THE KIA SORENTO
KIA SET TO EXTEND SORENTO SALES IN AUSTRALIA WITH MANUAL VERSION FOR $35,950.
With its monthly sales target achieved six months ahead of schedule, sales of the new Kia Sorento are set to gain additional momentum with the arrival of the manual version of Sorento aggressively priced at $35,990.
“At the launch of the Sorento in March we announced that we wanted to be selling 100 Sorentos a month by the end of the year,” says Ed Butler, National Sales Manager of Kia Automotive Australia. “In fact, with 106 sold, we met this target in June, despite restricted over-all supply and our initial inability to meet demand for Sorentos with leather and sunroofs. With the arrival of manual Sorento, along with additional supply of the automatic version we expect to take our monthly sales figure up to 200.”
The $35,950 recommended retail price of the manual Kia Sorento further emphasizes the remarkable value for money offered by Kia with its new four wheel drive and will ensure the new model is initially in short supply.
Kia Automotive Australia634 – 726 Princes Highway, Tempe, NSW 2044 Private Mail Bag 53, St Peters, NSW 2044
Tel: (02) 9558 7111 Fax: (02) 9558 7722 Website: E-mail:
A DIVISION OF ATECO AUTOMOTIVE PTY LTD A.B.N: 34 000 486 706
Page 1
Its rivals at the same price either have smaller vehicles or vehicles the same size with smaller engines.
Few can match its extensive range of standard equipment and the style of the Sorento has been widely praised, not just as the best looking car to ever come out of Korea, but with style and elegance well on a par with its significantly more expensive European rivals.
The manual gearbox version of the Kia Sorento shares the same equipment and features as the automatic Sorento. This means a powerful 3.5 litre V6 engine with 145 kW, a separate chassis that not only provides off road performance, but which is also part of a safety package that has enabled the Sorento gain high safety marks in independent tests on both sides of the Atlantic. A shift on the fly four wheel drive system is standard with a full low ratio gearbox, for real off road performance. Also standard is speed sensitive power steering.
The Sorento’s long technical features list is matched by its standard equipment list. Outside there are large alloy wheels with generous tyres, contrast colour matched bumpers, wheel arch extensions and side body guards. Inside there are large, comfortable seats, AirCon, cruise control, power windows, locks and mirrors, CD player, cupholders front and rear, power points front and rear, twin airbags, digital temperature, compass and altimeter, 60/40 split fold rear seats, opening rear window, underfloor security storage area and much more.
“The Kia Sorento has taken Kia on to a new level,” says Mr Butler. “It has exposed the Kia name to a whole new sector of the market, it has shown that we can be as successful with 4WDs as we are with light cars, people movers and commercial vehicles, and it has provided clear evidence of the quality and ability of future Kia models. The manual version makes the Sorento’s ability available to a wider area of the market and to people who want the dynamic driving involvement provided by a manual gearbox. It can, therefore, only contribute to Kia’s on-going growth in Australia.”
THE KIA SORENTO: THE FULL STORY
The all-new Kia Sorento went on sale in Australiaon 1 March 2003 and it was more than just a new model for the Korean car maker, it has taken Kia into a whole new area of the market with a benchmark model capable of taking on the best cars in its sector.
Kia has built a considerable part of its reputation with its tough four wheel drive vehicles, both with vehicles for public markets and with its range of military all terrain vehicles. But it has never contested the medium size four wheel drive market, until the arrival of the Kia Sorento. This sector is one of the most hotly contested in the whole market place with high quality vehicles from Europe, Japan and the USA fighting for the growing demand in all the key markets in the world, including Australia.
The Kia Sorento launched into this daunting market place as a clean-sheet design, aimed at not just matching its new rivals, but beating them in key areas of design, technology and styling, while adding to this market sector the keen pricing and value for money packaging that has proven so significant in other market sectors.
The Kia Sorento is generously proportioned, so as to provide more interior space that in rivals. It is, at 4.5 metres and 1.86 metre, longer and wider than the Jeep Cherokee, while its wheelbase, at 2.7 metres is one of the longest in the class. The track of the Kia Sorento – essential for sure-footedness on the road – is also generous; at 1.5 metres it is better than the Mercedes M Class, BMW X5 and the Ford Explorer.
