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For the past four years the Kia Sorento has been a top pick among motoring journalists in Australia, and it’s found favour with people looking for a stylish, practical family SUV.
That’s if you can get your hands on one. The past few years of pandemic-related chaos meant buyers were waiting up to a year for a high-spec Sorento. Kia reckons that will change with the 2024 model.
That’s right, it’s now time for the obligatory mid-life facelift, and this time around the Sorento gets some big and not so big changes.
The biggest changes are exterior design and interior tech upgrades. The Sorento now looks a lot like the EV9 that just launched late in 2023 - and that’s not a bad thing.
Inside the dash has been significantly rejigged with the latest multimedia and a few other helpful changes.
Aside from some tweaks to help improve ride and handling, there are no other changes under the skin.
SUV wagons based on their ute stablemates are by no means a new thing – just look to Toyota Fortuner (based on HiLux), Ford Everest (based on the Ranger) and Isuzu’s MU-X (based on the D-Max) for evidence of that.
But the strategy is not always a successful one and these ute-based wagons have already gone through a stage or two of tweaking and refining in an attempt by car makers to shed some of the lingering ute-related niggles (such as work-focused suspension tunes) and improve the final products so they're better suited to a life of work and play.
The 2018 Trailblazer (formerly known as Colorado7, and based on the Colorado ute) is another clear sign that these wagons are indeed getting better, but are those improvements good enough to attract the cash of an otherwise ute-fixated public?
With the Mazda CX-8 and CX-9 gone, the Sorento should get a bit more attention from buyers looking for a refined, but affordable seven-seat family-friendly SUV.
It might be missing some features in lower grades, and it lacks curtain airbags in the third row, but this facelift has only improved what was already one of the best models in its class.
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with meals provided.
The Trailblazer is a solid all-rounder and deserves the consideration of those in the market for a decent seven-seater 4WD. It does everything well without ever really excelling at any one thing.
Is it fantastic? No. Is it a game-changer? No. Does it represent pretty good value for money in the grand scheme of things? Yep.
The pick of the bunch for me is the LTZ – solid, off-road capable, and suburbs-friendly with just a hint of leather-appointed class. In the LTZ, you get everything worthwhile in the Trailblazer mob and if you’re a family man you won’t feel the need to fork out an extra $1000 for the Z71’s try-hard window dressing.
The Trailblazer is a mostly comfortable SUV wagon, stacked with features and is well worth your consideration if the Isuzu MU-X, Pajero Sport and Toyota Fortuner don’t float your boat.
The fourth-generation Sorento debuted in 2020 and I think that version is still handsome.
It’s definitely a style leader compared with its more staid rivals.
The facelift ushers in Kia’s latest design theme already seen on the striking EV9. It gets a new face with stacked LED headlights with slimline DRLs, redesigned bumpers front and rear, and tweaked tail-lights.
Inside, the redesigned dash brings the Sorento right up to date with the EV9 and gives it a much more modern vibe. It features twin integrated, curved screens and the instrument cowl has been dropped.
The Sorento also features the latest multimedia system, a redesigned centre console featuring a shift-by-wire dial instead of the old shifter, and new slimline central air vents with a digital climate display on most grades.
It’s not a wholesale interior change but the updates are significant and have helped modernise the Sorento.
The Trailblazer is a solid-looking wagon – all clean, tight lines from front to back – and overall it has a real squat and substantial presence. If we’re going to get all ‘fancy Dan’ with our hyperbole: chrome-accented daytime running headlights swoop back along the chunky body to slick LED tail-lights. If we’re sticking to basics: the Trailblazer looks good.
Inside, the tweaked interior has a tidy if rather basic feel to it – but that’s not a bad thing in a wagon that will have to cop dirt and dropped ice creams amid the general chaos of day-to-day life.
The leather-trim seats add a touch of class to otherwise family friendly dimensions and environment.
Aside from the dash, console and tech updates, the Sorento cabin is just as practical as it was before the facelift.
That means decent space across the front row, with comfortable seats on all grades. The lower grades get cloth, while the Sport+ gets leather-appointed upholstery and the GT-Line features the lovely quilted Nappa leather.
