2017 Kia Sorento vs Mitsubishi Outlander

What's the difference?

This tiger may be more at home in the concrete jungle than the forests of Asia, but it has the presence and growl to make people sit up and take notice. It's nice to look at, and easy to drive, with impressive inclusions and a solid safety package. This Sorento Platinum, with its spacious interior, feeling of prestige, and air of sophistication, is a great option for large and growing families.

If we're all to be driving plug-in vehicles in the not-too-distant future, cars like the Outlander PHEV will go some way to easing that transition.

Easy, breezy suburban cruising in full EV mode, with the ability to knock off long distances with the help of its petrol engine. Plus, there's a ton of space in the boot. If you're after a spirited and dynamic drive, look elsewhere, but if fuel-budget-friendly (and mostly green) motoring appeals, then the Outlander PHEV does it very well indeed.

Allow your imagination to run a bit and it's easy to see how the Sorento's 'Tiger Nose' grille came by its name. More a relaxed, playful tiger, than a ferocious, snarling one, but a tiger all the same.

The Sorento is a handsome looking chap, sleek and sophisticated, sitting low on its haunches, a high belt line adding to a decidedly muscular appearance.

The air of prestige is replicated on the inside where two tone leather, in our test car at least, sat alongside brushed metal highlights and tasteful wood grain. Kia has stepped up a gear here to produce interior delights in line with a post $50,000 price tag, and unsurprisingly, those tend toward subtly suave, rather than bold and brash.

Instrumentation is logical and clear, the climate controls easy to reach on the move, and thanks to a reach and rake adjustable steering wheel, the perfect driving position is (you guessed it) easy to achieve.

The 7.0-inch colour touchscreen may be a tad small for a dash of this size but is nicely integrated into the console, and simple to operate.

Heated and cooled front seats (heated in the second row) are accommodating; long enough under the thigh and wide enough across the shoulders to satisfy most shapes and sizes.

Most green-spec vehicles look, well, a little weird. And that's because they're purchased by people who smell faintly of homemade muesli and desperately want you to know they're driving an Earth-friendly vehicle.

But peel the 'hybrid' badging off the side of the Outlander P-HEV, and it looks identical to its full fuel-burning cousins, all of which are now rather handsome in an old-school and vaguely masculine fashion.

Up front, Mitsubishi's plasticky grille dominates the front end, and while it's a touch too busy for our tastes, it gives the Outlander some commanding street presence when viewed front on (or in a rear-view mirror). Elsewhere, though, it's a plain and unchallenging design, with a simple side profile and a rear view that looks skinny and tall.

Coolest of all, though, is the futuristic gear stick that makes you feel like you're shifting the Enterprise every time you select drive or reverse.

Inside the LS, the lovely leather-trimmed seats are centred with a chunky-ribbed suede. They're comfy, too, though they could use more side bolstering. The door panels are lined with quilted leather and some pretty unconvincing wood panelling, but a rock-hard plastic insert offers a tip that some cost corners have been cut.

The soft-touch dash is a quality addition and the centred 7.0-inch touchscreen is a big, clear and easy-to-use unit, even if satellite navigation is a glaring omission at this price point.

Coolest of all, though, is the futuristic gear stick that makes you feel like you're shifting the Enterprise every time you select drive or reverse. It's the only nod to that kind of gadgetry in the cabin, and it's cool.

Seven seaters, especially those built in the Kia mould, are nothing if not practical. That easy-fold third row offers a number of efficiencies, especially for larger families, and the one in this Sorento Platinum is sturdy, comfortable, and able to offer reasonable-sized adults acceptable lodgings on shorter trips.

Headroom may get tight, but not neck-crickingly so. Passengers in the third row get cupholders, a storage cubby and climate controls, too.

My girls were quick to avail themselves of the luxuries of the second row, decadently sprawling out in comfort. Window blinds help keep things cool and there are air vents and cupholders, as well deepish door bins that can hold a water bottle, not to mention a healthy number of Pokémon figurines and trainer balls.

There are no built-in DVD players, which didn't bother my chatterboxes, but may be missed by families that regularly take long trips.

Three ISOFIX points in the second row make for the easy installation of child seats, and top tether points on the back of the seat, rather than the floor of the cargo area, means the straps don't impact luggage space.

