Guided By Principal If I didn't know the
Kia Sorento was constructed on an assembly line in Korea, I would suspect that it had been carved from a singular block of granite; it's just that solid.
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| Kia's solid compact entry into the wildly competitive SUV market is a rugged body-on-frame stalwart. (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press) |
Seldom have I driven a test vehicle I can say that about. Such a high degree of integral rigidity eliminates shudders and rattles that reverberate through a vehicle when it encounters a vicious stretch of degenerating roadway. You know the type of road I mean - so beat-up that it causes one question where our Government is spending the all-too-many gasoline tax dollars collected from hapless motorists.
Taxation rant aside, Kia's compact entry into the wildly competitive SUV market is a rugged body-on-frame stalwart whose smooth ride over the aforementioned road surface impresses all who've experienced it. And that can be as many as five at a time. There is no third row seat in the Sorento; resulting in generous dimensions afforded those in the front buckets or rear split folding bench seat.
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| Although the Sorento lacks a third row of seats, that means there is more than ample room for passengers and cargo. (Photo: Rob Rothwell, Canadian Auto Press) |
"But what's the history to this upstart out of South Korea," I can hear you asking. Well, founded in 1944, Kia Motors Corporation began as a bicycle parts manufacturer and evolved over the years into a full-scale automobile manufacturer that now produces passenger cars, vans and cargo trucks. According to Kia, their name has origins in the Chinese language. The first syllable,
ki, means to "arise or come up out of." The second part of the word, a, refers to Asia. Join the two syllables together and suddenly the name "Kia" takes on the very apropos meaning of, "arise or come up out of Asia." Kia 101 - class dismissed.