We only drove the Sport+ and GT-Line grades at the launch, but seats in both are well bolstered and comfortable.
Storage-wise, the glovebox is small but it makes up for it with a sizeable central bin. Note that large bottle may not fit in the door cavity, but smaller bottles will be fine. There are plenty of nooks in the console to store and hide smaller items, too.
The steering wheel looks and feels nice and those controls are easy to read.
The updated multimedia setup is very modern and while it may take some familiarisation, the menu is logically structured and you can swipe between screens. In the GT-Line, the fully digital instrument display is customisable.
Kia has added a couple of cool features to the facelift. While the base S gets manual air conditioning, all other grades have dual-zone digital controls in the redesigned centre stack. This display doubles as menu buttons for the multimedia, so you can just toggle between the air-con and multimedia controls with the tap of a button. Clever.
The other new feature I am a fan of is a quick link of sorts to the vehicle settings. So the pre-update model - and many other Kia and Hyundai models including Seltos and Palisade - there is an audible speed limit alert function that, annoyingly, activates if you’re just one or two kilometres over the limit. It does this using the speed limit detection, which is not always accurate.
I have written about this before because the system is more distracting to the driver and should just be a visual warning, not visual AND audio. Read about it here.
Anyway, to turn the system off you previously had to dig into the multimedia menu to find the vehicle settings and then dig further to turn it off. And if you’re like me, you’d turn it off every time you get in the car. It was about five or six steps to do this.
Now there is a handy little star button on the steering wheel that directs you to the driver assist section of the vehicle settings and you can switch it off much faster. Thank you for listening, Kia.
The Kia’s second row has sliding and reclining 60/40 split fold seats, and while the pew is on the firm side, it’s not uncomfortable. Amenities include an armrest with cupholders, USB-C ports housed on the front seat backs, a 12-volt outlet, map pockets, more cupholders in the door-mounted armrest and room for small bottles in the doors.
To access the third row, just tap the button on the side of the outboard seats and it will fold automatically. Thankfully you don’t need to fold yourself in half to get into the third row.
Once back there, space is tight for a lanky six-foot-one man like me, but it will be fine for kids on occasional trips. They have access to a phone holder, cup holder, USB-C ports, a 12-volt port, air vents on both sides and rear air-con controls on the driver's side.
I have previously sat in the third row of both the Sorento and the Toyota Kluger, and found the Kia had more amenities, and was a much nicer space than the Kluger.
Open the power tailgate and you’ll find a decent amount of space. With 179 litres (all seats in place), 608L (third row stowed) and 1996L (both rear rows stowed), the Sorento has less space than the Kluger with all seats up, but the Sorento beats it when you drop that rear row.
Also, the second and third row fold flat, which is very handy for loading in big items.
The Sorento has a full-size alloy spare wheel across all petrol and diesel grades.
Climbing in is easy enough with a sturdy "overhead assist handle" for all comers and goers.
All of the Trailblazer’s seats are mostly comfortable except they are quite flat and hard, which may prove a hindrance over longer trips. The driver’s seat is six-way electrically-adjustable and there is little in the way of lumbar support.
The second row will better suit two passengers than three for long-distance comfort but there is enough room all round – head, shoulders and legs – to avoid most complaints, for a little while anyway.
Third-row passengers will need to be children or those of a shorter stature to cope with the ‘back of the bus’ squeeze – and even then trips should be kept to shorter distances to avoid an in-car riot. It’s not a terrible place to be, in the third row of this thing, but it’s not ideal either – pretty much in keeping with the rear-row offerings of its rivals.
Back up the front again and the dash design is clear, user-friendly and easy to get used to with day-in, day-out use.
There is a fair bit of storage space in the cabin but some of it is awkward to access and actually use. The glove box is big enough to cope with one or two handfuls of bits and pieces. There is a sunglass holder up near the rear-view mirror.
Passengers in the back also get air vents and manual aircon control.
There are two cup holders in front of the small centre console housing the USB port which, when used, eats into that available space.
