Facelifted Kia Sorento comes with ‘completely new platform’ – refreshed cabin seen for the first time

Facelifted Kia Sorento comes with ‘completely new platform’ – refreshed cabin seen for the first time

The Kia Sorento has been given a facelift. That’s not fresh news – we carried that one in June – but a press release announcing the SUV’s European debut at the upcoming Paris show caught us at the headline. It reads “Completely new platform for upgraded Kia Sorento”.

Back then, Kia only said that the refreshed Sorento gets a re-engineered bodyshell, enhanced powertrains for best-in-class fuel economy with lower emissions, improved ride, handling and refinement, plus additional convenience and safety features. There have been reports mentioning a new platform shared with the third-gen Hyundai Santa Fe, and here’s the confirmation.

Facelifted Kia Sorento comes with ‘completely new platform’ – refreshed cabin seen for the first time

Kia adds that the subframes which support the suspension are new, stronger designs which give more precise location of the suspension components. Larger suspension bushes, longer trailing arms at the rear and “High Performance Dampers” work together to improve ride comfort and stability. Steering is also now more direct with 2.95 turns lock-to-lock. Kia’s new FlexSteer system will be optional, providing three different steering weights.

Engine options include a 2.4L Theta II GDI engine (192 PS and 242 Nm) and a 2.2L R-series turbodiesel. With 197 PS and 436 Nm (automatic) or 421 Nm (manual) of torque, this is the engine to go for. Every Sorento will have a six-speed transmission (manual or auto) and a choice of 2WD or 4WD.

Facelifted Kia Sorento comes with ‘completely new platform’ – refreshed cabin seen for the first time

These are the first official pics of the refreshed cabin, which can be had with seven seats. A new two-part glass panoramic roof with a single powered roller blind shade will be available. There are more soft-touch surfaces – with satin chrome finish for the door handles, air-vent surrounds and switches – plus a new LCD instrument cluster and centre stack with eight-inch LCD screen (seven-inch in Europe).

Access is improved by the lower ride height (-10 mm), and the cabin floor has also been lowered, increasing legroom by 30 mm in the second row.

Facelifted Kia Sorento comes with ‘completely new platform’ – refreshed cabin seen for the first time

Looks wise, there are new front and rear bumpers with vertical-axis fog lights, a new front grille and headlamps with LED positioning lights, and a new tailgate with reshaped LED combination lamps. There are also new, optional 10-spoke machine finished 19-inch alloys.

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Danny Tan

Danny Tan loves driving as much as he loves a certain herbal meat soup, and sweet engine music as much as drum beats. He has been in the auto industry since 2006, previously filling the pages of two motoring magazines before joining this website. Enjoys detailing the experience more than the technical details.

 

Comments

  • Bell&Ross on Aug 16, 2012 at 8:10 pm

    if this car was a toyota it probably be bashed

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1
  • Janji the 3rd Parti on Aug 16, 2012 at 8:45 pm

    If its Completely New Platform, why the hell does it look so strikingly similar ???

    Camon Kia, we are not idiots! Newly ENHANCED Platform maybe!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 4
    • not the moron on Aug 17, 2012 at 2:08 am

      brader…. a car may have different platform, but with the same shell…

      Platform and body shells are 2 different things

      Yes we are not idiots, except for you.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 1
    • Vader on Aug 17, 2012 at 7:16 am

      idiots cannot differentiate the platform is all-new or not by just looking on the car body design, only genius like u can do so..

      come on, they are still claiming this car as face-lifted, then what u expected?

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 1
  • Kalun on Aug 16, 2012 at 9:18 pm

    When the Korean took over Peter Schreyer job, they make a photogenic car ugly with facelifts.
    I still prefer the old 2011 Kia Sorento. Looks better!

