The 2022 Kia Sorento gets Kia’s new badge, and a couple key trim shake ups that are sure to keep the adventurers coming back if they missed out on the 2021 model (which I reviewed earlier). But what adventurers is Kia trying to attract? Well, definitely one who is looking for a “right sized SUV” as Kia has long pitched it as so. And I can attest to that!
As a result of the pandemic, my family hasn’t been confident in exposing our grandparents to mass amounts of people, and as I write this the Omicron wave of COVID is spreading like wildfire. And lets be honest, nothing is worse than being stuck at home and unable to enjoy the holidays. And two years in a row at that. So to ensure my grandparents weren’t locked inside their house during the holidays for a second year in a row, we decided to do a drive through Christmas lights show. Reindeer Road at the Santa Anita Racetrack in Pasadena was our choice, and it was awesome. Pricey, but a fun experience for any age. Alas the problem of how to get six of us there as we all own two row vehicles came up.
Thankfully I was able to snag a fully loaded 2022 model Sorento for us to take. The range topping SX Prestige with the X-Line package dressed in Glacial White Pearl Paint with the Rust genuine leather interior. It’s such a gorgeous color combination, but maybe because I’m a sucker for brown interiors. I am still glad Kia is all in on not boring interior color palette’s. SX trims and higher get a panoramic sunroof that is going to be perfect for seeing the Christmas lights and spans almost the full roof, and nearly back to the two seat third row. Only the S trim gets you 7 seating capacity with a second row bench, every other trim nets you 6 seats with two rows of captains. I love the outdoorsy adventure look of the X-Line Package and was sad to see it only on the top trim for the 2021 year. For 2022, they’ve added it to the S, and EX trims making me think the naturally aspirated S trim with X-Line might be the sweet spot thanks to its lower price and less sophisticated (likely more reliable long term) powertrain.
Still six is plenty for our family of four and two grandparents. Ingress and egress for the third row isn’t terrible as the seats easily move forward at the push of a button, but back seat room is tight. Barely fitting my mom and sister who are both a little over 5 feet tall. But that is what makes the Sorento one of my favorite SUV’s is that this third row is available when needed, in an SUV that isn’t horribly big like a Tahoe, or feels big like the Telluride, or is hard to park like any of the aformentioned. In fact, when parked next to my grandparents RX350, size wise there isn’t much between them. In fact, the RX350 is actually slightly longer.
Driving a fully loaded Sorento is actually quite nice. The punchy turbocharged engine producing 281 horsepower and 311 lb/ft of torque was more than up to the task, the firm ride I mentioned in my previous review softened a bit, and brake power and firm pedal feel are still as excellent as I remember. The Sorento’s strong and confident braking shined as traffic came to a very abrupt stop on the 710 freeway, as did the forward collision alert (which definitely scared the passengers more than it did me lol). I’m not sure why I didn’t notice this in my first review, but this four cylinder doesn’t have a pleasant sound. It’s pretty agricultural sounding, a bit course. The DCT seemed to behave similarly loaded with family and unloaded with just me, and overall, not as smooth as a normal automatic but perfectly fine in my experience.
After an hour of driving to go 30 miles…good ol’ Los Angeles for ya…we finally made it to Santa Anita and saw the lights. The Bose audio system played festive Christmas music broadcasted over local radio and timed with the light displays. The generous amount of glass in the Sorento allowed good views for every row, even the third row. The huge panoramic sunroof was such a cool feature for things like this, as you could just stare through it as we passed through and under the multiple light tunnels and displays. Everyone including my grandparents had a blast. On the vehicle side of things, normally dual clutch transmissions (DCT) aren’t good in stop and go, or “creeping” (basically inching forward with light brake pressure) and you’ll experience juddering. BUT this wet dual clutch handled it with no noticeable juddering or impact on comfort so good job there. For the 2022 model year, Kia made some enhancements to improve the smoothness, durability, and general reliability of the DCT.
Driving Kia’s Sorento again reminded me why I like this car so much and thought it was the best Kia SUV last year. I love its perfect size, the available when needed third row, it’s chunky good looks…especially in X-Line trim…and its punchy turbocharged engine. But!! As much as I love this car, and with gas about $4.50 a gallon for regular at the time of writing this, I think my perspective has changed. While I still like the Sorento, and in many ways prefer it over the Telluride, I think the best Sorento might just be the one I haven’t reviewed yet. The Sorento PHEV.