All doors have a moulded bottle bulge, which wouldn’t cop our CarsGuide water bottle without forceful encouragement.
The second-row passengers get a fold-down centre arm-rest/cup holder when there’s no one sitting in the middle. Passengers in the back also get air vents and manual aircon control.
With all seats up, if you pack to the roof, there is 235 litres of cargo space at the very rear; with the 50/50 split-folding third-row seats folded down, there is 878 litres; with the second-row (60/40 split-fold and tumble) and the third-row seats down, there is 1830 litres of cargo space. There is a retractable cargo blind stowed away under the floor at the rear.
With the second-row seats folded forward, it is easy enough to get into the third-row seats; no contortionist moves required.
There are two 12-volt outlets in the centre dash; one at the back of the centre console (for second-row passengers); and one in the rear cargo area.
Up top, the roof rails are rated to carry 100kg.
For the moment, only the 3.5-litre petrol V6 and 2.2-litre turbo diesel grades are on sale. The hybrid and plug-in hybrid variants are coming, but not until the second quarter of the year, according to Kia.
Kia has carried over the same model grades as before, meaning you can get the petrol and diesel in S, Sport, Sport+ and GT-Line guise.
Unsurprisingly, Kia has upped pricing across the range for the updated Sorento, and it’s increased by about $3000 and $3500, depending on the grade.
Pricing starts at $50,680 before on-road costs for the entry-level front-wheel-drive petrol S, and it tops out at $68,590 for the GT-Line all-wheel-drive diesel. A diesel is $3000 more expensive than its petrol equivalent. Pricing has not been confirmed for the hybrids yet.
The Sorento has fewer direct seven-seat monocoque SUV rivals since Mazda dropped the popular CX-9 and CX-8 from its line-up last year, so the main two competitors are the Toyota Kluger and the related Hyundai Santa Fe.
The updated Sorento is now pricier than the Hyundai - although a new-gen Santa Fe is coming before mid-year - and on par with some of the Kluger grades.
New Sorento features include over-the-air updates for sat nav maps and more, Kia Connect which uses an app that allows you to remotely start, lock or unlock the car, as well as perform a number of other tasks, new driver assistance features and a pair of new colours - Volcanic Sand Brown and Cityscape Green.
From the base grade up standard gear in the Sorento includes 17-inch alloy wheels, a 12.3-inch multimedia touchscreen, digital radio, USB ports, a seven-speaker audio system and, finally, it gets wireless Apple Carplay and Android Auto across the range. The fleet-friendly base grade also now gets a push-button start, so no more using a key to start it.
Naturally, each grade adds more and more features, and the GT-Line gets the most gear. It features a heated steering wheel, quilted Nappa leather-appointed seats, mood lighting, heated and ventilated front seats, heated rear outboard seats, head-up display, premium sound system, sun shades, wireless charger and a digital rearview mirror.
The base grade could do with more gear as the features list feels quite stripped out, but overall the Sorento offers solid value for money.
The Trailblazer is available in three spec levels, each with a market-competitive price: base-spec LT (from $47,990, excluding on-road costs), LTZ (which we tested; from $52,490) and the limited-edition Z71 (from $53,490).
But those prices soon start to climb when you add in accessories such as all-weather floor mats ($130 for a pair), boot lip protector ($80) and a rigid cargo barrier ($960). Our test vehicle had a Power Blue (prestige paint) colour on the exterior, at a cost of $550.
All models have the 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine and six-speed automatic transmission. The 4WD system is a dual-range part-time shift-on-the-fly set-up.
The LT’s standard features include cloth seat covers, 17-inch alloy wheels, a seven-inch touchscreen to go with its Holden MyLink infotainment system, Apple Car Play and Android Auto, Bluetooth connectivity, front fog lamps, signature daytime running lights, side steps, limited slip diff, rear parking sensors and a rear-view camera.
The LTZ gets all of that (although its touchscreen is eight inches) and more: integrated satnav, blind spot alert, forward collision alert and heated front seats and leather-appointed seat trim. It has 18-inch alloy wheels.