There are a number storage options for the driver and front passenger, including space in the doors for water bottles, a deep covered centre console box and a couple of cupholders to keep them happy.

With all seven seats in place the boot still manages a healthy 320 litres. This grows to 1077 litres with the 50/50 split third row dropped, and an amazing 2066 if you also lower the 40/20/40 split second row.

The luggage area has two hooks to hang a couple of shopping bags on and a screen and net if you are carrying larger items. The latter two store neatly into the under-floor compartment when not in use.

The second row slides forward and aft to accommodate passengers, while large door openings and lowered seats help with entry and exit. Access to the third row could by sharpened if the second row seats tumbled over instead of just leaning forward.

Mitsubishi's marketing schtick for the Outlander PHEV LS is that it's the "the EV with no compromises"  - all the load lugging space of a mid-size SUV with the fuel-sipping antics of a plug-in hybrid. And to be fair, it does make sense. Provided you're happy with a five seat version (there's no seven seat model available) there is no obvious practicality sacrifices in opting for the hybrid.

Boot space is a near identical 463 litres with all the seats in place, and climbs to a near enough bang-on 1602 litres when you drop the 60/40 rear seats. Interior space is unchanged, too, so the cabin remains a bright and airy place up front, with enough room for backseat passengers to ride in comfort.

Upfront, there are two cupholders, with room in the doors for bottles. Hidden in the central storage bin you'll find twin USB points and a 12 volt power outlet. Look up, and there's a purpose designed sunglass holder mounted in the roof lining, too.

Backseat passengers share two cupholders hidden in the pulldown divider that separates the rear seats, but that's about it. The second-row vents are floor mounted, and there's nada in the way of power or USB outlets. There are two ISOFIX attachment points, one in each rear window seat.

Towing capacity has dropped slightly compared to the equivalent petrol-powered model, now 1500kg instead of 1600kg.

The Outlander arrives in two trim levels, the entry-level (but not cheap) LS - the car we've tested here - and the more luxurious-feeling Exceed.

The $50,490 LS arrives comprehensively equipped, with leather-trimmed seats, dual-zone climate control and keyless entry and start. You can also expect 18-inch alloy wheels, auto headlights and wipers, along with an Apple CarPlay/Android Auto-equipped 7.0-inch touchscreen that partners with a six-speaker stereo. LED DRLs join LED head and tail-lights, along with roof rails, rear privacy glass and front fog lights.

Shell out another $5k - lifting your total spend to $55,490 - for the Exceed model and you can expect to add full-leather seats that are heated in the front, an electric sunroof, powered boot and a cool 'EV remote' function that displays the car's electric vitals on your smartphone. Your standard safety equipment also gets an almighty boost, but we'll come back to that in the Safety section.

The AWD Sorento Platinum is powered by a 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel good for 147kW/441Nm. That torque is available from a low 1750rpm, delivering the grunt needed to move this two tonne SUV along.

A six-speed automatic transmission with Sport mode is an accomplished support and difficult to fault. There are steering wheel paddles if you have occasion to drive this family carrier like a race machine.

The Sorento is also available with a 3.3-litre V6 petrol (199kW/318Nm) but that seems to be the preserve of the front-wheel drive models.

The conventional power is delivered via a 2.0-litre petrol engine that will produce 87kW at 4500rpm and 186Nm at 4500rpm. It's joined by two electric motors - one at each axle - which can kick in another 60kW to the total.

It's a dark art, measuring official fuel consumption in an EV vehicle.

How much power you get, though, depends on how you're using it. Leave it in pure EV mode, and 60kW is your total output. Venture into 'Series Hybrid' mode and the engine will help deliver another 60kW, bringing your total to 120kW.  Finally, drive entirely on petrol power, and you'll be using the petrol engine's 87kW. Mitsubishi claims maximum combined power at 120kW and combined torque at 320Nm.

That power is fed through a single-speed automatic gearbox and ultimately sent to all four wheels.

Kia claims a combined economy figure of 7.8L/100km. Over 800km we recorded closer to 8.6L/100km and we're pretty happy with that. The tank holds 71 litres.

