Five-star Euro NCAP safety rating for all-new Kia Sorento – click for hi-res image
It’s coming to our shores early next year and buyers of the all-new Kia Sorento will be pleased to hear that they will be driving one of the safest vehicles on the roads.
The firm’s new SUV has been highly rated in all four sections of the safety tests due to its strong body shell and its impressive range of active and passive safety equipment.
The Euro NCAP assessors who have given the Kia Sorento the maximum five stars for crash safety said they were particularly impressed with the passenger compartment that remains stable should the vehicle be involved in a collision.
Kia Sorento scores full marks for safety
This factor is down to the extensive use of ultra-high tensile steel, there’s more of it than in the previous model, which not only provides better protection but improves also the rigidity of the vehicle itself.
There’s also excellent protection for passengers no matter where they are seated in the vehicle and no matter how tall they are.
Indeed, everyone on board is well protected from whiplash injuries, including those sat in the third row of seats.
Pedestrians are also protected by the car’s active deployable bonnet.
Kia Sorento has lots of passive and assist safety
However, anyone looking for an SUV for family purposes will be impressed by the impressive safety assist systems which include a vehicle stability management system which is fitted as standard.
This system ensures that the Sorento remains stable when braking and cornering, especially if the car is on a low grip surface. It does this by controlling the car’s electronic stability control system as well as the power steering.
The driver doesn’t have to do anything since the system kicks in when its sensors detect a loss of traction to help the driver keep the vehicle under control.
Active safety features for the Kia Sorento include adaptive smart cruise control and a lane departure warning system that will alert the driver when they stray across a line in the road without indicating first.
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There’s also a very useful blindspot detector which has a visual warning in the door mirror when it detects that there is a car in the driver’s blind spot.
Some will also find the rear cross traffic alert system very useful since this one warns about other cars that are driving behind the Sorento while in car parks.
The Kia Sorento also comes with a speed sign recognition ability and it will display what the road speed is on the driver’s instrument cluster.
The new Sorento is quieter and plusher than its predecessor, though it only comes with a 2.2 litre diesel engine for the UK market.
Kia has high hopes for its Sorento and believes that this SUV, we should cost around £27,000, will be a big seller in Europe as people look for value for money in their car purchases.