During April Vacation we had the distinct pleasure of testing out a Kia Sorento SXL AWD from Kia and DriveShop. This is what we thought of that ride.
Part of the April vacation was a family road trip up to the White Mountains of New Hampshire to chill out at the Pollard Brook Resort. Our ride up was a nice one. Everyone was comfortable riding in the car. It had some excellent features like Leather interior which I never truly appreciate until I have to go back to my cloth interior vehicle. There was also the UVO in dash infotainment unit which connects to both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. We did not make use of those particular features on our drive to New Hampshire but later in the week I did get to see Android Auto in action.
The Kia Sorento is a good looking vehicle and was the perfect size for our family of four. There was plenty of room between the kids so that they were not bumping into each other the whole ride. I had ample elbow room and the power adjust front seats allowed both Allison and I to get real comfortable as we rode along.
I did all the driving and enjoyed the features available to me. The Kia Sorento that we tested was filled with so many standard features, I had thought at first that these were all parts of a special package but they were not. Standard features included Dual Zone Automatic Climate Control. This is something that I enjoy because I like to be cold when I drive. It keeps me alert and way more comfortable than being too hot. Additional features that I found useful were the Blind Spot Detection system, Lane Departure warning system and the Rear Parking Assist system. I used that Rear Parking Assist System all the time to back into spaces when normally I would have pulled into them. I loved seeing the vehicle on screen and everything around it so that I could pull off the perfect parking job every time.
At the end of the week we drove home from New Hampshire and I got a night of sleep before I picked up my friend and co-host of Built From Bricks, Brian. We were headed for Philly Brickfest Live. By folding down the third row of seats we had so much room to bring down all of his MOCs (a LEGO AFOL (Adult Fan of LEGO) term meaning My Own Creation) for us to show at the table. It also had plenty of room for the sets that we brought back with us. I know that I certainly came home with a ton of new LEGO sets and so did Brian.
It was on this part of my testing of the vehicle that I was introduced to Android Auto. This is something that Brian uses in his own vehicle and he set it up quickly. I had never heard of it before. I had simply paired my phone with the bluetooth of the Sorento. Brian had our whole trip mapped out and on the way back shared some of his playlists of songs on Google Play Music. I liked this feature but I also liked the GPS and Nav features in the UVO infotainment and connectivity platform. Both options worked well for me and I am glad that I had options.
The Kia Sorento SLX had an MSRP of $45,595.00 and the only extra was a Metallic Nappa Leather Seat. everything else was standard including at Panoramic Roof with Power sun shade. I discovered this the last day. I don’t normally use a Sun roof or moon roof, however when I opened it up fully with Andrew in the car his eyes got super wide. That would be an awesome feature for us to use when driving through the mountains. I should have tried that out sooner.