Taking the Kia Sorento Turbo HEV on a 3-day drive to the mountains | Quick Drives

When you think hybrid, your usual suspects are compact and smaller crossovers and sedans, mostly from Japanese automakers. Kia Philippines, under ACMobility, has rejuvenated its lineup with the introduction of electrified models.

The Korean automaker invited us for a three-day drive from Metro Manila to Baguio City, to Kapangan, Benguet, and back to Baguio City and Metro Manila, to experience what the Kia Sorento Turbo Hybrid has to offer on a deeper level.

Assigned to us for this drive is Car No. 1, a top-spec 1.6 SX Turbo HEV AWD which meant I’ll get to enjoy every single feature on offer.

Day 1 – Metro Manila to Baguio City

Seeing all the Sorentos in facelifted form parked next to each other was quite the sight. The recent update definitely gave it more of a unique identity compared to other crossovers on the market, but I’ll delve deeper into that later.

I was assigned front passenger duties for the first leg of the drive. The moment we pulled out of Solaire Resort North into EDSA, the Kia Sorento Turbo HEV impressed with excellent NVH insulation. 

The cabin is extremely quiet with minimal outside noise finding its way into the cabin. The same goes once you get on the highway. The engine is also very refined when running and you won’t feel it activate which is a far cry from its already refined turbodiesel from yesteryear.

Ride quality is also excellent as it should be on a midsize crossover with every rough surface smoothed-out by the suspension. This one I came to appreciate more once we got to the provincial highway.

I also had this time to appreciate the Sorento’s interior which has been redesigned in the latest update. 

The overall look aligns with Kia’s current design language as seen on the Carnival and EV6, and is filled with high-quality soft-touch surfaces, along with large dual screens for the driver’s instrument cluster and infotainment.

Kia is also particularly proud of the multi-function control panel for the climate and infotainment controls. It’s certainly a nice way to clean-up the center stack without putting everything on the screen. I just wish that it made use of actual buttons instead of touch-sensitive ones.

My only real complaint here would be the ventilated seats which did very little to cool down my butt in the hot summer weather.

And after a little over 70km as a passenger, it was my turn to drive. My leg was from the Shell Mobility Haven NLEX Northbound in Mexico, Pampanga, to the Mimosa Plus in nearby Clark Freeport. From there, I would drive again to Petron KM134 on TPLEX.

As soon as I started, I immediately got to feel the smoothness of the new hybrid powertrain which is now standard on all Sorento variants.

As to what it is, that’s a 1.6-liter Smartstream G turbocharged gasoline engine paired to a 44 kW electric motor and lithium-ion battery. Combined output is 235 horsepower and 367 Nm of torque, mated to six-speed automatic transmission. 

Unlike many hybrid-powered vehicles these days, this system is a parallel hybrid which means the engine and electric motor work together most of the time.

This allows the Sorento Turbo HEV to drive on full-electric power at lower speeds, and mixes both engine and electric power at normal speeds, and charges the battery during deceleration through Smart Regenerative Braking.

That means that despite the limitations of the parallel hybrid system (compared to a series or series-parallel), the Sorento Turbo HEV is still able to have its battery charged easily, and also able to offer decent fuel economy numbers at an average combined 16km/l during my stints.

The best part about this system is the impression and feeling of having a similar driving experience to pure-ICE vehicles, especially with the use of a traditional torque converter automatic.

You definitely get all 235 horses and 367 Nm of torque with this. Power delivery is good with minimal delays and overtaking will be no issue with a good power boost provided by the electric motor. 

Steering is pretty much usual from modern vehicles with its very light weight. Thankfully, there is a decent amount of feedback still which is already okay for my liking.

One thing I noticed isn’t related to driving feel, but comfort. At some point, I felt my back starting to ache despite the supportive look of the seats. This was resolved by the four-way adjustable lumbar which is only available for the driver. Still, it helps.

Later on, we reached our driver change and it was now my turn to experience the backseats, all the way until we arrived at our place for the next two nights, The Manor at Camp John Hay in Baguio City.

How was it? Great. Legroom is akin to an extra-legroom seat on economy class, or even standard business class on a narrowbody aircraft. The seats themselves were good, and noticeably felt better than those in front. The rear seat is the place to be.

Day 2 – Baguio City to Lubo Lake and back

The second day of the drive was something more active, with us taking the Sorento Turbo HEV to Lubo Lake in Kibungan, Benguet, driving through mostly twisty roads.

I’ve already experienced the Sorento Turbo HEV as a passenger on twisty roads as we went up Kennon Road, but this is something we’re already used to. The insane twisties north of Baguio City proved it to be comfortable in any conditions.

The Sorento Turbo HEV remains planted on the road no matter how tight a corner is. That’s largely in thanks to the presence of the battery which helps lower its center of gravity. Granted this isn’t a sports car for carving those turns, it helps in making sure everyone inside the cabin is comfortable.

You will start to feel the lack of power on steeper inclines but that’s gonna be due to the weight of the vehicle. But regardless, if any small underpowered budget vehicles can do it, so can the Sorento Turbo HEV.

Also, Smart Regenerative Braking stops working once the battery is topped-up. This means you lose any form of engine braking unless you drive in sport mode which lets you choose gears manually through the paddle shifters. 

And as we got closer to our destination, the roads also started becoming quite random. I had to drive through some rough unpaved roads which the Sorento Turbo HEV did with finesse. Perhaps the usual buyer won’t go for that kind of terrain, but it’s good to know that this won’t have issues just in case.

Different terrain modes are available, but we did not need to try any of them as the Sorento Turbo HEV was very capable as it is.

Soon after, we already had Lubo Lake in sight, which meant the Sorento Turbo HEV could take a break after a grueling two and a half hours of different road conditions.

Fun fact, Lubo Lake is actually partially man-made. It was an open pit abandoned by a mining corporation that went into bankruptcy. It eventually filled-up with water in the early 2000s due to rain and typhoons, creating what you are now seeing.

With the beautiful backdrop, even more we get to appreciate the Sorento Turbo HEV’s styling. In front it wears the latest iteration of Kia’s Opposites United design language.

This is mainly highlighted by the 4-Cube LED headlights and the Tiger Nose front grille which both give it a bold front fascia. This keeps it distinct not only from the pre-facelift version, but also from rivals. The rear is similar to before but gets updated taillights. 

One thing I’d like Kia to offer here is a different wheel design as the 18-inch alloys that come as standard are just not to my type. Other markets get a better (and smaller) set of 17-inch wheels which looks sportier and more rugged despite being for lower variants.

Stylish, Comfortable, Efficient

At its price of Php 2.788-million, the top-spec Kia Sorento Turbo HEV SX AWD may seem out of reach for some, but that’s answered by the rest of the lineup which as you already know by now is all hybrid.

Whichever variant you get, the Kia Sorento will be able to provide the style, comfort, and efficiency. This is further emphasized when you compare it to its truck-based midsize SUV rivals which cannot offer the same amount of space and refinement. It’s a very appealing package and we do hope that it becomes a very successful model for Kia here in the Philippines.

_{Photos by Julian Panlilio and Sam Surla}