A Fuel-Efficient SUV?

Mention the car brand "Kia" and people will immediately think of small, low-cost, fuel efficient cars like the Pride and the Picanto. However, when you mention "diesel-powered sport utility vehicle", a lot of people cannot associate this vehicle segment with the Korean car manufacturer. Well, not immediately anyway.

When Columbian Autocar Corporation (CAC) introduced the Kia Sorento to the Philippine market, buyers did not immediately warm up to it. Despite the stylish exterior that approximates the look of a European sport activity vehicle (oh, you know what that is), a luxuriously comfortable interior and a lively V6 gasoline engine, people were skeptical about it. Many were oblivious to the fact that the Sorento has won many international awards, including the maximum "5-Star" rating in the UK’s annual JD Power and Associates Customer Satisfaction Index Survey and that the Sorento was Kia’s third global sales leader with more than 121,000 units delivered in 2005 to customers worldwide.

Diesel Lovers

Fortunately, CAC recognized the fact that the Philippine SUV market is biased towards diesel-powered models and introduced the Kia Sorento CRDi Diesel in the middle of last year. It was also quite timely, because a few months after, the world fuel prices started skyrocketing thanks to the increased fuel consumption in China and India and the OPEC’s decision to curb their production output, not to mention our country’s pathetic inability to produce oil despite the numerous geological and geomantic surveys that says were are sitting on top of a gold, er…oil mine.

Unfortunately, diesel prices also skyrocketed because of our heavy dependence on it to power our unregulated jeepneys, FX taxis and buses as well as those "emergency" diesel-fed power plants that are being used even without the emergency. Car buyers suddenly found the difference between gasoline and diesel prices so small that it would be better to get a fuel-efficient subcompact gasoline-powered car that costs a lot less than a diesel-fed SUV and pocket the difference for future fuel purchases.

But what if you want more room and more torque to haul your family and your stuff around? What if you want a more commanding presence on the road? Certainly, small subcompact cars cannot provide you with those. There are times only an SUV will do, and in times like these, only a diesel-powered SUV will do and the Kia Sorento CRDi Diesel is one of the better choices.

Living up to the hype

The Kia Sorento CRDi Diesel is powered by a 2497cc inline 4-cylinder diesel engine equipped with a Common Rail Direct Injection (CRDi) fuel management system and a turbo charger and intercooler to boost its horsepower rating. This engine delivers a maximum power output of 140PS at a low 3800rpm and a torque rating of 320Nm at 2000rpm while complying with Euro III exhaust emissions standards. Power is transferred to a 5-speed automatic transmission with High Intelligence Vehicle Electronic Control (HIVEC) and Adaptive Sequential Shifting that ensures smooth, seamless shifting even when that abundant torque tries to induce "shift-shock" when you mash the throttle pedal.

Power is then delivered to a part-time four-wheel-drive system that you can select with a rotary switch on the dash. Handsome 5-spoke 16-inch alloy wheels shod in fat 225/75R16 tires (245/70R16 for high-grade EX models) connect the power to the ground while front wishbones and rear multilink suspension manage the road undulations. Front and rear ventilated disc brakes stop this 2610kg Korean SUV with alacrity and confidence.

These features ensure that the Kia Sorento CRDi Diesel lives up to its SUV hype. But does it live up to its Kia image of being a fuel-efficient vehicle? We borrowed one to find out.

Andre Agassi drove a V6 while we drove a diesel

We called Chut Velasquez, CAC Manager for Dealer Operations and Advertising and Promotions and asked for a week-long test drive of a Sorento CRDi Diesel. Columbian’s chief operating officer Felix Mabilog, Jr. approved our request and sent us a two-tone Ivy Green and Biege model that they use for media and customer test drives. And being the nice guys that they really are, they even filled the 80-liter fuel tank. But we filled it further to the brim, just to make sure we get an accurate full-tank-to-full-tank reading during our economy test drive.

With the vehicle secured, we planned a 300-kilometer route that had a mix of city traffic and highway cruising. To make our economy drive as real as possible, we loaded it with five passengers and some stuff and turned the A/C on. After all, who drives an SUV with their windows open nowadays? We also measured about 100 kilometers before we added diesel fuel up to the filler neck and divided the distance by the amount of fuel we loaded to get an informal estimate of our fuel mileage.

Testing, Testing

On our first test in city traffic, we got a bit enthusiastic with our driving because the 2.5-liter diesel engine urges you to press it, not to mention racing and leaving those pesky small-SUV owners who think that by adding bling-bling wheels will make their vehicle go faster. Driving briskly only to get stuck in traffic and idle needlessly for hours netted us 7.81 kilometers per liter after we needed 12.93 liters to fill the tank after 101km.

Driven with more maturity and civility, our Sorento CRDi Diesel gulped down only 9.33 liters after 103 kilometers of driving, which improved its fuel economy to 11.03 kilometers per liter. However, driving intelligently, avoiding traffic and lessening the load (by removing some of the unimportant stuff at the cargo bay) netted us an eye-popping 14.98 kilometers per liter after another 102 kilometers of driving required only 6.81 liters of diesel fuel. Imagine, 15 kilometers to a liter in a real world, engine-and-A/C-always-on actual drive with your family in a Korean-made SUV.

Thus, if you’d really like to get a fuel-efficient vehicle but you cannot fit your family and their stuff into a small fuel-efficient car, you can still opt for an SUV. Make it a diesel-fed one because diesel fuel is denser than gasoline and carries more energy by weight. Make it mid-sized because a full-size SUV only occupies more space than you’ll ever really need. And while you’re at it, make it a Kia Sorento CRDi Diesel.