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Sam Loo on Aug 16, 2012 at 10:03 pm

      The fella that tries of sell his 2011 Sorento will yat Hailat when the used car fella depreciates it by 50%

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 2
      • theanswer on Aug 17, 2012 at 12:15 am

        what to do? or else ppl will stuck to 4 speeder auto and underpowered diesel fortuner. at least korean can give better spec and powerful diesel from santa fe.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
      • David D on Aug 17, 2012 at 12:52 am

        Show me a dealer who would take in a 1-year old Sorento for 50% of its value. Name me any. FYI, There was a Sorento, 1 year old, going for 135k on Mudah.my. Still wanna talk crap?

        If there’s none, here’s a simple warning to you:- Zip it, unless you have rational stuffs to talk. Every time i see your pathethic name, you would be always talking about no resale value. My goodness, go buy a house if you keep talking about the outdated contraption of ‘resale value’.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 2
        • Kiasu No Kiasi on Aug 17, 2012 at 8:47 am

          What are u cyber cop or cyber tuck ?
          Warning other from giving their comment, Admin please look into this before you allow such comment to publish.

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 14
        • kerelbort on Aug 17, 2012 at 9:38 am

          u can put any price at mudah.. but will people buy it at that price? that is the question… second hand car selling price.. does not means that it will be bought at that price.. ;)

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1
        • David D on Aug 17, 2012 at 4:53 pm

          Im neither. Im just reminding some smart alecs who keep trying to peddle nonsense resale value excuses here, not to keep being stupid. And the same applies to you as well Kiasu. Likewise, the admins aren’t keen to listen to your outdated contraptions and childish arguements.

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 10 Thumb down 2
        • kiasu no kiasi on Aug 17, 2012 at 6:42 pm

          The whole car look like made of others KIA model salvaged parts, remind me of kimchee fried rice made of yesterday kimchee, bimbibab & buldogi.

          Well David boy perhaps u imagine your self as site admin here, why I don’t your crab statement in article where Toyota & Nissan been accused with all sort, selective prosecution ?

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 10
      • Vader on Aug 17, 2012 at 7:18 am

        pls do tell us which the fella is..
        1 year old car depreciate 50% then should be ~RM70k++.. i think it will sell as hot cake!!

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
      • Desmond on Aug 17, 2012 at 10:52 am

        I think the depreciation is worth. More equipments+better car. Car is for driving not to sell. So fast think to there liao meh? :D

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
      • dreaming of maserati on Aug 17, 2012 at 12:18 pm

        still better than the feller that bought the overpriced outdated crap fortuner and hailat every single month for 7 years paying massive installment to the bank for a stone age junk!
        he ask himself every time he deposits the cash: “why am i paying so much for this useless junk that cost a fortune but is outclassed, outperformed and outdated compared to the koreans?”

        the era of jap cars are already over….no doubt about it. only fools will continue to dream about resale value.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 1
  • Saab 93 - Hirsch Tuned on Aug 16, 2012 at 9:56 pm

    wait for 2013 Santa Fe, is awesome in my opinion

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • The one thing I like about Kia is the aggressive on your face style. But this… look too subdued for a Kia

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • it’s about time, the current Sorento’s ride is rock hard and very uncomfortable. and i don’t understand why KIA malaysia don’t want to bring in the diesel engine, the 2.4 liter petrol powering a heavy SUV is just not economical nor powerful enough.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 1
  • adamlee on Aug 17, 2012 at 1:36 am

    korea car new model like changing cloth every hours…this will change agsin cos the front look like current forte…but the new look k3 forte is comong soon…i think they will chande again the look…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • not the moron on Aug 17, 2012 at 2:10 am

    the rear reminds me of an audi q7

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Sam Loo on Aug 23, 2012 at 12:14 am

      This is the classic copy cat nature of Koreans. The thing about Korean Cars is that they will look deformed within 6 months

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 9
  • not the moron on Aug 17, 2012 at 2:53 am

    how come never compare to US also? currently US is the 12th biggest oil producing country in the world. And Malaysia is 27th. So how’s the price in US compared to Malaysia?

