Since winning the top gong at the 2021 Drive Car of the Year awards, the Kia Sorento has remained one of our favourite seven-seat SUVs on the market. The addition of a fuel-saving hybrid powertrain option allows it to take on the new Toyota Kluger head-on.
- Fuel economy (nearly) matches the Kluger Hybrid at a cheaper price
- Comfortable, modern and practical interior
- Well-dialled ride quality for town and country alike
- Slight hesitation from a standing start takes getting used to
- Random engine flaring from time to time
- Beaten by the Palisade in the overall space stakes
Introduction
Now equipped with a fuel-sipping hybrid powertrain, the 2022 Kia Sorento Hybrid is now able to take on a segment favourite head-on. The ongoing success and popularity of Toyota’s closed-loop hybrid range has been well publicised, from Yaris all the way up to Kluger.
And considering the record-high fuel prices that refuse to abate, a fuel-saving hybrid powertrain is a key to Toyota’s Kluger winning segment honours in our recent Drive Car of the Year testing.
However, that ace up the sleeve is now matched by the equally impressive Kia Sorento. Alongside conventional V6 petrol and turbo diesel powertrains, the Sorento range has been boosted by plug-in hybrid and closed-loop hybrid options to cover all tastes. Except for a fully electric variant, for the time being.
Priced from $66,750 plus on-road costs, our 2022 Kia Sorento Hybrid is only available in high-spec GT-Line grade. This puts it at a relatively small $760 premium over a comparable petrol-powered Sorento GT-Line. It’s $14,340 cheaper than the plug-in hybrid, and $3000 less than the diesel.
Importantly, Kia claims big improvements in fuel economy with this hybrid model. In comparison to a claim of 9.7 litres and 6.7 litres per hundred kilometres for the petrol and diesel Sorentos respectively, we have a claim of 5.3L/100km for the hybrid variant.
Unlike the plug-in hybrid variant, this closed-loop hybrid has no electric driving range. Instead, the smaller electric battery harvests energy under coasting and braking to later remove burden from the smaller turbocharged internal combustion engine.
So, it’s like a normal car to live with: fill it up with fuel when the tank gets low. Only, it should be a less frequent (and less painful) occurence.
Unlike the well-known Kluger Hybrid – which uses a larger naturally aspirated Atkinson-cycle petrol engine – Kia has adapted its 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine in this case. It makes 132kW and 265Nm running through a six-speed automatic gearbox and working in tandem with a 44kW/264Nm electric motor.
Peak overall outputs are 169kW and 350Nm, with a 1.0kWh lithium battery pack holding charge.
| Key details | 2022 Kia Sorento GT-Line Hybrid |
| Price (MSRP) | $66,750 plus on-road costs |
| Colour of test car | Steel Grey – $695 |
| Options | None |
| Price as tested | $67,445 plus on-road costs |
| Rivals | Mazda CX-9 | Hyundai Palisade | Toyota Kluger |
Inside
GT-Line represents the top specification for the Sorento range, and there are plenty of nice touches inside this large SUV to help justify the relatively high asking price. Front seats are heated and ventilated, with 14 directions of memory-supported electric adjustment for the driver (and 10 for the passenger).
The seats – quilted in part with nappa leather – look and feel great, and are comfortable to sit in for extended periods of time. It’s perhaps a small detail, but the perforations can lead to tricky clean-ups if your kids (or big kids) tend to smear things like snacks into the seats.
The amount of piano-black plastic through the centre console – as well as in the second row – will show up smears and smudges quite a lot as well. So if you’re more finicky, be prepared to wipe them down semi-regularly to keep the interior looking fresh.
The second row is plenty spacious, offering a sliding base or tilting backrest to apportion space to where it’s needed. And if you bring the second row forward slightly, adults can fit into the third row well enough.
Hyundai’s Palisade does offer more space, which is noticeable through the second and third rows. It’s not to say that the Sorento is pokey or small by any stretch, the third row will fit adults with a reasonable amount of comfort. It just so happens that the Palisade is better in this regard.
