2018 Kia Sorento vs Mazda CX-9

What's the difference?

The Sorento is a dead-set bargain for all the gear you get and takes the comfort and practicality route followed by the Toyota Kluger. Where it diverges from the Toyota is in adding a better ownership experience, with the surety of a long warranty, and by stacking the car with gear and safety equipment.

While the GT-Line might be the most expensive in the range, the spec is right for the price and, looking at the numbers, the diesel is the one to go for. The GT-Line also demonstrates that the fundamentals of the Sorento are so good that there's no point in fiddling with them.

The CX-9 is big – too big for my little family. Yep, a CX-5 SUV would be better suited to us. But, nobody’s ever complained about too much room, and our Touring fit all of our gear and performed well during its holiday week with us - easy to pilot through the city despite its size and effortless on the highway with excellent fuel economy over the whole trip. Sure, the ride became a bit ‘jiggly’ on the backroads and this grade doesn’t have adaptive cruise control, but the great points far outweigh those few drawbacks.

The Sorento isn't exactly a looker but nor is it offensive. One or two other Korean SUVs can't claim that. Big and boxy, there are some nice details but it's not one for the fashionistas. The GT-Line picks up some irritating side steps that bend alarmingly if you step on them and get covered in grime and water when it's wet, meaning you have to leap over them when you're getting out. 

The interior is super-conservative and probably the one thing that could do with some real work. Even the Kluger has a more adventurous dash design and the automatic shifter comes straight from the 2006 parts bin. Conservative it might be, but everything works out of the box and, as its rivals will attest, simplicity works in this segment.

Could that be the world’s largest grille? Even by Mazda standards it’s big, but it suits the brand’s flagship SUV perfectly. Sure, the headlights seem a little too small for its face and the same can be said for the taillights and the rear of the car, but this is a stunning-looking SUV that has plenty of presence without going over the top.

Stepping up to the Touring grade gives that grille shiny teeth, too – chrome-look blades, while the Sport grade has black-coloured horizontal elements which look pretty ordinary. The Touring also has LED fog-lights.

How big is the CX-9? Seriously big – look at the dimensions: 5075mm end to end, 1969mm across and 1747mm tall. That’s longer than a Toyota LandCruiser Prado. Will it fit into your garage/parking space?

The Toyota Kluger is 210mm shorter at 4865mm long, a bit narrower at 1925mm wide and almost the same height at 1730mm tall.

Something smaller? Well the Kia Sorento is a 4780mm in length, 1890mm wide and 1690 high. Hyundai’s Santa Fe is 4700mm bumper to bumper and the Skoda Kodiaq is just a hair’s width less.

The Touring’s cabin is premium feeling with its leather upholstery and big display. This is a well-finished cockpit with a higher quality feel than all of its rivals except the Kodiaq.

The Sorento kicks off proceedings by having vents in all three rows, which is a big sell for those who actually need seven seats - most other makers neglect the third row because few people (in my experience) actually use it more than once a year, if ever. The Sorento's cabin is a monster, with plenty of leg and headroom for the first and second rows. It feels big when you're a passenger, like the Kluger, and delivers a more comfortable space.

The third row is tight and a bit tricky to reach without a tumble function for 60/40 split of the middle row, a tumble function would be most welcome. 

All three rows score two cupholders to take the total to six, while there are cupholders in each door for a total of four. The third-row cupholder is joined to a tray that is good for phones but isn't lined, so things will slide around noisily.

There are storage pockets and bins everywhere, with a sensible place for your phone either under the climate control or in the generous bin under the front armrest.

Cargo capacity is very generous indeed. Fold down the third row (with just 142 litres behind it) and you have 605 litres of sensible square space. Drop the second row and that figure rises to an impressive 1662 litres.

The CX-9 is a seven-seat SUV, and while its third row is one of the very few that even I (at 191cm tall) can sit almost comfortably in, those back two seats really are for kids or small adults.

Climbing into those third-row seats is easier now, with the second row able to tilt further forward and the seat itself is easier to slide and tilt, too. That's part of the 2018 update.

