Kia Sorento Diesel Automatic AWD First Drive Review

If you wanted to buy a six- or seven-seater family car until now, you broadly had two paths. One was the budget MPV segment, well under Rs 20-25 lakh, which was practical but never quite felt premium. The other was to step up to the bigger-looking SUVs that went up to Rs 30 lakh, which nailed the premium feel but weren't nearly as practical as a proper MPV. Go beyond that, and you were suddenly looking at stretching your budget to Rs 50 lakh.

What Kia spotted was a genuine gap sitting right in that price band, and the Sorento has been built to fill it. Starting at Rs 27.99 lakh and going up to Rs 40.19 lakh, this is the space Kia wants to call its own. Yes, it overlaps with the Mahindra XUV 7XO and Toyota Innova Hycross, and even brushes up against the Skoda Kodiaq and MG Majestor at the premium end. But to counter all of them at once, the Sorento brings a strong set of powertrains, a genuinely feature-packed cabin, a spacious and flexible layout, and pricing that, in our books, feels just about right. We drove the range-topping HTX (A) diesel in its all-wheel-drive guise, so what follows is the full-fat Sorento experience. Let's pick up the magnifying glass.

If there's one thing we Indians love when car shopping, it's size. We want to arrive in style, and the Sorento helps you do exactly that, with a length of 4.8 metres and a wheelbase of 2,815mm, both figures comfortably larger than the XUV 7XO, and dare we say, even the Toyota Fortuner.

There's an undeniable familiarity with Kia's current line-up here, though not quite the latest one. The Sorento made its global debut a few years ago, and that shows in a few of its design choices. This isn't the newer styling direction you would find on cars like the Seltos or Syros. You will spot that generational gap most clearly in the conventional pull-type door handles and the headlamp design, which skips the fancy split-light setup newer Kias have moved to. It rides on 19-inch alloy wheels finished in a dual black-and-chrome combination, and roof rails lend it a taller stance. These aren't just for show either. They are rated to hold 300 kilos while stationary and up to 100 kilos on the move, so your roof box ambitions are safe here.

Round back, the two-barrel LED tail lamps look genuinely quirky, with one barrel doubling up as the turn indicator, while the reverse lamp sits oddly low on the bumper, a design choice that will either grow on you or never quite make sense, depending on who you ask. True to Kia form these days, the rear wiper gets its now-familiar tucked-away design.

Does all this add up to strong road presence? Absolutely. The Sorento looks properly big, skips the usual boxy SUV shape, and has a character of its own. What it doesn't have is the sharp, busy styling you would associate with modern Kia cars, and whether that's a plus or a miss will genuinely depend on who's writing the cheque.

There's nothing you could really pin down as a weak point in the Sorento's cabin. It's clean, feels properly modern, and gets the basics right. The dual 12.3-inch screens for infotainment and the instrument cluster sit within a curved binnacle, and the four-spoke steering wheel uses proper physical buttons rather than the haptic units some rivals in this segment have gone with.

Go for this top-spec HTX (A) trim and you get a Black and Olive Brown cabin theme, and the material quality lives up to the price tag. The upper dashboard uses a nicely textured plastic that feels sturdy with a soft initial touch, while the lower half goes lighter in colour, and the door pads, steering wheel, and centre armrest all get a genuinely soft-touch finish. The front leatherette seats carry a handsome rhombus pattern that's repeated across all three rows, keeping the cabin looking cohesive from front to back.

The Sorento is offered in both six- and seven-seat layouts, with the captain-seat six-seater costing an extra Rs 20,000. The centre console gets an openable lid for additional storage, and the chrome drive selector is a genuine pleasure to use. The switchable panel with haptic buttons toggling between infotainment and air conditioning controls does feel a touch fiddly to get used to at first, but the physical dials beneath it make most day-to-day functions easy enough.

The features list here is a strong one. Up front, alongside those dual screens, you get dual USB charging ports, three-step ventilation and power adjustment for the front seats, with the driver additionally getting a memory function. And we will say this plainly: the seat cooling here is some of the most effective we have experienced across Kia and Hyundai's range, which is really saying something given how good that duo usually is at this. There's also a customisable head-up display, letting you pick exactly which information you want sitting in your direct line of sight, and the instrument cluster itself is fully coloured, with multiple display modes and clear readouts for driving information.

