Kia Sorento HEV AWD: Sweet Sorento Vroom

Kia’s Sorento HEV shows you can have size, practicality and innovation without settling for a car that looks like a smart fridge

If you need space, practicality and flexibility, but you’re also trying to save some money on fuel and do a little bit for Mother Nature, then like me, you’re probably thinking about a hybrid for your next car.

Kia’s Sorento HEV shows you can have size, practicality and innovation without settling for a car that looks like a smart fridge.

The refreshed styling keeps the Sorento HEV modern, with lots of cues linking it to the Carnival and space-age EV9.

There is something that really floats my boat about having a two-tonne family car that sips an amazingly small amount of petrol.

I felt like I was getting all the brownie points – make that greenie points – for saving the planet while also sating my need to drive a good-looking car with plenty of room for all our junk, heaps of grunt on tap and bloody sexy styling as well.

For a family car that was launched in this form around about five years ago, the refreshed styling in the front and rear has kept it modern, with lots of cues linking it to the Carnival and space-age EV9.

This is a big car and has probably the best third row I’ve seen outside of a maxi taxi. Usually it’s just where you shove small kids or relatives you don’t like but the Sorento’s is big enough for actual human adults, with plenty of leg room, special aircon vents and charging ports.

Sitting back there could very easily be a permanent arrangement.

The Sorento HEV strikes a nice balance of quality, luxury and practicality.

Elsewhere, there’s heaps of space and plenty of storage for all the bits and bobs of family life.

One of the big highlights for my little fruit-juice-loving kids in the back, and something I wish more cars had, were the rear cupholders placed nice and high up on the doors.

The Sorento strikes a nice balance between luxury and practicality.

There are scratchy bits of plastic, but overall, it felt plush and sturdy enough to handle family life.

The seats and dashboard were very easy to clean – which is a must for anyone with little ones.

And perforated front seats with cooling? A nice luxury touch.

The only aspect that dated the car for me was the keyless entry system, which requires pushing a button on the front doors instead of just grabbing the handle.

In a car that otherwise surprised me with its thoughtfully designed and cutting-edge stuff, it was annoying.

The HEV has all the latest safety tech, without many of the annoying binging and bonging alarms many modern cars have now.

Thankfully, it didn’t have the “forward attention alert” system that beeps at you for glancing at the radio.

The HEV has all the safety tech, mercifully without the annoying alarms.

As autonomous driving systems work their way through regulatory hoops to one day become common in new cars, these eye-monitoring sensors will soon be in everything, so not having that was a relief for me.

I reckon the best feature of the Sorento was its fuel efficiency. After a week of city commuting and a trip to the Gold Coast, I’d barely used a quarter of a tank. The hybrid system is unobtrusive and the regenerative braking was very effective for slowing the car down and for charging.

It’s just a shame you need north of $75,000 to get that hybrid efficiency, but the HEV is worth every penny.

But if Kia released a cheaper, lower-spec version with that incredible fuel consumption, they would never keep up with the orders.

The Kia Sorento HEV AWD scores four stars.

KIA SORENTO HEV AWD

PRICE: From $78, 400

WARRANTY/SERVICING: 7yrs/unlimited kilometres, 7yrs capped-price servicing

ENGINE: 1.6-litre four-cylinder and hybrid motor, 169kW/350Nm combined, six-speed transmission

THIRST: 5.7L per 100km

FEATURES: Panoramic sunroof, colour head-up display, wide digital dash displays, digital rear-vision mirror, passenger intercom, heated and ventilated seats, remote parking, lane-keep assist, autonomous braking

VERDICT: 4 stars