    And indonesia, our close neighbour, is the 20th biggest producer of oil in the world.. So hows the price of oil in indonesia compared to Malaysia.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • thequestion on Aug 17, 2012 at 6:02 am

    This look so tempting ! But I think I’ll wait for 2013 Santa Fe first

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • alldisc on Aug 17, 2012 at 9:13 am

    how come, naza dont bring in the 2.2 turbodiesel 2WD?

    i am not interested in the 2.4 petrol 2WD they are selling now. still suffering from the bad experience with the previous Sorento 2.5 AWD, is it?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • prebet on Aug 17, 2012 at 9:18 am

    sorry..new crv way better than this

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 3
  • 1000horses on Aug 17, 2012 at 10:38 am

    Danny, any chance diesel-R arriving our shores? Is our diesel compatible? Juz look at BMW n Pug, dare to launch their oil burners here even with lower tune n lesser power than overseas…we all dun mind if slightly less power n torque not 431nm even 400nm is amazing already…for example fd2r is not getting 225hp due to ron97 oso still a beast…
    Diesel is the future…modern oil burners are less polluting than petrol engines too….carmakers need to bring in more of these here and not be left behind..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
    • Danny Tan (Member) on Aug 17, 2012 at 11:05 am

      The Hyundai Santa Fe sold here has the R series diesel engine

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
      • 1000horses on Aug 17, 2012 at 3:00 pm

        Ah, tx for clarifying – my bad.
        So any issues w your santa fe so far?
        So kia n hyundai both share same engine eh…
        Wud b great to see tucson w 2.2R diesel…santa fe may b too bulky for some…

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • 1000horses on Aug 17, 2012 at 10:40 am

    Also understand paultan office got a santa fe diesel company car too?? It just shows that diesel is the choice of even top auto journalists coz they know its the best…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Sabahman on Aug 17, 2012 at 9:21 pm

    I drove one of these. Everything people say about bumpy ride is true. Apart from that the car is OK. But I would still rather have a CR-V for the brand and the resale value

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 6
  • The front end looks nicer on this newer model but the rear end I prefer the old one. If me, Peter should design something similar to the little sibling Kia Sportage rear end. That looks much better. The interior is top notch. I found this new one has less angular angles from previous model. So far the Kia Sorento including this model already had two facelift one for each year since introduction of this uni-body model. The most compare other Kia model design by Peter.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Floyd on Aug 22, 2012 at 9:07 pm

    They shrink the Sorento into Honda crv? That looks so narrow.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
    • Sam Loo on Aug 23, 2012 at 12:11 am

      You might want to compare the Kia Sorento with Chinese Makes like Great Wall. Smart people compare apples with apples

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 5
  • any news wether naza will bring the new model to malaysia soon?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • In my humble opinion, New Sorento is a nice car in term of interior design. Exterior, I like the front design. I tested drive it on highway and heard some noise at the back ( might be the rear tyre ). The steering is very responsive that if you turn it a bit to left or right, you can feel the car move to the direction where the steering goes. I really want to test it on hilly road, but didnt have chance. Actually, I intent to buy it , but still make calculation. I don,t care about resale value because car is not for making profit but making our pocket empty. So, buy and use it till it can’t be use ha3…. By looking at this car, the maintenace is not so much like old design car. For me, It is simple car actualy. Except for the electronic system. I have many experience with my pajero v34. Broke and i fix it by myself. I dont know perfomance of this car on hilly road, so anyone who has experience drive this car before especially on hilly condition please shere your experience. Thanks

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • Hi es, according to the kia salesman( sabah). The new sorento will be here in july next year.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • observer on Mar 03, 2016 at 11:52 pm

    i think korean car is better than japanese car in terms of safety and future and the price also. japanese car ae not safety as you can ask many mechanics that they will tell you that many japanese cars involved in accident took away the driver’s life ,whereas for korean car , drivers are safe.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
 

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