But Kia has been careful to restrain the height of the Sorento to 1.8 metres with its standard roof rack, to ensure that it does not have any problems with low car parks or garages. Translating this into the interior, the Sorento, for example has a boot that is both longer and wider than a Land Rover Discovery; it has more than a metre of leg room in the front and more than a metre of head room in both the front and the back seats.
The Sorento is far more than its raw dimensions, although the ratio of width to height and length bestows the overall shape of the Sorento with a muscular strength. The Sorento is clearly European in its styling roots with a strong, but understated elegance that comes with a careful, but restrained use of strong and clean lines, with smooth flanks and a strong bonnet behind the new Kia grille. There is no risk of the Sorento being “over-styled” like some its competitors.
The high ground clearance and strong wheel arch extensions, combined with the large alloy wheels shod with dual purpose tyres make the Sorento’s off road abilities clear, but not over whelming for a car that will probably spend the majority of life fighting an urban, rather than an outback life style.
Not that the Kia Sorento lacks any of the technical or equipment requirements required to cross the outback, as a quick look underneath will reveal. A sturdy ladder chassis surrounds the drivetrain, with front and rear drive train protection. The drive train itself is a full selectable on the fly four wheel drive system with a full low range gearbox for serious cross country work. All of this technology is simply engaged by the use of a knob on the dashboard that provides the choice of two wheel drive, four wheel drive high range and four wheel drive low range. The system uses a free running differential which minimizes the disadvantages of free wheeling front hubs under difficult conditions such as dust, humidity and low temperatures, as well as improving the looks of the Sorento by preventing a protruding hub at the centre of each front wheel.
Powering this drivetrain is a muscular 3.5 litre V6 engine with 145 kW of power at 5500 rpm and a tree stump pulling 295 Nm of torque at 3000 rpm. This is sufficient to provide the Kia Sorento, where the law permits, with a top speed of 192 kmh, something it can achieve thanks not just to the engine, but also due to the aerodynamic efficiency of the body, which also ensures excellent cross wind stability at all speeds. Even with the automatic transmission the Sorento still undercuts many of its manual rivals. As for the value of the new manual Sorento….
Power is nothing without control and, again, the Sorento excels. The suspension is a sophisticated five link system at the back and double wishbone at the front. This enables the Sorento to absorb the worst conditions off road, from substantial bumps to Australia’s infamous washboard surfaces with equanimity, while providing a fluid and comfortable ride around town. Handling and road holding are, of course, also excellent. Stopping power is provided by disk brakes on all four corners, ventilated at the front and rear with twin piston calipers at the front.
The elegance of the exterior and the refinement provided by the drivetrain combine inside the Kia Sorento to produce an interior that is as cosseting as it is versatile and flexible for all uses.
Large comfortable seats face an elegant and fully equipped dashboard, where detail features to ensure comfort and ease of use abound. Twin drinks holders are asymmetric so as to hold securely every size of drink and rubber rings guarantee no rattles; the centre armrest has two storage boxes, a top one for maps and documents and a lower with a built in CD and cassette rack; there’s a power point for computers and mobile phones for people working on the move, while a readout in the roof console confirms altitude, direction and barometric pressure, external temperature and behind this read out are two holders for sunglasses to keep them safe, secure and always to hand.
The standard ventilation system is a class leading AirCon system. As well as host of vents in the front of the Sorento, there are also vents under the front seats to keep the rear passengers cool. Tested under all conditions, the Sorento AirCon system was able to reduce temperatures more quickly and maintain them regardless of exterior temperatures more effectively than key rivals.
The back seat is a generous three seat bench, with two lap sash seat belts and three headrests. It, too has luxury touches, with its own twin drink holders and bottle holders in the large door pockets, as well as another power socket for phones and computers, or, given that this is where children will probably be sitting, games and video entertainment systems. The large fold down centre armrest has another storage locker in it.
