New Kia Sorento 2024 Release Date, Engine, Price – Kia is banking on the Sorento’s small third-row seat to set it apart from its platform mate, the Hyundai Santa Fe, and some of today’s best-selling family wagons, such as the Ford Explorer and Lexus RX.
While the additional seats are obvious on a spec sheet, the Sorento performs better in a five-seat configuration, especially when coupled with the efficient hybrid powertrain seen in less expensive models.
2024 Kia Sorento Redesign
The 2024 Kia Sorento adds a plug-in hybrid engine this year. More models now feature rugged-looking X-Line add-ons, and the bulk of models now feature a 10.3-inch touchscreen. We’re more baffled than intrigued by the new Sorento’s style. It used to have basic SUV styling cues, but now it has metallic fillips and a razor-mesh grille to differentiate itself.We understand—we’re simply confused about how to interpret some road-to-nowhere components and the cluttered, gaming-inspired appearance of the dash and buttons.
The Sorento is more enjoyable to drive and maintains solid control over its ride quality, but its base 191-horsepower, four-cylinder engine will not inspire much excitement. Its turbo-4 engine with 281 horsepower accomplishes this, but at the expense of increased engine noise. Similarly, the 227-horsepower hybrid powertrain wins our recommendation; it’s efficient and quick. We can’t wait to drive the new plug-in hybrid, which will use less fuel and have better performance in exchange for a higher price.
Four adults can be accommodated comfortably in the Sorento. It has seven seats, but anyone who has sat in the middle or back row will understand why those seats are best reserved for special events. Second-row seats slide forward and backward on tracks and provide nearly as much support as front-row bucket seats. All Sorentos come with a lot of space for cargo and small-item storage and convenient features like USB ports in the front seatbacks on some models.
Interior
According to 2024 Kia Sorento, the Sorento has a seating capacity of seven passengers. Four of them can be full-size if that’s what you want. The rest should be medium- or small-sized.It receives an eight for comfort and utility because of its plush seats and substantial cargo space. The Sorento comes standard with three rows of cloth-covered seats, with a length of 189.4 inches and a wheelbase of 110.8 inches. This is how it works: All models above the Sorento LX come with a power driver’s seat and synthetic or real leather upholstery, and most also have a power front passenger seat.
The Sorentos we drove featured supportive front seats with a good balance of firm bolsters and long-distance comfort and a stable driving position and enough lumbar padding. With 41.1 inches of legroom and sufficient headroom up front, most passengers will be well accommodated, surrounded by huge storage bins in the console and doors. Row two has 40.7 inches of legroom and either a sliding bench seat or a pair of sliding captain’s chairs. This allows passengers who are six feet tall to sit next to each other, with nearby net pockets and USB ports for their carry-ons.
A pushbutton opens the third row, revealing a space with barely 29.6 inches of legroom and a low-mounted seat bottom. It is designed only for small groups and short journeys. Even better, fold it down to expand the crossover’s storage space from 12.6 cubic feet to 45.0 cubic feet behind the rear seats or 75.5 cubic feet behind the front row. Kia has not improved the fit and finish of the Sorento this time around. Even the most costly versions include harder materials and noisier powertrains. Earlier iterations seemed more substantial and luxurious.
Engine
It’s quick enough in hybrid and turbo-4 configurations, but we couldn’t test the ordinary 191-hp inline-4 that accounts for the majority of its sales. We’d recommend any of the three remaining options based on the exceptional performance of their powerplants. The 2.5-liter turbo-4 engine in the Sorento produces 281 horsepower and can propel the vehicle aggressively off the line when the driving mode selection is set to Sport. The turbo-4’s connection to the dual-clutch transmission is lost in low-speed confusion in normal mode.
It changes slowly and cannot respond quickly enough to power transfer demands. Sport mode eliminates the powertrain’s reservations and enables it to hold low ratios for an extended time. There is no turbo-4 engine capable of compensating for the Sorento’s weight. When empty, it weighs 3,979 lbs; when equipped with the torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system and 20-inch wheels, the weight increases to 4,065 lbs.
The Sorento Hybrid is a better fit for the efficient-family mood. With a net output of 227 horsepower from its 1.6-liter turbo-4 engine, electric motors, battery pack, and eight-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, it’s smoother and slower than the Sorento’s more powerful engine to mention noisier. It does reach low-forties city fuel efficiency, which we could reproduce during test runs. That is why we are eager to access the plug-in hybrid’s interior. Electric motor: It has a 13.8-kilowatt battery, so it should be able to go 32 miles on electric power alone. It should also be able to go faster than the hybrid alone, and it should be able to go 32 miles on electric power alone.
2024 Kia Sorento Release Date and Price
The $30,665 Sorento LX comes standard with cloth upholstery, three rows of seating, and an 8.0-inch touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. We recommend the $36,465 Sorento EX hybrid, wireless phone charging, a panoramic sunroof, and all-wheel drive. Spending more than $55,000 is possible, but not recommended.