If you stay seated on this train of logic, however, you’ll end up at a different destination: people mover. As good as a Sorento or Palisade may be for hauling more than five humans of decent stature, a Kia Carnival will inevitably do it better.
Practicality-wise, the Sorento has clearly been designed with modern-day family usage at the core. Below the second-row air vents, you’ll find a 12V and USB power outlet. There are additional USB points on the seat backs, and handy cupholders on the second-row doors. The third row has cupholders, USB power outlets, air vents, as well as a fan speed vent.
Total USB power outlets go to eight, along with the 12V and wireless charging pad. So if your kids start fighting over charge points, it’s not the car’s fault. And you can broadcast that via the built-in intercom system.
Another favourite of mine are the sun blinds in the second row – just the ticket for keeping dozing kids happy on longer drives.
| 2022 Kia Sorento GT-Line Hybrid | |
| Seats | Seven |
| Boot volume | 179L to third row 608L to second row 1996L to first row |
| Length | 4810mm |
| Width | 1900mm |
| Height | 1700mm |
| Wheelbase | 2815mm |
Infotainment and Connectivity
The 10.25-inch infotainment display in the Sorento is holding up well, with plenty of features like Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, digital radio and native navigation accounted for. It’s surrounded by dials and buttons, which help for ease of use when on the move, and air-conditioning controls aren’t buried within a screen either.
In front of the driver is a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster connected with a curving piece of piano-black plastic (what else?) to the central screen. It looks sharp and adds an edge of modernism to the driving experience. There is a fair amount of information to dig and cycle through, but you can’t do the full-on Audi-style maps that you might hope.
GT-Line does also pick up a good quality head-up display (HUD) that projects onto the windscreen, so you’ve got no shortage of information to dig through. I tended to leave the instrument cluster on the hybrid information readout, just because I’m a stickybeak.
Safety and Technology
The five-star ANCAP safety rating for the 2022 Kia Sorento includes this hybrid variant, which is an important inclusion for family buyers. This five-star rating – garnered in 2020 – includes an 82 per cent score for adult occupant protection and 85 per cent for child occupant protection.
This comes with a wide gamut of active safety technology, including autonomous emergency braking that works for pedestrians, cyclists and intersections. There’s also blind-spot monitoring, lane-departure warning, lane-keep assistance, rear cross-traffic alert, safe exit warning and automatic high-beam headlights.
Airbags include an advanced front-centre airbag – designed to stop occupants crashing into each other – but the side curtain airbags do not extend into the third row for occupants back there. Four ISOFIX child points provide good coverage for a growing family, along with the five top-tether points.
| 2022 Kia Sorento GT-Line Hybrid | |
| ANCAP rating | Five stars (tested 2020) |
| Safety report | Link to ANCAP report |
Value for Money
One of the main problems with a plug-in hybrid powertrain is the simple fact that it’s very expensive. The whole idea of an electric-only driving range – which will probably cover most people’s daily commute – is tempting. However, it takes many years of diligent electric-only driving to recoup that initial outlay of cost.
That’s why a fuel-saving hybrid like this one makes more sense. Costing only $760 more than the non-hybrid petrol Sorento means it won’t take long to get back into the black from a fiscal point of view. And if you’ve got your eyes on an all-wheel-drive SUV, Kia has you covered on this front as well.
The only big specification difference between this model and a non-hybrid GT-Line is the wheels, which are 19-inch instead of 20-inch. Not a deal-breaker in my opinion, and the more pragmatic amongst us would see it as a positive.
We might have to wait until the whole semiconductor crisis sorts itself out, but it would be great to see Kia roll this fuel-saving technology out to lower-specification grades. Having a base-grade Sorento for little more than $50,000 would be quite compelling, I think.
| At a glance | 2022 Kia Sorento GT-Line Hybrid |
| Warranty | Seven years / unlimited km |
| Service intervals | 12 months or 10,000km |
| Servicing costs | $1467 (3 years), $2841 (5 years), $4393 (7 years) |
But as it stands – and especially in comparison to the top-spec hybrid Kluger – this Sorento shapes up as especially good value overall.