Throughout the passenger compartment, deep pile carpet and plush cloth upholstery are used, providing not just tactile comfort, but they are also the top layers of a comprehensive sound elimination system that makes the Sorento a calm and quiet place in which to ride. Unless, of course, the standard CD digital audio system is activated, with eight powerful speakers, six mounted in the doors for strong bass and mid-range response and tweeter speakers at the top of the dashboard for stereo separation.
Behind the back seat is the class leading boot that offers a minimum of 900 litres under the standard luggage cover and with the back seats in place. Fold down the standard 60/40 split fold rear seats – with their integrated storage spaces for the headrests – and this expands to 1.9 cubic metres. Nor is it just raw space. There are storage boxes on either side of the boot, a large under floor, out of sight storage area, split into convenient compartments and storage trays on top of the suspension towers. This spacious boot is easily accessible through the rear door or through the rear window, which opens separately. A standard cargo net holds loads in the boot safely and securely.
With regard to storage spaces, there are clever storage spaces throughout the Sorento. In the front of the Sorento there is a capacious glove box with two storage areas inside; there is a sliding storage tray under the front seat, a drop down locker to the right of the driver, sliding tray in the centre console, holders in the centre console for pens, coins and a mobile phone; two storage areas in the centre armrest; generous door pockets, with bottle holders in the rear pockets; rear storage bins and pockets and net pockets on the back of the front seats
Safety has been central in the design of the Kia Sorento and it has been developed to beat all the required safety standards in the world. The wide track, responsive steering and sophisticated suspension, as well as powerful brakes combine to assist the driver to avoid accidents. The ladder chassis has been designed specifically to work with the body shell to absorb impact, something not all 4WDs with separate chassis are designed to do. The sides of the chassis are shaped to match the side of the Sorento and absorb impact, spreading across the frame, while the front and rear of the chassis frame extend into the bumpers, again to absorb impact and take it away from the passenger compartment. The body shell has its own safety cell around the passenger compartment and crumple zones from and rear to absorb impact.
To ensure that the occupants are best positioned to survive an accident, the latest design of air bags for the front occupants work in league with pre-tensioning front seat belts. These new air bags use sensors mounted in the seat belt buckles to determine the size of the front seat occupants and vary the inflation of the airbags appropriately by as much as 30 per cent, again, reducing the likelihood of injury.
There are a host of other safety and security features, including a glovebox lid made from a honeycomb interior that protects the front passengers knees and warning lights on the doors that activate when a door is opened, while security is ensured with central locking, with a master control for the driver, dead locks and an engine immobilizer.
Kia has also worked hard with the Sorento to ensure the safety of the environment. Kia has eliminated asbestos from the gaskets and brake linings, the air bag inflators are non-azide, the AirCon system uses the latest environment friendly R134a refrigerant, all plastic parts over 100 grams in weight carry material composition codes to aid recycling; some plastic components are made from recycled plastic and the body has been designed so it can easily be pulled apart and recycled at the end of its long service life.
The Kia Sorento is fully equipped. Standard equipment includes ABS brakes, cruise control; three power points; front and rear electric windows; remote central locking; twin front airbags; power operated mirrors; power steering; air conditioning; CD stereo system with eight speakers and an electric aerial; alloy wheels; remote opening rear window; roof rack with adjustable cross bars; multipurpose readout with altimeter, external temperature, compass and barometer.
The Kia Sorento – Technical Specification
Body
Type
/ Body mounted on a ladder frameSeats, fixed, folding, removable
/ Two front seats, rear split folding benchEngine
Type / Longitudinally mounted water cooled V6 engine driving all four wheelsEngine Management System / Melco
Capacity (cc) / 3497
Bore and Stroke (mm) / 93/85.8
Ignition system / Distributorless ignition
Compression ratio / 10:1
Max power (kW @ rpm) / 145/5500
Max torque (Nm @ rpm) / 295/3000
Starter/Battery (volt/AH) / 12V/700 AH
Alternator (volt/amp) / 13.5V/120A
Transmission
Type / Five speed all synchromesh five speed gearbox / Electronic four speed automatic gearboxHigh range / Low range / High range / Low range
1st / 3.749 / 9.297 / 2.804 / 6.953
2nd / 2.044 / 5.069 / 1.531 / 3.796
3rd / 1.289 / 3.196 / 1.000 / 2.480
4th / 1.000 / 2.480 / 0.705 / 1.748
5th / 0.794 / 1.969 / ~ / ~
Reverse / 3.453 / 8.583 / 2.393 / 5.934
Four wheel drive system / Manually selectable four wheel drive and four wheel drive/low range with free running differential.