That's far from everything, though. You also get a massive panoramic sunroof, ventilation for the second row seats, a powered tailgate, and multi-colour ambient lighting. One feature we found ourselves getting instantly attached to was the digital IRVM. It’s essentially a camera mounted on the rear spoiler feeding a live view to the mirror, with adjustable brightness and camera angle, and genuinely good resolution. Don't like it? Flip it back to a conventional mirror whenever you want. USB ports are smartly tucked into the seats themselves for easy access, and there's a proper three-pin 220-volt power socket capable of charging something as demanding as a laptop, quite handy if you are the sort who takes work calls from the back seat.

Even the third row hasn't been forgotten, with two additional Type-C USB ports, a reading lamp, and dedicated AC vents with their own blower speed control. If we really had to nitpick for missing features, it would be the absence of a third passenger screen, and a sunglass holder. But honestly, you are unlikely to miss either.

With power-adjustable front seats and a steering column that offers both tilt and telescopic adjustment, finding your ideal driving position takes seconds, not minutes. The headrest has a pleasantly soft initial cushioning, and the seat base itself strikes a good balance. It’s not too soft, with adequate support to hold you in place through a spirited drive. Settle in for a longer journey, and you can unwind further with the massage function and genuinely good lumbar support.

The second row, in the captain-seat configuration we tried, holds up its end of the bargain too. Being the diesel, there were no batteries packed under the floor, which means better under-thigh support than you would likely get on the hybrid version. Individual armrests with height adjustment are a nice touch, and the seats offer multiple fold, slide, and recline options to access the third row. There's enough space between the two captain seats that you won't end up elbowing your travel companion, and the cushioning strikes a comfortable balance for longer journeys. The winged headrest design looks good, though the angle and shape aren't quite snug enough if you are hoping to properly nap against it on a long drive.

The third row seats split 50:50, and aside from a low-set seating position that leaves your knees a little raised, there's genuinely decent head, knee, and even shoulder room enough to fit two adults back there without much complaint. Best of all, the seats fold flat, doubling up as useful cargo space when you need it.

The Sorento has figured out the basics across all three rows, which is really what matters most here. The openable lid on the front centre console reveals space for a wireless charger, with bottle holders tucked behind it, plus a small cubby for your key. The armrest itself is fixed but opens to reveal a removable tray with deep, usable storage for larger items. The front door pads, while wide, are too narrow to actually hold a bottle, a small oversight in an otherwise well-thought-out cabin.

In the second row, passengers get a carved-out space for two bottles or cups and a phone, along with a bit of storage behind the front seats. Beyond that, the door pads here too are good for bottles and little else. The third row fares similarly, with phone and cup storage on both sides.

As for the boot, you are looking at 179 litres with all three rows up, which opens up to a genuinely generous 813 litres with the third row folded flat, prioritising cargo over passengers. Kia hasn't skimped on the spare wheel either, offering a proper 18-inch unit.

The 12.3-inch touchscreen is paired with a 12-speaker Bose sound system, and the output here is the kind that will make audiophiles sit up and take notice. We have experienced similarly impressive audio in other Kia models, and the system lets you customise settings to your liking. The infotainment itself is fluid and responsive, and with Kia's newer interface now in place, the layout looks cleaner and is genuinely easier to navigate than before.

You can dig through driver assistance settings, display preferences, door, seat, and lighting configurations, all through the infotainment system, and Kia says it supports over-the-air updates going forward. Wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay work as expected, and the surround-view camera's video quality is sharp enough to actually trust while parking. There's also built-in navigation, weather, and voice commands, so you can run the whole system independently without needing to mirror your phone at all.

While the lower variants of the Sorento make do with seven airbags as standard, this range-topping HTX (A) comes with ten. Backing that up is a genuinely strong suite of passive safety features including hill descent control, a 360-degree camera, a dash camera covering both front and rear, a tyre pressure monitor, and side parking sensors in addition to the usual front and rear units.

Five radars work together to deliver Level 2 ADAS, and in our experience, they work flawlessly. Even on roads with less-than-ideal lane markings, lane keep assist kicked in reliably past 50kmph with genuine steering input rather than just a warning beep. You also get lead vehicle departure alerts, forward and rear collision warning with avoidance assist, high beam assist, and adaptive cruise control.

