KIA Sorento named best value SUV

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The KIA Sorento sports utility vehicle (SUV) added another feather to its cap when it won the Best Value SUV award at the annual Mudfest competition, held recently by the Northwest Automotive Press Association (NWAPA) in the United States.

Spokesman of South Korean carmaker KIA Motors Christopher Dore said in an e-mail that previously the KIA Sorento was named Best SUV Value and Best SUV Under US$25,000 at the 2002 event.

Each year, NWAPA members gather during the second week of October to evaluate SUVs from every segment to determine the best vehicle in each category.

Each vehicle is equipped in a way that is similar to the way 80 percent of U.S. buyers equip their cars and includes such items as automatic transmission, antilock braking systems (ABS), CD players, power windows, door locks, remote keyless entry, four doors and more.

In addition to new vehicles, the group brings back the best of the best from previous years, too.

The Sorento was tested alongside 16 other SUVs -- on- and off- road -- at the Portland International Raceway on the first day of competition and performed well throughout acceleration and braking tests and a slalom course.

Ride-and-drive segments were held on the second day of the competition.

In Indonesia, the KIA Sorento is for sale at about US$44,400 (Rp 400 million) using the most powerful engine available for this model.

It is driven by a 3,497 cc Sigma V-6, quad-cam engine yielding maximum power of 197 horsepower at 5,500 rpm and maximum torque of 295 Newton-meters at 3,000 rpm.

The engine is powerful enough to allow the KIA Sorento to reach a maximum speed of 192 kilometers per hour (kph). It has a 0 to 100 kph acceleration time of only 9.7 seconds.

Other vehicles in the KIA Sorento range use either 2,351 cc gasoline or 2,497 cc diesel engines.