Steering
Type / Rack and pinion with power assistanceTurns lock to lock / 3.66
Brakes
Vacuum booster diameter/ratio / 22.86/7.5:1Master cylinder diameter / 26.99
Type, front / Twin Piston, Ventilated disk brakes
Type, rear / Single Piston, Ventilated disk brakes
Wheels and Tyres
Wheel type and size / Alloy, 7.0JJ x 16Tyre size / 245/70 R16
Suspension
Front / Double wishbone with coil spring and strut damper, anti roll barRear / Five link, coil spring with dampers, anti roll bar
Dimensions and capacities
Exterior length/width/height (mm) / 4567/1863/1730 or 1810 inc roof rackWheelbase (mm) / 2710
Track (front/rear) (mm) / 1580/1580
Overhang (front/rear) (mm) / 828/1029
Ground Clearance / 203
Angles: approach/departure/ramp / 27.9/26.4/21.9
Turning circle (m) / 4.74
Interior max. length width height (mm) / 1879/1558/1194
Shoulder room front/rear (mm) / 1496/1484
Leg room front/rear (mm) / 1082/916
Head room front/rear (mm) / 1008/1004
Boot capacity, seats up/folded (l) / 900/1960
Luggage space: Length/Width/Height / 745/1403/919
Capacities
Oil/Cooling (l) / 4.4/11Fuel tank (l) / 80
Weights
Curb weight / 1966 / 2027Max towing, trailer with/without brakes / 2300/750 / 2300/750
Service and warranty
Service intervals / 15,000 km/1 yearMechanical warranty / 3 years/100,000 km/24 hour roadside assistance
TRIM AND EQUIPMENT
S = Standard; O = Option; Dealer = Dealer fit option; NA = Not availableKia Sorento manual / Kia Sorento automatic
Safety and security features
Cruise Control / S
Driver’s side airbag / S
Engine immobilizer / S
Fog lights, Front / S
Front Passenger airbag / S
Seat belts, front / 3 point with pretensioners and load limiters
Seat belts, rear / 3 point, centre lap
Steering column, collapsible / S
Exterior equipment
Bumpers, two tone / S
Central locking, remote control / S
Door mirrors, electrically adjustable/heated / S
Electrically heated rear window / S
Power steering / S
Rear window wash wipe / S
Remote opening rear window / S
Roof rack with adjustable cross bars / S
Tinted glass / S
Variable speed wipers, # speeds / 3 speeds + intermittent
Wheel type/ wheel trims / Alloy + full width cover
Interior equipment
Aerial, electric / S
Air conditioning / S
Air conditioning, type / Manual
Armrest, Centre with 2 storage areas / S
Audio system, CD / S
Audio system, number of speakers / 8
Audio system, radio type / AM/FM
Cup holders, number / 2 centre console, 2 rear console
Cup holders, position / Dash/centre console
Dipping interior mirror / S
Footrest, driver’s side / S
Glove box, twin / S
Headrests, front, type / Adjustable
Headrests, rear, type / Adjustable
Lights, boot / S
Lights, interior, auto dimming / S
Lights, interior, number / 2 + 2 map lights
Luggage Cover and load net / S
Power sockets / Front, rear and in cargo area
Rear seats, removable / NA
Rear seats, split fold / 60/40 split
Remote release, boot / NA
Remote release, fuel cap/filler / S
Roof console with clock, compass, altimeter, barometer, exterior temp. twin sun glasses holder / S
Seat trim, type / Cloth
Steering column, tilt adjustable / S
Storage bins, rear quarter interior / S
Under boot floor storage area / S
(ends)