MTGARAGE
ARRIVAL: 2021 Kia Sorento
EPA City/Hwy/Comb Fuel Econ
21/28/24 mpg
“We’re about to find out whether this in-betweener has its own distinctive appeal.”
Alex Leanse
Base Price $40,965 As Tested $42,190
Can’t blame you if the Sorento hasn’t crossed your mind recently. It doesn’t help that Kia’s made forgetting it easy. The smaller Sportage, though old, looks cooler. Then the larger Telluride went and won MotorTrend’s 2020 SUV of the Year competition. Where’s the Sorento been? Stuck in the middle. We drove the third-generation model only twice since its 2016 launch—so it hasn’t much crossed our minds, either.
Bam! Enter the fourth-gen Sorento, fully redesigned for 2021. If we didn’t spend much time thinking about the model before, we don’t have that option now—we just got one for a yearlong test.
The new Sorento etched itself into our memories even before we knew it was joining our long-term fleet. If the outgoing model looked puffy and anonymous, the new one is anything but. Between its angular LED headlights and split taillights, the chiseled, edgy body is packed with details. For the first time, a Sorento is an SUV we actually want to be seen in.
That’s especially true of this particular Sorento. It’s painted a color called Crystal Beige, a gorgeous hue with a terrible name that several folks have noted sounds like a washed-up adult performer. Among MTers it has gained the nickname “Sorentoro Elios” in tribute to Oro Elios, a lovely Lamborghini paint with a similar golden tint. Whatever it’s called, it’s eye-catching without being excessive, highlighting the body’s design while contrasting against our car’s blacked-out window trim and wheels.
Those 20-inch rollers are standard on our Sorento SX, which has a 2.5-liter turbocharged I-4 making 281 hp and 311 lb-ft of torque. It’s joined to an eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, and we opted for all-wheel drive (an $1,800 upgrade). In our previous experience, this powertrain didn’t leave a great impression. Quickness isn’t the issue; 60 mph arrives in 6.4 seconds. Rather, the transmission’s low-speed behavior makes pulling away smoothly or maneuvering into parking
