- The Sorento Hybrid AWD averaged 32.7 mpg throughout one Rocky Mountain trip
- A middle locking differential and Snow mode eased the anxiousness of a snowy descent
- SX Status trim handles the altitude higher than no less than one human
If I have been to die right now, my youngsters may scrawl an epithet that reads, “Drink extra water.” It’s my most frequent parental directive, the panacea for all that ails thee.
Some model of that suggestion was stated no less than a dozen instances earlier than touchdown from Chicago in Denver for Christmas trip. We flatlanders ascended past the Mile Excessive metropolis in our refreshed Kia Sorento Hybrid, loaded with three units of ski gear, six items of bags, and sufficient area leftover to recline the second-row captain’s chairs for lengthy naps on a three-hour drive up into the Rockies.
We have been hydrated properly sufficient for a loo break at 10,000 ft in Fairplay, Colorado, earlier than touching down in Salida, at 7,200 ft altitude. Late that evening, the altitude illness erupted for the primary time in my life.
The headache, physique aches, and nausea have been dangerous sufficient for my teenagers to not level out the irony. They skied with the household whereas I recovered, as idle because the Sorento.
From under my window, its new face regarded up at me with a plea to hit the slopes. Its broader, bolder dogbone grille stamped its extra vertical entrance fascia, the stacked headlights and boomerang working lights wished me down some degree of vacation adventuring. For 2025, the Sorento Hybrid follows the identical updates utilized to the gas-only mannequin in 2024. The blockier and extra upright ends think of old-school SUVs, however nonetheless inside its crossover physique, but it’s not as Lego blocky because the associated Hyundai Sante Fe Hybrid that gained this publication’s Greatest Automobile To Purchase 2025 award.
Quickly sufficient, swimming with fluids, I used to be again at it and becoming a member of them the following day, the six-passenger Sorento loaded with household and equipment.
2025 Kia Sorento Hybrid
2025 Kia Sorento Hybrid sports activities a wiser inside
The very best updates occur inside, the place Kia erased the busy heart stack and its twin vent towers for a streamlined 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster flowing right into a 12.3-inch touchscreen with wi-fi smartphone compatibility. I respect the little issues extra after an sickness. Under the screens sits a haptic menu bar that both controls the local weather settings or serves as scorching buttons for the infotainment. It’s all nicer, neater, and with designated heated seat toggles as an alternative of burying that perform within the touchscreen.
The street ascended the contours of a mountain river chopping via the valley of ranches and wilderness. It ascended into the treeline, the 6-speed automated transmission discovering its groove in Good mode to about 3,500 rpm with out taxing the engine sufficient to disrupt the cabin calm.
Kia makes use of the identical 1.6-liter inline-4 because the successful Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid, and sandwiches a 47.7-kw electrical motor between the engine and the 6-speed to make 231 hp. An outdated pickup saddled with a day’s or life’s work inspired an uphill passing transfer, so I dialed in Sport mode, downshifted the paddles to extra readily entry the 271 lb-ft of torque, and handed the pickup uphill and not using a second thought.
In Eco or Good mode, the paddle shifters grow to be regenerative brake settings, with as much as 4 completely different ranges; it could coast like a traditional gasoline automotive, or get pressed to probably the most assertive degree, L3. It wasn’t as easy as most electrical automobiles, with an excessive amount of seize as soon as I used to be off the accelerator as an alternative of a gradual transition between the 2. I most popular L2 for the smoother handoff between accelerating and braking.
2025 Kia Sorento Hybrid
2025 Kia Sorento Hybrid
2025 Kia Sorento Hybrid
2025 Kia Sorento Hybrid
Since I’m considerably used to this hybrid setup utilized by Hyundai and Kia, I hardly observed the transmission shifts at low speeds when it was solely electrical energy, up till about 18 mph. Some drivers used to single-geared electrical autos or a constantly variable hybrid transmission with no actual gear shifts could be stunned by a gear shift in electrical energy, but it surely normalizes quickly sufficient. Aside from that, the dance between motor and engine is seamless sufficient to be unnoticeable.
For passengers within the posh SX Status trim, it was quiet and cozy sufficient to nap in at appreciable size. Heated second-row captain’s chairs helped, however for this leg of our voyage, our 4 heads have been alert with pleasure. We had the third row down, and three units of skis laid out from the again via the captain’s chairs. There was loads of different cargo room for boots and the remainder of it.
The journey again down after snowboarding, even with out an apres beer, made me higher respect the comforts and smarts of the Sorento Hybrid. After all the highest SX-Status trim had luxury-like appointments with a heated steering wheel, leather-based trimmed upholstery, heated and ventilated entrance seats, nap-inducing energy lumbar and bolstering help, and a panoramic sunroof, the higher to look at the incoming storm.
2025 Kia Sorento Hybrid
Kia Sorento Hybrid AWD system handles snow and ice
Throughout the second half of ski day, the resort shut down all however two lifts on account of 60 mph winds. Swirling clouds erased the 14,000-foot peaks and chopped up the visibility on the slopes and on the street. We shut the display on the sunroof, a stark distinction from the morning when my daughter reclined within the entrance seat to gaze up at frosted timber and bluebird skies.
The storm minimize temperatures and snow and sludge hid ice spots on the winding descent residence. I turned the dial to Snow mode and pressed the middle locking differential button. It apportioned torque evenly between the axles to make sure optimum grip and steadiness in alternate for effectivity. However since we have been going downhill, the hybrid system was utilizing principally electrical energy. Utilizing the paddle shifters to engine brake wasn’t an possibility for the reason that battery was full. The gear dial that changed the mechanical shifter on the previous mannequin additionally meant I couldn’t pop it into handbook mode and let the engine rev larger to protect the brakes. Kia would most likely thank me for this. Snow mode shortened the primary gear, however appeared to delay the shifts in any other case to let the engine rev larger and generate extra torque, so it served the identical goal with out me having to futz about with the controls.
We made it residence protected and sound, with the adrenaline from ski day and over-hydration serving to absolutely treatment the altitude illness. The Sorento Hybrid helped, easing the stress of mountain driving, and comforting the eventual three-hour drive again down the vary to Denver.
Over 380 miles, up and down almost a mile of complete elevation, and loaded with three adult-sized passengers and ski gear, it averaged 32.7 mpg, a shade off the EPA-estimated 34 mpg mixed. With a big 17.7-gallon gasoline tank, the Sorento solely wanted to be refilled as soon as throughout our travels, and that was on the way in which to the drop off on the airport. That helped neutralize the monetary illness of any household trip, with altitude or in any other case.
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2025 Kia Sorento Hybrid SX Status AWD
Base value: $40,065, together with a $1,375 vacation spot cost
Worth as examined: $49,090
Drivetrain: 227-hp 1.6-liter turbo-4 and 47.7-kw motor with a 6-speed automated transmission; all-wheel drive
EPA gasoline economic system: 34/34/34 mpg