Legroom in the second row is excellent. I can sit behind my driving position with about 10cm to spare between my knees and the seat-back.

Storage throughout the cabin is well considered. The centre console storage bin with its double-door lid is big and the Touring has a fold down rear armrest with storage and USB ports - that'll keep the kids happy. There’s also six cupholders (two up front, two in the middle and another pair in the back) and bottle holders in all the doors.

The CX-9’s boot has an 810 litre (VDA) cargo capacity with the third row folded flat. The Kluger can only manage a luggage capacity of 529 litres.

I had thought that with only three of us the CX-9 was going to be way too big but - as you can see from my bad photos - we could have done with more boot space.

The CX-9 does have an elevated ride height – it’s ground clearance is 222mm, which is higher than most SUVs. My toddler is at the age where he wants to get in and out of a car on his own, but that height proved a challenge for him and we did have one spill where he took the quick way down.

There are four grades in the CX-9 family and the Touring is the second rung up the ladder.

The all-wheel drive version of the Touring lists for $54,290, which is $4K more than the front-wheel drive. Standard features include an 8.0-inch touchscreen, leather seats, sat nav, reversing camera, six-speaker stereo, heated front seats with power adjustment, Bluetooth connectivity, push-button ignition, proximity key, three-zone climate control, LED headlights, rear parking sensors, LED fog lights, second row seats with fold-down armrest storage and twin USB ports, and 18-inch alloy wheels.

The most important thing a car can have according to my three-year-old son is a directional air vent in the back. So, he was ridiculously happy with the three-zone climate control – he had his own temperature and airflow settings: always set to freezing and full-bore. He'd be unhappy in the third-row, though, because there are no vents back there at all.

The Touring AWD is $6400 more than the Sport AWD. What’s difference? The leather upholstery, the heated power seats, the bigger screen (the Sport has a 7.0-inch), those LED fog lights and the back armrest. That’s it really. You might decide, then, that it’s worth saving the money and getting the Sport.

Sure $54,290 may sound like a lot of money, but the Touring undercuts Toyota’s $57,550 Kluger GXL. Kia’s Sorento SLi 4x4 flies in under both at $50,490 but it’s only available as a diesel. Then in between them all is the Hyundai Santa Fe Elite 4x4 (also diesel) for $53,990.

The GT-Line comes with two engine choices - a 3.5-litre V6 with front-wheel drive and a penchant for spinning its front wheels. We had the 2.2-litre turbo-diesel with all-wheel drive.

Kia's 2.2 winds up for 147kW/441Nm, the latter a very useful figure indeed when you're moving two tonnes about. Power reaches all four wheels via Kia's eight-speed automatic.

You can tow 750kg unbraked and 2000kg braked.

There’s only one engine in the range – it’s a 2.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol and even though that’s small and the all-wheel drive CX-9 is pretty heavy at almost two tonnes its output of 170kW and 420Nm is more than enough grunt.

No manual gearboxes here – just a six-speed automatic transmission, but it’s a smooth shifter that is keen to be playful and responsive in Sport mode.

Kia quotes 7.2L/100km on the combined cycle for the 2.2-litre, which is significantly lower than the V6's figures. I got 10.2L/100km combined, which is a solid miss but I was unable to escape the burbs, so in that light, it's not a bad figure. We know from past experience the figures drop when you spend decent time on freeways.

Mazda says the fuel consumption of the CX-9 all-wheel drive is 8.8L/100km after a mix of open and urban roads. On our little family holiday from inner Sydney to Jervis Bay and back we covered 600km and the trip metre was telling me it was using an average of 9.7L/100km. That’s within a litre of the serving suggestion which is excellent (especially for me).

We were 40 kilometres from Wollongong on the way home but the trip computer was telling me had 35km of fuel left in the tank. I made the mistake of announcing to everybody that we were going to see if we could make it, but then chickened out with five kilometres left in the tank and 10kms to go and ducked in to grab fuel. I didn’t want the family holiday to end on the side of the road.

