We recently made a quick escape to La Union over a weekend with the help from Kia Philippines, allowing us to drive with the new Kia Sorento Hybrid. Now to give you more context, we had the vehicle for a week which became my main vehicle for the whole duration. Particularly the variant we used was the Kia Sorento Turbo Hybrid EX model which fairs for Php2,188,888
Not being a stranger of experiencing hybrid vehicles, we can say that this Kia Sorento Hybrid is definitely a different built SUV which for us, is a good combination of technology while still preserving driver experience against over-tech features.
The KIa Sorento Hybrid is a spacious vehicle with generous leg space for the 1st and 2nd rows, plus every person has their own cup holders and even quick storage access. Additionally, I seriously love that this variant doesn’t have a sunroof, personally for me having a sunroof is more of a con vs pros due to it’s factor of heat attraction and undesired roofing functionality.
Our Day 1-3 were simply rounds in the city which just dropped one bar in driving over 80km around the city. Our fuel gauge was still almost full around Day 4 We left 8AM in Manila arriving around 1PM in La Union, that still left us around more than half of a tank of gas remaining, or translating to around 460km of range left.
Now there are three driving modes to remember, the ECO (Green), Intelligent (Yellow), Sport (Red) which most of the time we confidently use the intelligent mode. We notice a big jump in engine throttle delay in the ECO mode, while the Sport Mode maintains the Rev of the engine to around 30500 – 5000 RPM for faster engine performance.
Regardless of your needs, we think that the intelligent mode will be able to answer your cravings for agile drives with the right amount of support. This way you avoid much of fuel system is being utilizes while still being ahead of the game like work and business
We really love the 1.6L Turbo engine of the Kia Sorento Hybrid, it’s fast and agile even just in the Eco mode or Intelligent mode, honestly the Sports mode was way too aggressive in the RPM which we think its reserved only for much needed power in overtaking.
Handling was light overall, easy to drive around and even do quick change lanes without the rolling for the passengers. Suspension is also very responsive that even some occurrences of potholes was easy enough not to take up sleeping passengers in our drive.
On express way we love the cabin is properly insulated against noise even when driving in speeds above 100kph. While on rural areas the Kia Sorento Hybrid shines the best, against random roads from proper paved roads to uneven ones the vehicle was easy to traverse with. Overtaking was easy enough with the turbo engine kicking in, making decisions to punch the floor and commit easier.
Tech wise the cruise control also has adaptive speed but not enough to make you drive automatically, so we like this setup since it keeps your guard up instead of relying on technology to do the driving for you.
Dashboard and Driver Infotainment System is very easy to understand, even pairing to Android Auto was fast and flawless. We love the cockpit of the Kia Sorento for being simple at the same time being tech-centric.
Additionally while there is still a head unit, this one is especially smooth, 120Hz smooth so even transitions and performance always look premium and ahead of the game. Plus, settings wise you can still tweak some features without any hesitations in performance.
The center dashboard to controls the AC with a quick toggle to change settings for other controls like volume, tracks, etc. While two knobs are still present for climate controls individually.
Looking at the Kia Sorento Hybrid the design wise is a welcoming, the famous tiger face is still indeed there but with now more of a boxy oriented shape which improves that overall presence of the vehicle without shouting out among the rest.
Even the back is a revamp that we really appreciate, it’s simple enough to admire honestly and no fancy chrome overlays or plastic panels in the design.
After a long drive to La Union, we had duties of fetching a relative at the airpor which was no problem to for the luggages and even some excess boxes from work. Overall the rear storage when the 3rd row is folded is big enough for hauling big ticket items or even adequate space for long drives.
We faired around 13.3 to 15km per liter in our whole duration in our use with the Kia Sorento Hybrid, now to expound on this further our driving style was moderate to aggressive in doing overtakes. If you want to squeeze more into your milage then don’t forget to take advantage of the level of brake regeneration as it will automatically brake when not engaged.
On the last day of our experience with the Kia Sorento Hybrid, we finally got the yellow gas warning light at around 750.5km in range, but as you can see there is still around 100km+ remaining in range. Given our driving style of above aggressive in overtakes during our long drive.
Overall the Kia Sorento Hybrid is an easy SUV to fall in love with, it’s very agile, efficient, and even comfortable for all. Either for urban roaming, or long drives outside the city the Kia Sorento Hybrid is equipped well, all the ideal conditions to give a pleasant long drive experience or even.
Definitely for long drives there will be more fun cause of its agile performance and fuel efficiency, the only stop you will do in gas stations is to top up your tummy and empty your bladder. *pun intended*
For Php2,188,000 the EX Kia Sorento Turbo Hybrid is more than enough for anyone who wants the necessity features of a hybrid car without the distractions and cost of premium features in its price range. Either you buy this vehicle for a family or even just for yourself, the Kia Sorento Turbo Hybrid is a worthy choice.
Top Experiences to take note
1. Powerful 1.6L Turbo Engine, coasting / overtaking to even above 100p is easy.
2. Outstanding Hybrid Fuel Milage Performance for a 7-seater sized SUV
3. Comfortable & Spacious cabin space, with very minimal motion sickness experienced.
4. Easy to understand cockpit and high quality display head unit
5. Comfortable 3rd row with easy conversion for storage
1. Annoying sensors especially in bumper to bumper traffic, unless you want to disable it completely. Hopefully a software update is possible to have level of sensitivity for this.
2. Overall speaker quality is above average, but bass can still improve more in performance. Nevertheless, its way way better compared to other cars with substandard audio quality. 3. The variant we used, particularly the base variant EX variant still uses overall cloth seats, so it’s best to prepare for long-term tidiness with probably better seat covers. 4. Second row passengers doesn’t have a dedicated Type-C port for charging, but weird enough it’s younger and more affordable sibling the KIA SONET has one..
