2022 Kia Sorento Review and Test Drive

February 22, 2022

Join Nik Miles as he goes over the ins and outs of the new 2022 Kia Sorento. Nik takes us on a test drive and tells us about all the newest upgrades, how the car feels while driving, and gives us an honest review of the vehicle.

I’m Nik Miles at Dick Hannah Kia in Vancouver and today we’re going to show you the 2022 Kia Sorento. For 2022 they have increased the X-Line trim level on to the S and the EX models. And it also gets some new accouterments on the inside, some bits and pieces that everybody has been asking for. So, we’ll put it on the road, we’ll take a look at the exterior, and find out about the plush interior of the 2022 Kia Sorento.

In typical Kia fashion, there are plenty of flavors available for everyone. So, this comes in both a 2.5-liter four-cylinder turbo, and a non-turbo version, in an all-wheel drive, and in a front-wheel-drive version. Now we have the naturally aspirated version in the all-wheel drive. And the X-Line version is what we’re driving, comes as the all-wheel drive. If you get the regular naturally aspirated version, you’re looking at 191 horsepower and 181 pounds-feet of torque. The naturally aspirated all-wheel-drive version is the sort that is perfectly made for your adventure. If you want all-wheel drive, you’re not looking for a sporty performance, you’re looking for something that can go anywhere. So, you would pack this full of the family, take a road trip, go camping, do that sort of thing with it. It’s got that sort of more squared-off, more adventurous trim. The interior, the exterior is that sort of go anywhere, the camping, the strap your bikes on the back, put a canoe on the top, go for your family weekend, go for your road trip type.

If you want the front-wheel-drive with the turbo, you’re looking for more of your performance engine. You’re looking for more of your speedy, beat the other people away from the off-ramp onto the freeway. But that doesn’t mean this doesn’t have great performance because the engine is excellent in the naturally aspirated, it’s just a little bit quicker in the turbo. And they both have good fuel economy as well. That’s one thing that Kia has managed to do in all different grades of this engine. Now there is a plug-in hybrid coming and there also is a hybrid already on the market.

Pulling away from a light you can see in the all-wheel-drive version it does grip the road a little bit better than the front-wheel-drive when you accelerate. It also has an automatic stop/start that saves you on fuel economy and that fuel economy at best is 24 miles a gallon. Not bad for a three-row SUV.

Now there are two transmissions available; one in that turbo which is a dual-clutch 8-speed automatic, which is an in-house transmission, everything else gets a regular eight-speed automatic. Accelerating up the hill this is the non-turbo and perfectly adequate, doing fine. I can overtake everybody that I want to.

Let’s talk about the interior of this vehicle. There are three different interior materials available. You get the cloth, you get the fake leather or the leatherette, and then you get the full leather interior. And they’re available on those different grades that you decide that you might want on the vehicle. So, you can decide where you want to be price-wise and then choose the kind of interior that you want.

Shop trim levels, get multiple colors, three; there’s black, gray, and a rust color. Then you step down, you get different colors, different trim levels depending on what grade you decide to get into. There are some new accouterments for the top trim levels as well, you get two-person memory seats now in the Prestige, you also get a 14-way adjustable driver’s seat. The lower trim levels get a 10-way adjustable driver’s seat as well.

On the top trim levels, you get every single window does the one-touch up and down windows. In front of the driver, there is the top trim level gets this large digital display. Every other trim level gets the 4.3-inch digital display. And then there are the regular analog gauges as well in here. Different designs for the four different drive modes inside the vehicle. There is a little blind spot signal in the mirrors which is the little exclamation point inside a triangle that lights up if there is a vehicle in your blind spot as well. USB chargers on the inside of this vehicle, there are plenty of those. 360-degree cameras. They’re available on the top trim levels as well as dual-zone climate control in everything but the base trim level. The SX has dual-stage heated seats, the SX has six speakers. Then, if you step up to the Prestige you get the Bose sound system with the 12 speakers, which is absolutely amazing to listen to.

For 2022 they have increased the screen size in every single trim level except for the LX which gets the 8- inch. Everything else gets the 10.25 screen size. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are standard across the brand and if you have the smaller screen you have to use a wire. Everything else is wireless.

Kia, of course, is synonymous with safety. They come with the forward emergency braking system and then the warranty is 10-year 100,000 mile. And of course, that has been the same on all Kias for many years.

Looking at the exterior of the 2022 Kia Sorento, now it used to be just about the grille being tiger-nosed, but it’s really now the whole front end is the tiger front end of all Kias. You’ll notice the new Kia insignia, the new Kia logo at the front of this vehicle. And the tiger-nose grille itself is darkened, it’s a matte dark color. On the Prestige versions, on the more sort of city/night out versions of this vehicle, you’ll notice it has a gloss or piano black finish. Now it has those LED daytime running lights that flick down and they’re underneath the headlights here. They call them eyeliner versions of the LED daytime running lights. You’ll notice also this is a very blacked-out version of the vehicle. The X-Line is supposed to be that rugged, off-road look to this vehicle so a lot of the trim level, the trim pieces on this vehicle are blacked out to make it look sort of an off-roady style vehicle as well. Darkened matte versions of the trim around the wheels, black wheels with the Kia logo in the middle of it, the trim along the bottom of the doors is matte as well. It’s dark around although it has high gloss mirrors on the side here that have the indicator in them in the high trim levels of this vehicle the mirrors will fold away as well, and they’ll be heated. It shows it’s an X-Line here on the side of the doors in this piece of badging. It has a bridge roof rail. Now if you don’t get the X-Line trim, the roof rail itself is very tight on the roof. This is supposed to be able to attach kayaks and bicycles on the roof, so it’s a lot more rugged, ready for an adventure.

Traveling down the side of the vehicle, monochromatic door handles, again matte trim around the back wheels, black wheels at the back as well. And you come around the back here, LED lights, big black bumper, hidden exhausts here at the back, and the name Sorento just like a luxury vehicle to have written all the way across the back. The new logo, and of course a nice aero spoiler at the back of the tailgate. So, let’s get the tailgate open. There are 13 cubic feet of space back here easily putting this seat back you can up it to 45. And then you put the second row back and you get 75 cubic feet of space.

Depending on which trim level you choose there is a lot of possibilities here in the second and third row. Starting off with 42 inches of legroom in the 2022 Kia Sorento. That is at the top of its class. Jumping into the third row 29 inches of legroom which is more than a lot of vehicles have in their second row. So very spacious. Here, USB ports, two, one on each side of the front two seats, one in the middle down here, plus there is a 12-volt 180-watt charger on the left of the USB ports, cup holders on the side, cup holders in the middle armrest, which folds down here in the second row, which normally seats three people. But, if you choose, in the upper trim levels you can also get captain’s chairs. And then there is also a two-stage rear seat-heater which you can get in the upper trim levels. Plus, you can get a glass roof that goes all the way from the front to the end of the second row, which means as you’re on your road trip everybody gets to glance up at some of the views.

Whatever your flavor of the 2022 Kia Sorento, you can find them at Dick Hannah Kia in Vancouver. Please contact them. They’d be happy to put one in your driveway.