The Z71 has all of that gear as well as a distinctive sports look, replete with black bonnet, black mirrors, black exterior door handles, Z71 leather-appointed trim and 18-inch black alloy wheels.
Until the hybrid grades arrive, the Sorento carries over its petrol and diesel engines.
That means a 3.5-litre V6 pumping out 200 kilowatts of power and 332 Newton metres of torque. This powertrain drives the front wheels only via an eight-speed automatic transmission.
The other option for now is Kia’s 2.2-litre turbocharged four-cylinder diesel engine delivering 148kW/440Nm, and this is the punchier powertrain. The diesel is all-wheel drive and uses an eight-speed dual-clutch transmission.
Kia has made no changes to the engines for this facelift, but meaningful changes have been made by Kia’s local tuning program to improve ride and handling.
The 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine punches out 147kW at 3600rpm and its big-gun 500Nm at 2000rpm and is well-matched to a six-speed automatic transmission. This Trailblazer is, on paper, a very good tow vehicle with so much torque available and from down so low.
Its towing capacity is 3000kg (braked), but I’d prefer to see how it fared in a real-world tow test before I pass judgement.
The V6 petrol Sorento is thirsty, consuming an average of 9.8 litres per 100 kilometres on the combined cycle - a fair bit more than the Kluger four-cylinder petrol’s 8.5L figure.
The diesel sips 6.0L/100km, making it the efficiency winner - at least until those hybrids arrive.
Claimed fuel economy is 8.6L/100km (combined). We recorded 9.6L/100km fuel consumption after 200km of mixed driving, including about 30km of gravel tracks, and 10km of hard off-roading. As mentioned earlier, it has a 76-litre fuel tank.
Another area that, arguably, the Sorento didn’t require much improvement is how it drives. And while Kia has made no changes to the powertrains, the company’s local tuning arm has waved its magic wand and made tweaks to the suspension and dampers in a bid to improve ride and handling.
And ride is something the Sorento excels at. Without doing a back-to-back test with the pre-update model, it’s hard to know how different the ride quality is. But on the drive route from Melbourne up through the Yarra Valley, the Sorento GT-Line - with 20-inch wheels - glided over some huge potholes, and maintained composure on rough, uneven roads.
The Sport+ petrol 2WD coped well on an unintentional detour up through an unsealed mountain pass, although it lost traction briefly once in very wet and slippery conditions.
Similarly, the GT-Line AWD diesel’s ride is hard to fault.
According to Kia, the changes under the skin have helped reduce body roll, and there was very little role, even when darting through the very twisty Chum Creek road.
While the V6 is responsive and powerful, it is noisier than the diesel which was so smooth and quiet I had to check that it was, indeed, the diesel that I was driving. The oil burner is also quick off the mark with little to no turbo lag.
Without having driven the update hybrid and plug-in hybrid, the diesel Sorento is definitely the pick over the V6 petrol.
On the road, the cabins of both engine grades are well insulated from outside noise. This helps give the Sorento a more premium vibe than its direct rivals.
The LTZ is 4887mm long (with a 2845mm wheelbase), 1902mm wide (excl mirrors), and 1846mm high. It has a kerb weight of 2203kg.
Its turning circle is 12m but it feels like more of a cumbersome beast when trying to manoeuvre in the bush or in the city, though not enough so for that characteristic to be any sort of deal-breaker.
The tilt-adjustable, electrically assisted steering lacks any reach-adjustment, which is annoying, but it can still be counted on to deliver a precise feel – light at low speeds, heavier at high speeds – when pushing the Trailblazer along at a fair clip on open roads or in and out of corners.
Acceleration seems livelier now; there is more off-the-mark oomph for take-offs and safe, smooth overtaking, even on long gradual climbs, than before. The torquey engine and six-speed auto – with its smooth changes and gear-holding when appropriate – make for a high-achieving combo.
Ride and handling seem better than in Colorado7 guise although the tweaked suspension – Aussie-tuned coil-spring front and coil-spring live-axle rear – and Bridgestone Dueler H/Ts tyres* may account for some of that. However, we did feel some body-roll while driving along back roads, unlike the last time we were in a Trailblazer LTZ. (*The Trailblazer has a full-sized 18-inch spare.)