Naturally, the big gains here come from the savings at the fuel bowser. And while the fuel tank might only be a relatively small 67L, the miserly nature of the powertrain means you’re looking at around 1000km of driving between refills.
One smaller detail to note here is that the braked towing capacity takes a backward step with this hybrid. Whereas non-hybrids are a less-than-impressive 2000kg, this is reduced slightly to 1650kg. Still enough to take the box trailer to the tip, but not much more.
Fuel Consumption – brought to you by bp
| Fuel Useage | Fuel Stats |
| Fuel cons. (claimed) | 5.3L/100km |
| Fuel cons. (on test) | 6.8L/100km |
| Fuel type | 91-octane regular unleaded |
| Fuel tank size | 65L |
Driving
Many of the hallmarks of the new Kia Sorento – which allowed the large SUV to take Drive’s top gong in 2021 – are present and accounted for here. The ride is of high quality, and well suited to a life of trundling along varying suburban roads and highways. It’s an easy car to drive, despite being a relatively large vehicle overall.
In comparison to the diesel-powered and straight petrol Sorento, this hybrid does lack a little bit of outright punch, especially off the mark. As the powertrain attempts to use as much electric juice as possible, there can be a slight hesitation as the brains attempt to blend sources as smoothly as possible.
It does a good job overall: aside from the occasional flaring of revs from the petrol engine, the combining of two power sources is done with near-imperceptible grace. The petrol engine switches off as often as possible – under braking and during coasting – and the lithium battery soaks up as much energy as it can in the meantime.
It’s interesting to see Kia opt for a six-speed automatic transmission instead of something like a CVT automatic. However, it must be said that it’s a dutiful and well-tuned companion, making no rash or harsh decisions.
Electric-only motivation does occur, mostly at a sedate low-speed cruise around town for shorter periods. But the electric motor does work in tandem as well, allowing the petrol engine to do partial work whenever possible.
Overall, it’s a point-and-shoot affair that is comfortable and well-appointed, fitting the brief nicely.
And after my week of mixed town and highway driving, a result of 6.8L/100km is impressive. You can use el-cheapo E10 low-octane fuel to keep running costs low – if you so desire – something not possible with the Kluger Hybrid.
The Kluger – a Grande Hybrid all-wheel-drive specification – got a similar (but slightly better) 6.6L/100km on my recent test. Kez managed 7.1 on his test with the all-wheel-drive hybrid Sorento.
For more comparisons, I saw between 9.2L and 13.0L/100km in the straight V6 petrol Sorento, while the diesel was able to log 8.5L/100km on average. In other words, this hybrid is quite frugal.
The potential savings with this hybrid Sorento – and the inherent appeal – are clearly obvious here. And the fact that the Sorento – an excellent large SUV overall – remains unspoilt by this new hybrid powertrain.
| Key details | 2022 Kia Sorento GT-Line Hybrid |
| ICE Engine | 1.6-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol hybrid |
| Power | 132kW @ 5500rpm petrol 44kW electric 169kW combined |
| Torque | 265Nm @ 1500–4500rpm petrol 164Nm electric 350Nm combined |
| Drive type | Front-wheel drive |
| Transmission | Six-speed torque converter automatic |
| Weight (tare) | 1883kg |
| Tow rating | 1650kg braked, 750kg unbraked |
| Turning circle | 11.6m |
Conclusion
Fuel prices are the big story at the moment, which means something like this Sorento is only going to grow in its appeal. Once upon a time, you’d have to stomach the reality of a big guzzling motor if you wanted the commodious space offered by something like a three-row SUV.
Nowadays, you can have your cake and get stuck right into it quite happily. Kia has done a great job of its first closed-loop hybrid Sorento, making something that is easy to use and drive on the daily grind, but also makes a big dent in fuel usage.
And it rounds out an overall package that ticks many boxes for the modern-day family buyer. It’s comfortable, safe, refined and well specified. What GT-Line brings might be excessive for some people’s tastes, but this is the only specification that benefits from a frugal hybrid powertrain.
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