Broadly available in five different trim levels to choose from, the 2019 Kia Sorento can be had in seven different configurations, viz. L, LX, S, EX, EX Sport, SX, and SX Limited. While the base L and LX trims are decently well-equipped, especially for their price.The LX also comes with the same engine as standard, but it does have the option to upgrade to a more competent engine which significantly improves the driving experience of the car. 

The mid-range S and EX trim add most of the important convenience features like keyless ignition, inbuilt navigation, and rear parking sensors to make the car more daily drivable. If you want to get all out on the car, you have the top-of-the-range SX trims which focus more on the luxury aspect of the car with features like a heated steering wheel and memory settings for the driver’s seats.

Which trim should you buy?

While the base L trim is pretty decently well-equipped for its price, it is best avoided due to the standard engine which is unacceptably underpowered. While the LX gives you the option to upgrade to a more powerful engine, the EX trim hits the sweet spot for the 2019 Kia Sorento in terms of the best value for money proposition. 

The 2019 Kia Sorento offers two different engine and transmission configurations to choose from, depending on the trim level you choose. The standard engine is a 2.4L Inline-4 motor producing 185 hp and 178 lb-ft of torque, paired with a 6-speed automatic gearbox, which comes as standard on the L and LX trims. Only the LX trim can be upgraded with a more powerful 3.3L V6 under the hood producing 290 HP and 252 lb-ft of torque, and paired with an 8-speed automatic gearbox. The latter is standard on the rest of the trims in the lineup. While FWD is standard on all the trims, all but the base L trim can be equipped with an AWD system.

The standard 4-pot motor is unacceptably underpowered, especially for a car of its size and mass. It makes overtaking very difficult, especially on the highway. Good thing most of the trims in the lineup come with the more powerful V6 engine under the hood or have the option to upgrade to one. Its power figures are relevant to its class, and make the car more competitive in the competition. People who don’t think much about the performance of a car, and rather save a few bucks in their gas bills, as the standard 4-pot motor is relatively more fuel-efficient than the V6, and that too by a considerable margin as well.

With a 0 to 60 MPH time of 9.1 seconds, the standard engine in the Sorento is barely suited for the car. But the bigger more powerful V6 is there to the rescue. It has a better 0 to 60 MPG time of 7.2 seconds and a standing quarter-mile time of 15.5 seconds.All other cars in the segment are marginally more affordable and yet offer superior acceleration. The Honda CR-V is the quickest of the lot with the Subaru Forester half a second behind, while the Hyundai Santa Fe is right at its tail. 

How well does the 2019 Kia Sorento handle?

While the handling prowess of the Sorento is better than what you would expect by looking at the SUV, it is still not as agile as many of the rivals in the class. That being said, the Strut suspension with coil springs set up at the front, and a multi-link suspension with coil springs at the back handles the movement of the car pretty well, and the fairly accurate steering wheel makes maneuvering through tight spaces pretty confidence-inspiring. 

It is better to opt for the AWD trim level, which provides better stability while cornering at high speeds, and it especially comes in handy during rain or snow when the road surface becomes slippery. Body roll is noticeable around the corners but is pretty acceptable for a car of its size and weight. In short, while the handling prowess of the Kia Sorento is pretty decent, there is still a lot of room for improvement.

2019 Kia Sorento Braking Performance

The 2019 Kia Sorento is a bit of a miss in this regard, especially when there are far better rivals in the class in terms of braking performance. While the brakes have a smooth modulating feel to them and are intuitive to use as well, the 12.6-inch front and 12-inch rear lack in terms of punchiness. Taking 125 feet from 60 MPH to a standstill during emergency braking, it underperforms than most of its competitors. It is not very confidence-inspiring in that regard as well, which is a bit of a surprise considering the fact that the Sorento features larger brakes in the competition. 

In terms of rotor dimensions, the Kia Sorento does take the cake. But the fact that it is significantly heavier than most of its competitors makes it the underperformer in this regard. Although the Honda CR-V has the smallest brakes here, it is also the lightest and hence has the shortest braking distances in this comparison. The Santa Fe and Forester weigh similar to each other and have similar stopping distances as well, which although is shorter than the Sorento. 

As mentioned earlier, the 2019 Sorento comes with two engine options depending on the trim level. The standard 2.4L Inline-4 engine provides a fuel economy figure of 25 mpg combined while the bigger and more powerful 3.3L V6 engine on the other hand comes in at 19, 24, and 21 MPG in the city/highway/combined. Both the engines are pretty underwhelming in this regard, especially when there are far economical competitors available in the market. 

If fuel economy is one of your main priorities, the Kia Sorento is probably not the car for you and so is its Korean cousin, the Hyundai Santa Fe. In this regard, the Subaru Forester takes the cake while the Honda CR-V has marginally lower fuel efficiency. With impressive fuel economy figures, the Forester also has a pretty decent-sized fuel tank, which makes it one of the better choices for long-distance cruising.

The interior of the 2019 Kia Sorento is pretty stylish and is decently laid out in terms of ergonomics. There is nothing much to complain about the car in terms of build quality and quality of materials used, except for the fact that getting in and out of the 3rdrow is a bit of a challenge, especially for tall adults. 

But the fact that it provides a 3-row seat gives the Sorento a huge edge in the competition. But due to the 3-row seat, the Kia Sorento sacrifices quite a bit in terms of truck space when all the seats are in their position. Fold-down both the 2ndand 3rd-row seats and you get a pretty similar maximum cargo space. 

