Yes, that day has come, and the buyers in the South Korean have got their first official glimpse at the facelifted 2018 Kia Sorento UM. To those who do not know this is the mid-cycle refresh for the third-generation Sorento UM that has been around since 2014 and the good news is that the design doesn’t stray much from the original looks, but there is a lot of the latest features that have been added to it.
Kia Sorento Design
The first and biggest change you will notice are the full LED headlamps in a triple-barrel design in the top variant, while the DRL’s original “eyebrow” position has been moved under the main beams. The grille is changed as well, and now you will receive the scale-like inserts that are shinier and the fog lamps that now come with the company’s “ice cube” design. At the 2018 Kia Sorento UM rear end, you will notice that the tail lamps’ LED signature has been inverted and is now a lot more curvy with brake lights now being LED vertical stripes.
Kia made another design of the vehicle where you have three horizontal stripes. It is the case where you get what you pay for, right? The rear bumper has been redesigned as well, and now it has the tailpipes sticking out instead of being down turned in the previous gen. The overall outside design is nicely finished with big 19-inch chrome wheels that actually sit pretty nice.
2018 Kia Sorento Interior
Kia wanted to boost up the luxury in this one, and that is just what they managed to do. They added the heated steering wheel that now has a new design which features an unusual round “pouch” on top of the square center cover. The head unit is pretty much Hyundai-Kia’s latest tech that offers Android Auto and Apple Carplay. To amp up the niceness, Kia added a lot more areas that have piano black trim. The gear shifter is new as well, and together with the new wheel, it gives off a lot more premium feel than the one before.
Some of the interior features include heated/ventilated tan leather seats with quilted sides, front seats with electric extendable base and Qi wireless charging. Kia also added a powered tailgate with variable positions. The tech side of the 2018 Kia Sorento UM is impressive and comes packed with lane keeping assist, smart cruise control with forward collision assist, blind spot warning, dynamic bending lights, driver alert warning and a tire pressure monitoring system to wrap it all up.
Engine
Kia will offer three engine choices in S. Korea – a 2.0 L diesel that offers 186 HP and 402 lb-ft of torque, 2.2 L diesel with 202 HP and 441 pound feet of twist and a 2.0 T-GDI petrol unit with 240 HP and 353 lb-ft of torque. It is important to note that the two diesel burners are R series engines with E-VGT. Kia allowed the buyers to choose from front wheel drive or 4 wheel drive distribution.
2018 Kia Sorento Price
The 2018 Kia Sorento UM starts its pricing from 27,850,000 won which is around $24,783. Not cheap but, with the amount of luxury and tech inside, not extremely expensive SUV either. What do you think?
