Central Australia in a Kia Sorento

scenes from the trip

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About our Kia Sorento

Unable to rent a Toyota Land Cruiser (all rented out) we got ourselves a sleek Kia Sorento. The Sorento is Kia’s midsize SUV that was added for 2003, replacing the Sportage compact SUV in the Kia lineup. We had the 2005  LX 4WD version.
the 4 wheel drive kia sorento

From top notch to scrap in a split second

a kia sorento a real four wheel drive a kia sorento in difficult terrain



Here are the features and specs of our car :

Price
About 20 000 USD
The rental price of our Kia Sorento was 780 Australian dollars (about 570 USD or 485 euros at that time) for 4 days, with 1600 km free.

Engine
3.5L 192 hp V6
192 horsepower at 5500 RPM
217 lb-ft (Torque) at 3000 RPM

Transmission
5-speed Sportmatic automatic transmission with manual shift mode

Fuel economy
City (mpg) 15 - 16
Highway (mpg) 20
The mileage of our car however was much less than that, the main reason being the swag on the roof, which dramatically increased the drag factor of the car.

Comfort and convenience
Air Conditioning
Power Windows
Power Door Locks
Max. Seating 5
Number of Doors 4
CD Player



Safety
Airbags Driver Passenger Side ABS Brakes

Our personal opinion on the safety of the Kia Sorento is a good one, because none of us on board suffered any injury whatsoever during our crash. But this opinion arises from a specific crash, at rather low speed (by the time we overturned that is), and on soft terrain (earth). Here are some more comprehensive tests results :


NHTSA Frontal Crash Test :

Driver Front

  11-20 percent or greater chance of serious injury 

Passenger Front

  11-20 percent or greater chance of serious injury

NHTSA Side Crash Test :

Front Side

  10 percent or less chance of serious injury 

Rear Side

  10 percent or less chance of serious injury

IIHS Frontal Offset Crash Test   About IIHS

Each vehicle’s frontal offset crash worthiness is based on performance in a 40 mph frontal offset crash test.  Ratings depend on how well the structure/safety cage protects the occupant compartment, the risk of injury measured for an average-sized male, and how well the restraint system controls occupant movement.

Rating Key:

 G

 Good

 A

 Acceptable

 M

 Marginal

 P

 Poor

Injury measures

Vehicle model

Overall

Structure/ safety cage

Head/ neck

Chest

Leg/foot left, right

Restraints/ dummy kinematics

2005 Kia Sorento

 A G A G GG M

(2003 Kia Sorento tested)

Get full details from IIHS

Following the crash our Kia Sorento was damaged beyond repair.


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