[Red Suburu]

I have really been curious about this. My Mom has 1 and it seems it would possibly be a notch above an outback offroad. It appears to have at least as much ground clearance and has 4 wheel drive high and low. I suppose I could google but curious what folks here think!

 

[eagleeye]

in the roller tests of the era, any of the transverse mounted engines fail when pushed,

______

and although I did not search much for Kia,
you might look for similarly powered Hyundai vs. subaru videos. (kia and hyundai being sister companies).

_____
the forester with its smaller approach and departure angles is closer to a sorento, although I have yet to sit in a forester that I would like to own.
______
in the real world videos take by owners, one of the problems is tires,
(you have to look real close to see if the tires are similar,...or one vehicle has something more aggressive then the other).

 

[Red Suburu]

Her Kia does not have a transverse mounted engine.

in the roller tests of the era, any of the transverse mounted engines fail when pushed,

______

and although I did not search much for Kia,
you might look for similarly powered Hyundai vs. subaru videos. (kia and hyundai being sister companies).

_____
the forester with its smaller approach and departure angles is closer to a sorento, although I have yet to sit in a forester that I would like to own.
______
in the real world videos take by owners, one of the problems is tires,
(you have to look real close to see if the tires are similar,...or one vehicle has something more aggressive then the other).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2OzK-oRPCbs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7dVFY5CxT0

 

[1 Lucky Texan]

maybe they're better now, but the Sorento we test drove before we bought our 03 OBW was the worst vehicle we tried. Just lumbering down the road and felt like some worn-out farm truck driving on a surface of bowling balls - ugh. And other anecdotal stuff with relatives that have owned Kias has led me to believe they are poorly engineered vehicles. I THINK newer ones may be getting better but, personally, I wouldn't drive around the corner in a used Kia.

But, if someone was building a dedicated rock crawler and had time/money to modify/upgrade/repair the thing - I dunno, might be as good a base to start from as other 4WD used vehicles.

 

[Brucey]

I've been off road in a 2000 Kia Sportage 4x4. Had a traditional part time transfer case, just tiny. Reminded me of a Suzuki Samurai.

It did better than what many others would have done. It really did fine even with open differentials front and rear.

It was everything breaking all the time on that thing that was the problem with it.

 

[Red Suburu]

The biggest thing I don't like about my Mom's Kia is it doesn't have squat for low end torque! It's got a whiney 3.5 liter V-6 and you have to wind the p*ss out of it to get descent acceleration....eats a sh*tload of gas too!

The price at the time was why she bought it. She needed an AWD due to her driveway and the Kia fit the bill with close enough dealers. If I had known she would be moving to live near my sister with a closeby Suburu dealer she would be driving a Suburu today! I will say she hasn't had any problems with it but has only put 25,000 miles on it in around 10 years!

 

[eagleeye]

The biggest thing I don't like about my Mom's Kia is it doesn't have squat for low end torque! It's got a whiney 3.5 liter V-6 and you have to wind the p*ss out of it to get descent acceleration....eats a sh*tload of gas too!

The price at the time was why she bought it. She needed an AWD due to her driveway and the Kia fit the bill with close enough dealers. If I had known she would be moving to live near my sister with a closeby Suburu dealer she would be driving a Suburu today! I will say she hasn't had any problems with it but has only put 25,000 miles on it in around 10 years!

I live 60 miles from the subaru dealers,....80 miles from one that I would have work on my cars.

..and a kia /Hyundai dealers are around 60 miles, I guess,...not that I have ever paid a lick of attention to where they corral those pigs before they let them loose on the public.

such subaru dealers can't entice me to drive that far for free oil changes, and monkeys at $120 per hour. plus the hour there and the hour back.
(I can't even remember a repair since 1990 of me driving a subaru of some type,...that anything "had" to be done at a subaru dealership).

but if I were to be stuck with a free 2007 Kia or a Hyundai,. I would quickly trade it for a subaru of some type,...(or something more handy then a 2007 Sorento.)

 

[traildogck]

WTF? What Next? Fiat 500X? KIA please. Run for the $ in the whole package?

:ucrazy:

:werd:

:ttiwwp:

:7:

I don't check in often anymore. I remember why? Time to check back out.

 

[Red Suburu]

I suspect that Kia is probably quite respectable offroad.....For sure if it has any type of traction control or a limited slip differential!

WTF? What Next? Fiat 500X? KIA please. Run for the $ in the whole package?

:ucrazy:

:werd:

:ttiwwp:

:7:

I don't check in often anymore. I remember why? Time to check back out.

 

[vhercules]

the 07 sorento was body on frame with a transfer case and 4hi, 4lo. It is very competent off road and I have seen people with OME lifts and big tires taking it out on some nasty trails. Was pretty underrated and not much aftermarket support. Around 2010 Kia dumped the frame and moved over to unibody.

Kia Sorento Lift Kit:Â*OMEÂ*Kia Sorento Lift Kit