spec model for model. However by going for the Sorento KX-2 auto I can save around £10,000 and retrofit a super-duper stereo/nav combo for only a fraction of the price differential.

I collect my Sorento on June 21 and an early order of duty will be Aberdeen to Normandy and back with a lot of touring in between so expect an update in

My car

I took a long test drive in a KX3 auto and thought the car was great. The new Sorento gets good reviews all around the world and here in the UK. What Car's 3 Star rating seems out of step with other opinions. I have ordered a KX2 and will post an update after i have driven it for a few thousand miles