A genuinely quirky feature worth mentioning is remote engine start, along with the ability to nudge the car forward or backward using just the key fob. And the blind spot monitor deserves a special mention too, because once you have used it, you will find yourself missing it in every other car you drive.

The Sorento gives you a genuine choice of two engines. There's a 1.6-litre strong-hybrid paired with a six-speed automatic, and the one we drove is a familiar 2.2-litre turbocharged diesel, also seen on the Carnival, producing 190bhp and 442Nm, paired with an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission. Both are genuinely potent and capable units, and the hybrid, notably, marks the official start of what will be a growing hybrid line-up from Kia.

We tested the diesel in its all-wheel-drive guise, though a front-wheel-drive version is available if you opt for the lower variants. Push the start button, and yes, there will still be plenty of people who break into a smile hearing a proper diesel rumble to life. The Sorento offers Normal, Eco, Sport, and Smart drive modes, along with three terrain modes, all operated via a dial on the centre console.

The diesel clatter is noticeable right from start-up, whether idling or on the move. It doesn't intrude on cabin ambience, but you can hear it humming along, and a touch more refinement wouldn't have hurt. That said, performance in Normal mode is genuinely good. There's no sudden lurch or urgency when you lift off the brake, just a smooth, gradual build-up of speed. Push harder and the noise rises with it, but this engine is far from underpowered. For most everyday driving, Normal mode does the job well. Eco softens throttle response slightly, though the difference isn't dramatic, while Sport sharpens things up with noticeably more engine noise and a stronger pull.

Gear shifts from the dual-clutch gearbox are smooth, with barely any perceptible jerk during changes. Paddle shifters are on hand for when you want to hold onto a gear, and they are quick to respond. Mash the throttle mid-acceleration, and the gearbox reacts promptly, hunting down the right ratio to deliver the urgency you are asking for. Reaching and breaching triple-digit speeds is effortless, with plenty of power still in reserve and it feels like a properly torquey engine. Kia claims an ARAI-certified 15.79kmpl for this AWD diesel combination, and 17.66kmpl for the 2WD version.

The steering feels nicely connected and stays light at low speeds, gradually weighing up as you pick up pace. It isn't the sharpest or heaviest setup you will find, but the feedback it offers is genuinely good. Where the Sorento truly impresses, though, is ride quality. Broken roads, rough surfaces, potholes, or stretches with barely any road left at all, the suspension absorbs it all with real ease, without letting much filter into the cabin. There's no unsettling toss or pitch, and running at a maintained 34psi tyre pressure, the ride stayed genuinely plush throughout our drive. There's still a hint of firmness underneath, and you might occasionally wish for it to be a touch more pliant, but it never feels unsettled, even over a genuinely poor stretch of road.

On the highway, holding a steady cruising speed, the Sorento stays composed and planted without any unwanted undulation making its way up through the chassis. We also spent time in the second row while on the move, and the comfort holds up back there too. This is a car that won't disappoint anyone looking to be chauffeured around in genuine comfort.

At idle, the Sorento's cabin is properly quiet, with very little making its way in. The insulation here has clearly been well thought through. On the move, though, past 90kmph, you do start to notice a bit of tyre noise creeping into the cabin, alongside a continuous, mild diesel note that remains audible throughout and could have been dialled down further. Beyond that, there's no wind noise, no vibrations, and nothing else to complain about.

The Sorento sits in a budget band that genuinely overlaps two different segments, and it does so while offering a properly premium three-row SUV experience. What it brings to the table is a bigger footprint than several of its rivals, a cabin that's both flexible and loaded with genuinely useful features, and two efficient, potent powertrains to choose between. If budget isn't a constraint, the range-topping variants are an easy recommendation. And if you're hunting for the sweet spot on value, a decently equipped version can still be had for around Rs 40 lakh, on-road.

That said, it isn't without its shortcomings. The third row isn't the most spacious in its class, and the styling steers away from the sharper design language we have come to associate with modern Kias. What it does get unquestionably right, though, is feeling like a proper family SUV, equally suited to a chauffeured commute as it is to a weekend family getaway, with every single seat in the car genuinely looked after.

It’s key rivals remain the Mahindra XUV 7XO and the Toyota Innova Hycross, both well-established and strong in their own right, and it will be genuinely interesting to see how Indian buyers respond to Kia's latest, and arguably boldest, play in this segment yet.

Pictures by Kaustubh Gandhi