In terms of cabin space, the Kia Sorento and its competitors are more or less in a similar ballpark for the most part. The Kia Sorento provides an extra row of seats, which might not be particularly suitable for adults. But it is there when you need it. Or you can just fold it to accommodate more stuff at the back, whichever you want. Some of the standout interior features are as follows:

• Power-adjustable front seats
• Heated and ventilated front seats
• Heated outboard second-row seats
• Heated steering wheel
• High-grade leather upholstery
• Panoramic sunroof
• LED interior lighting

What’s there to keep you entertained?

The L trim of the 2019 Kia Sorento gets things started with a standard 7” touchscreen infotainment display, equipped with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone integration. The Convenience package, optional on the LX, and standard on the S, and EX gets an upgraded version of the 7” infotainment interface that also has navigation. The optional Touring package on the EX upgrades it further to a larger 8” display, which is standard on the SX and SX Limited trims.

As for listening to music, the base trim starts off with a generic 6-speaker setup with satellite radio and a CD player. The EX’s Touring package upgrades that to a more premium 10-speaker unit from Harman Kardon, which goes all the way up to the top-spec SX Limited trim. To eliminate the need for a charging cord, there’s now an available wireless chargingtray for compatible Android and Apple devices. Some of the highlights of the infotainment system are as follows:

• 7”/8” touchscreen infotainment display
• Bluetooth connectivity
• USB connectivity
• AUX connectivity
• 6-speaker/10-speaker music system
• Inbuilt navigation
• Android Auto and Apple CarPlay smartphone integration
• Wireless smartphone charging

Although looks could be pretty subjective, the Kia Sorento is a pretty attractive-looking SUV from every angle. The subtle facelift for the 2019 model gives the Sorento a tighter, sharper appearance. The revised front-end is headlined by a more artfully detailed radiator grille flanked by a new headlamp configuration. The rear fascia of the crossover has also been enhanced with a new bumper design, sleeker taillamps, revised liftgate, and a sportier muffler tip. Moreover, wheel size ranges from 17 to 19 inches, depending on trim level.

In terms of exterior dimensions, the midsize Kia Sorento is a bit longer than most of its competitors that are mostly compact crossover SUVs. The Kia Sorento just crosses the barrier to be a mid-size crossover SUV. Those extra inches in length allow it to have the 3rd-row seats without compromising much in terms of its basic cargo capacity. The Forester offers the best ground clearance while the Korean twins ride much lower to the ground. Some of the standout exterior features are as follows:

• Full-LED lighting on upper trims – SX (optional) and SXL
• Noise-reducing windshield and front door windows
• Red or black brake calipers depending on the trim
• Hands-free power tailgate

The 3rdgen Sorento shares a platform with the 3rdgen Kia Carnival. The core of the 2019 Sorento remains its rigid structure, with 53 percent of the unibody consisting of advanced high-strength steel. This provides a safe haven to the occupants which are proven with the 5-star overall rating from the NHTSA and the “Top Safety Pick+” accolade received by the Sorento for the 2019 model year.

Additional technologies such as roll-over mitigation (ROM) and cornering brake control (CBC) on AWD models are standard equipment designed to help improve dynamic control. On top of generic safety features like airbags to keep the occupants safe during a crash, the Sorento also comes with Kia’s suite of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), which is now standard on Sorento EX trims and higher. Some of the standout safety features are as follows:

• Forward collision warning system (FCWS)
• Smart cruise control (SCC)
• Blind-spot collision warning (BCW)
• Rear cross-traffic collision warning
• Lane-keeping assist (LKA)
• Driver attention warning (DAW)

2019 Kia Sorento vs 2019 Hyundai Santa Fe

The Kia Sorento and the Hyundai Santa Fe are actually corporate cousins, which explains the similar powertrains and fuel economy figures. Where the Kia Sorento focuses more on practicality which resulted in the 3rd-row seat, the Hyundai is more of a feature-packed offering with an impressive standard suite of driver-assist safety features.

2019 Kia Sorento vs 2019 Subaru Forester

In a class where the SUVs actually feel more at home on-road, the Subaru Forester might just be one of the most off-road ready vehicles in the competition. For this reason, the Subaru has a relatively high ground clearance of 8.7”, along with a standard AWD across the trim levels. The Forester also has superior acceleration and braking performance with a fuel economy that is far more than the Sorento in spite of the standard AWD system. 

2019 Kia Sorento vs 2019 Honda CR-V

The Honda CR-V is considered among the benchmark vehicles in its class, and that too for good reasons. It has a comfortable ride quality, and while it might not look like it, the Honda CR-V is decently athletic around the corners. But if you want the practicality of 3rd-row seats in a relatively compact car, you don’t have many options. It's either the Kia Sorento or the much larger SUVs in the midsize crossover SUV class.

Kia took a different approach for the Sorento in the three-row mid-size crossovers. While it has three rows of seats, its size is more in tune with the compact crossover with two rows of seats. It is perfect for those who have a large family and want a practical car but do not want to invest in a minivan with awkward styling and boat-like handling.

It is for those who need a 7-seater SUV but do not want an overly sized impractical three-row mid-size SUV. The compact dimensions of the Kia Sorento make it relatively easier to park, drive in tight city traffic, and overall slightly easier to live with compared to all the other larger three-row mid-size crossover SUVs in the market.