Nissan X-Trail. Price: from $38,972 (311,769 UAH). On sale: since 2007
KIA Sorento. Price: from $40,467 (323,730 UAH). On sale: since 2009
Kia Sorento is still a newcomer on our market. That makes it all the more interesting to compare it with the already seasoned representative of compact SUVs — Nissan X-Trail
Test pilots
Oleg Kalaushin, 40 years old, automotive journalist, driving experience 22 years, personal car — Renault Logan
Igor Kuznetsov, 48 years old, automotive journalist, driving experience 31 years, personal car — Nissan Qashqai
Kia Sorento from $40,467 (323,730 UAH)
The new KIA Sorento has a unibody construction in which the share of high-strength steels reaches 70%. The center of gravity was lowered by 54 mm to improve on-road behavior. The rear now has a multi-link suspension, and the steering mechanism has a reduced gear ratio. On top of that, the car has noticeably grown in dimensions.
Driving
On the highway and in the city, the car is quite good. But it's still not worth venturing into serious off-road terrain with it.
Interior
Pleasing to the eye and comfortable for the body. The quality of finishing materials is up to par, and the workmanship hasn't let us down. Moreover, the car is quite spacious.
Comfort
The level of sound insulation was very pleasing. The standard audio system is also not bad.
Safety
According to Euro NCAP crash test results, it awarded the Sorento 5 stars.
Price
Quite attractive.
Nissan X-Trail from $1,154 24 (189 UAH)
This SUV is popular not only in Russia but also in Western Europe. The All Mode 4x4 system used in the car ensures optimal distribution of torque between the axles, allowing the X-Trail to tackle quite serious off-road conditions without much trouble, placing the car in the same league as serious off-roaders.
Driving
The car is equally good both on and off the road. However, its full potential is revealed precisely off public roads.
Interior
Comfortable, quite spacious, especially liked the organization of storage spaces for small items in the trunk.
Comfort
At a quite acceptable level, although sound insulation is not good enough.
Safety
6 airbags, ABS and ESP systems in the base configuration.
Price
Quite consistent with the dimensions and capabilities of the car.
For the comparison, we decided to take cars with diesel engines. And it's not even about the global financial crisis and diesel being cheaper. Money is money, but it seems to us that if a person decides to get a car for all occasions, it should be equipped with a diesel engine. The first reason is torque, which in diesels, even with small engine displacements, is still greater than in gasoline engines. And how valuable sufficient torque is off-road, we hope, needs no explanation. The second is fuel consumption, which directly affects the range. If necessary, you can siphon some fuel far from civilization from a passing truck driver. And the last argument in favor of diesel is that in terms of dynamic characteristics, modern cars with diesel engines differ little from those that burn exclusively high-octane gasoline in their cylinders. And in terms of noise, they are already almost equal.
In general, on one fine spring day on a country road, the KIA Sorento 2.2 TDI and Nissan X-Trail 2.0 dCi met. The newcomer had 197 "horses" under the hood, while the crowd favorite could boast only 150 hp. However, this did not bother us at all, because the dynamic characteristics of the cars, judging by the specs, were almost identical. So, all other things being equal, the consumer would not notice the difference in dynamics between these cars.
But in a head-to-head comparison, it's impossible not to notice that the Sorento is bigger than the X-Trail. It's not for nothing that the Koreans worked hard to make the new Sorento larger compared to the previous model. It even became larger than its classmates. Of course, the X-Trail doesn't get lost against its background; the Nissan is also not a small car, but the fact that it still loses in exterior dimensions is visible, as they say, without a tape measure. The design of the Sorento also affects the overall perception. Its more streamlined shapes do not give a clear perception of dimensions, visually making the car even bigger. Against its background, the X-Trail resembles a chest of drawers on wheels. Although it also has places where designers probably had to resort to templates. But apparently, they had far fewer templates at their disposal than Peter Schreyer's team. By the way, the latter's name is given to the new corporate style of the entire KIA model line. However, to each their own. Even among our test group, opinions on which car looks more impressive were divided. So we'll leave that without comment.
But we won't deny that the interior is more interesting in the KIA. It has solidity, style, and coziness. The Nissan is also quite well put together inside, but against the background of the Sorento, it looks more modest. And there's less space in it, no matter how you look at it. This is especially felt in the second row of seats. Of course, the huge sunroof that stretches from the windshield to the trunk visually expands the boundaries, but no matter how spacious it is overhead, the legs are still more comfortable in the Sorento. And the trunk organization is more effective in the X-Trail. Getting into the underfloor storage, which the Sorento also has, is much easier in the Nissan; it's pull-out. But to climb into the far corner of the Sorento's storage, you'll have to press your knees against the bumper, which is not clean in slushy weather. As is the whole car, by the way. It's surprising, but when driving over roughly the same roads to the meeting point, the Sorento managed to get much dirtier than the X-Trail. Apparently, the larger diameter wheels and the lack of a sill played a role. The latter, by the way, is also an option on the Nissan. We also noticed that the fuel consumption of the cars turned out to be about the same level, amounting to about 12 liters. This clearly does not correspond to what the manufacturers claim. Then we specifically reset the trip computers again and drove in a convoy along the route. The result was the same. However, this is not so bad for KIA — its fuel consumption is the same as the X-Trail's, which has a much smaller engine displacement and power. We also noted that the Sorento is still more comfortable on the highway than the X-Trail. And primarily in terms of acoustic comfort. Apparently, better sound insulation plays a role. Otherwise, both cars behave on the highway as befits compact SUVs: slightly vague steering, slight body roll in corners, and a pathological dislike for transverse seams. The latter characteristic, oddly enough, applies more to the Sorento. This is especially true for the rear axle — more or less serious road irregularities somehow resonate more in it.
Off-road, the cars performed quite well. Of course, we didn't venture into the wilds, but even that snowy field, which had turned into a frozen lake, showed that light off-roading is not alien to these cars. Moreover, the "Korean," which is far less advanced in terms of electronic locking, practically did not yield to the "Japanese," which is sophisticated in this regard. The maximum the Sorento driver could do was lock the center differential. And yet, this allowed the car to briskly overcome obstacles. The only unsolvable task for it was diagonal wheel hanging. In this situation, the car helplessly spun its hanging wheels in the air.