There are two things about the Sorento you must know. First, it's quite heavy at just over two tonnes. Second, the diesel engine appears, at first, not to be able to haul all that weight, and then feels like, actually, it really, really can.

Despite the sportier look, there's nothing new under the skin to make the GT-Line anything other than a spec-and-badge exercise. It's hugely unlikely anyone would want to hustle a Sorento, so it's probably for the best. Once you're underway and over the initial turbo lag, the Sorento is as fine as ever. Wafting along on its cushy suspension, it reveals little of its heft in the cruise. 

Body control is good despite the Sorento's height, weight and soft springs, meaning none of that chuck-inducing heaving of a couple of its Japanese rivals (hint: not the Mazda CX-9). It doesn't always feel as big as it is, and the all-wheel drive does provide security when it's chucking it down.

The second thing you need to know is that it's hugely comfortable. The trade-off for the soft springs and the need to keep things relaxed means everyone will enjoy the ride. The GT-Line would waft along in town if the engine was a bit less laggy, but it definitely wafts when you're cruising. 

Adaptive cruise control is a brilliant thing, and once you’ve been let into the World of Tomorrow it’s a pain going back to regular cruise control – like on the Touring. Only the top spec Azami has adaptive cruise. First world problemos, as they say.

The CX-9's steering is excellent - light but with good feel even at low speeds in car parks. There’s a lot of good feels going on actually – the brakes and the pedals under your feet are placed well, the seats are comfortable as is every touch point – elbows, head rest, shifter.

There are also some not-so good feels – the ride was too often too ‘jiggly’, almost as though the car was oversprung. There were times on the trip where not-so-perfect roads equalled a ride that wasn’t composed with more bounce and roll than I’d expect – that type of thing works against you when you’re trying to get your toddler to sleep.

That engine also feels as though it has to work hard when it’s carrying a packed CX-9 up a steep hill – there’s plenty of power and it tore up every ‘mountain’ we encountered, but a new V6 or V8 would have done it without sounding like it was giving it everything.

Do you need all-wheel drive? It’s not vital, but the traction it provides is excellent. Front-wheel drive SUVs often struggle to get the power to the road in the wet, especially when climbing a hill. If I could afford the all-wheel drive I’d always get it – plus the mileage for both is almost the same in the CX-9 (0.4L/100km difference).

The CX-9 is happiest on the highway where it cruises effortlessly (with a comfy ride) and higher above mostly everybody else. The window sills were low enough for my toddler to see out, although the glass on the Touring grade doesn’t have a dark tint to shield against the sun.

A quiet, well insulated cabin made the trip down a fairly peaceful journey – apart from when everybody was screaming at each other, that is.

The CX-9 was awarded the maximum five-star ANCAP rating in 2016 and the 2017 update improved the advanced safety tech further with pedestrian detection for AEB and with the speed range increasing from 4-30km/h to 4-80km/h.

The Touring grade has the same safety equipment as the Sport – there’s the improved AEB, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert.

The 2017 update also added top-tether anchor points to the third-row seats, these join the three across the second row and the two ISOFIX points in the outside seats of that row, too.

All CX-9s have a temporary spare wheel – it’s not ideal as they have a limited range and are speed restricted to 80km/h. It may not have been an issue on our trip down the coast, but I wouldn’t head anywhere remote without a full-sized spare.

Kia offers the best warranty in the business - seven years and unlimited kilometres. I think the only manufacturer to match the length is Ferrari, which is a slightly more expensive proposition, along with far fewer seats. For the same length of time you also get roadside assist as long as you service the car with Kia.

Speaking of servicing, seven years of capped-price servicing costs $3319. That's an average of $474 per year, or about $50 more per year than the V6 front-wheel-drive petrol.

The warranty for the CX-9 is a three-year, unlimited kilometre agreement. Servicing is recommended every 10,000km or 12 months and costs the same regardless of whether the CX-9 is an all-wheel drive or front wheel drive. Services are capped and alternate from $329 for the first service to $371 for the second all the way up to the fifth service.