The locally tuned suspension is, at times, a bit too firm; when we hit heavy bumps and deep potholes on rough gravel tracks several times, we were unsettled because the Trailblazer’s suspension bashed its way over and through.
NVH levels on open-road bitumen can still tend towards the rougher side of things with diesel engine clatter, tyre roar and wind rush clattering a tune on your ear drums.
We completed a series of emergency braking scenarios – on bitumen and dirt – and the Trailblazer’s disc brakes – 300mm at the front and 318mm at the rear – helped rip us into a controlled stop.
Off-road, we had a ball because the beefy Trailblazer seems a much better fit for gravel-track fast blasts and slow-going bush driving than it does for any jaunts in the stop-start city.
Our drive loop included a decent bit of four-wheel driving – coastal sand, bush tracks peppered with rocks of all shapes and sizes, and shallow mud in a dried-out dam. Drive modes can be switched via the centre console dial between 2H, 4H and 4L; high range modes are actually represented by an ‘up’ arrow on the dial; low range is a ‘down’ arrow. Bonus: the Trailblazer’s 500Nm of torque is readily available from way down low.
The Trailblazer has a limited slip diff, 218mm of ground clearance and a wading depth of 600mm, which was never tested as our usual creek crossings were so bone-dry they were more like puddles. Approach, departure and ramp-over angles are 28, 25, 22 respectively.
Its armoury of off-road tech – auto hill-start assist, hill-descent control and more – make it almost unstoppable, straight out of the showroom, for anything demanded of it on a light- to medium-difficulty adventure weekend.
Its 76-litre fuel tank, however, hinders any claim it has to off-road touring potential.
The Trailblazer has 3000kg towing capacity (braked); 750kg unbraked.
Note: Holden has persisted with a system which, when you open a door, the front windows automatically slide down a bit, an action aimed at reducing air pressure when you close the doors. It remains annoying but we still weren’t annoyed enough to actually bother to check the owner’s manual for a possible hack to switch it off.
The facelifted 2024 Sorento carries over the five-star ANCAP crash safety rating it was awarded in 2020.
The update ushers in new safety tech, specifically Highway Driving Assist in all grades except the base S. It essentially combines the adaptive cruise with stop and go and lane-following assist for freeway driving only.
Note that the curtain airbags do not stretch to cover the third seating row but the Sorento does have a front centre airbag.
Generally the Sorento has a solid standard safety features list on all grades and it includes a safe exit warning, auto emergency braking with a forward collision warning and vehicle, pedestrian, cyclist and junction detection, lane-keep assist, lane-follow assist, blind-spot collision assist, adaptive cruise control, rear cross-traffic alert, a driver attention alert and a rear occupant alert.
The Trailblazer range has a five-star ANCAP rating. The LTZ has seven airbags, and electronic stability control (ABS, EBD etc), rear view camera, front park assist, rear parking sensors, forward collision alert, blind-spot alert, lane-departure warning, rear cross-traffic alert, a tyre-pressure monitoring system and trailer sway control.
The second row has three child restraint anchor points and one ISOFIX child restraint anchor point.
Kia has led the market for some time when it comes to its ownership offer, with its highly regarded seven-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty.
The servicing schedule for the petrol and diesel models is every 12 months or 15,000 kilometres, whichever comes first, and that’s about standard for the segment.
It also comes with capped-price servicing for seven years. The price ranges from $370 to $817 per service for the diesel and $370 to $763 for the petrol. The average cost over that seven years is $540 for the diesel and $534 for the petrol.
The Trailblazer comes with a three-year/100,000km warranty. Lifetime capped price servicing includes a free inspection at one month, then $299 (at nine months/15,000km), $399 (18 months/30,000km), $479 (27 months/45,000km), $479 (36 months/60,000km) and so on.
(At time of writing, the LT was being offered for $45,990 driveway with a seven-year/175,000 warranty.)
Potential problems might include cumulative driveline wear and tear from people towing heavy loads (horse floats, boats etc).