It's a dark art, measuring official fuel consumption in an EV vehicle. The official claimed/combined figure is 1.7 litres per hundred kilometres on the claimed combined cycle, but we returned closer to 7.5L/100km after a long day of fairly placid driving. Combine that with a 45-litre tank and it means long-distance touring is going to require plenty of fuel stops. Official C02 emissions are pegged at 41g per kilometre.

You'll get a claimed 54 kilometre range in pure EV mode, and plugged into normal power, the battery will take 6.5 hours to charge. A fast charger will give you an 80-per cent charge in 25min.

The thing about good family cars, like the Sorento, is they're so efficient at going about their business, they allow you to calmly go about yours. On the road, the Sorento is capable and assured, quick to respond, and unflappable when you change your mind.

It's quiet, thanks to increased dashboard insulation, with reinforced transmission and rear suspension bushes helping to nullify vibration and harshness.

Braking is good and the Sorento is easy to manoeuvre in the confines of a busy city.

Localised suspension tune makes for a super comfortable ride, with the Sorento able to make short work of all but the most aggressive bumps. Naturally, given its size, there is some lean in the corners but even those movements are controlled with the SUV never giving the impression it's out of sorts.

Braking is good and the Sorento is easy to manoeuvre in the confines of a busy city, around tight traffic circles and even tighter shopping centre car parks. Unlike its Hyundai Santa Fe cousin, the Sorento misses out on an automated parking system, but it's hardly a deal breaker.

While the Sorento does well on secondary tracks, it's not really suited for more serious off-road adventures. The AWD system will send drive mostly to the front wheels in general everyday situations. When cornering quickly, or on loose or wet surfaces, when one or two wheels lose traction, the AWD ability offers assurance.

The Sorento has no centre diff, but at speeds below 40km/h you can lock the drive distribution between the front and back, which can be useful if you are making slow progress on muddy ground or sand.

Mitsubishi might have cracked the code in making electric vehicles (even those with a little help from a petrol engine) interesting, and that's in handing control back to the driver. The huge paddles behind the steering wheel which would flick up and down through the gears in a conventional Outlander have been tweaked to control the level of regenerative braking, with five levels (one being not much, five being lots) that control how much power is fed back into the battery packs.

It's smooth and quiet in full EV mode, and seamless in the way it flicks between power sources.

That, paired with a gauge in the driver's binnacle that tells you when you're recharging the batteries, adds a weird sense of achievement to the whole experience. And strange as it sounds, we were glued to the dials trying to pump power back into the batteries. A long drive with plenty of downhill runs will significantly charge the batteries, too.

Elsewhere, though, sliding into the wide and comfortable driver's seat of this plug-in hybrid Outlander is a comfortingly familiar experience, whether you've driven EVs before or not. And if you keep it on surface streets in the CBD or suburbs, it's smooth and quiet in full EV mode, and seamless in the way it flicks between power sources.

The acceleration in this refreshed model has been mapped to be "more aggressive", though we suspect the words "than a marshmallow" might be missing from that statement. Pack a lunch for a flat-footed sprint from 0-100km/h, but it feels plenty perky enough when pulling away from a light, or when you're already up and running.

One issue, though, is that the Outlander PHEV's extra weight and its location makes cornering something of a mystery. The steering offers little in the way of feedback, and there's plenty of play in the wheel, so corners can require a sudden, second turn in. That, combined with soft suspension that's great at ironing out road bumps, but less so at preventing the vehicle rocking, left us feeling genuinely seasick when we tried pushing the boundaries.

The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV LS arrives with seven airbags (dual front, side and curtain, along with a driver's knee bag), which join hill start assist, a reversing camera, rear parking sensors and a full suite of traction and braking systems including EBD, ABS and traction and stability control.

Stepping up to the Exceed model unlocks adaptive cruise control, forward collision warning with AEB and lane departure warning, along with blind-spot monitoring and front parking sensors.

The Outlander range scored the maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating when crash tested in 2014.

The Sorento is backed by Kia's trio of seven - seven-year/unlimited kilometre warranty, seven-year capped-price servicing and seven-year roadside assistance. Service intervals are 12 months or 15,000km.

The Outlander PHEV range is covered by Mitsubishi's five-year/100,000km warranty, which includes the battery, and will require servicing every 12 months or 15,000 kilometres.

The brand's capped-price servicing program limits maintenance costs to $250 per year for the first three years.