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Thursday, February 02, 2006
The amazing Picanto, Sorento
By Jasper Huang
High Speed
AMAZING! That's all I had to say when I left RS Autosphere after driving the new cars of Kia. I have heard a lot of good stuff from new Kia Owners. So when I was given an offer to test-drive the Picanto and Sorento, I eagerly took the offer.
The first car I chose was the Picanto. Since I heard that it has bagged a lot of awards in Europe, I wanted to see for myself what the hype was all about.
I'm not a big fan of the Picanto looks as it lacks the charm of the other small cars on the market today. But Kia really made up for it with the interiors. Inside, the Picanto is quite classy for a small car. The interiors are made of very high quality materials. The dashboard (which is one of the first thing I look at when I choose a car) is beautiful and very well designed. The Picanto was also very roomy for a small car, which surprised me because i was expecting it to be a bit tight. After admiring the interiors it was time for me to take a drive.
The Picanto was very comfortable for city driving. The ride and handling was fine and the 1.1-liter engine was good enough for its light body. I was again amazed since I was expecting it to be underpowered. I really enjoyed the ride since there was very little vibration, giving the Picanto a luxury car feel. Another plus for the Picanto is its fuel consumption. Its 1.1-liter engine is very economical, which makes it perfect for city driving especially with the rising fuel costs.
All in all, the Picanto is a very good car for its class. I was very satisfied with the overall performance of Kia's supermini. It really fit its tag line "The small car with big ideas". Now I move on to the Picanto's big brother. The new Kia Sorento.
Unlike the Picanto, the Sorento is very visually appealing. This is one of the SUVs in the market today that's really a head turner. The exterior is classy yet very macho looking. The interiors are exceptional. The interior design team of Kia has really produced a winner with the Sorento. You could see that it is really loaded with features. It comes with 8 way adjustable electronic seats, illuminated vanity mirrors, metal grain trims, a two-story glove box, digital multimeter and a steering wheel mounted remote for audio control (just a few details that you wont find in most mid priced SUVs)
I had a lot of fun driving the Sorento. It had a very smooth and quiet ride. I was also very impressed with it's handling. The handling was exceptional for an SUV. I tested the Sorento on a couple of steep roads and its power was more than enough to handle its bulk. It is also quite capable and has a nice soft ride on rough roads.
In short I could say that the Sorento is one SUV that, looks good, rides nice, and is packed with features and is reasonably priced. It would be perfect for people wanting style, space, and value for their money.
So going back to my first line in this article. My experience with the Sorento and Picanto could be summed up in one word. Amazing!
(February 2, 2006 issue)
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