2024 Kia Sorento X-Pro aims for Kühl crowd

Kia has taken its latest shot at the Wilderness and TrailSport off-road adjacent crowd, but with the refreshed Sorento it paves its own way from REI to the trailhead.

The 2024 Kia Sorento X-Pro joins the lineup as the model’s range-topper at $48,765 including a $1,375 destination charge. It’s surprisingly luxurious, has more cooling and towing capability, and wears all-terrain tires. 

It looks the part, which in itself was a fight according to the team at Kia because engineers in Korea can’t understand American’s interest in going off pavement. God bless.

After spending a day on gravel roads in the slush and snow, it’s obvious the Sorento X-Pro’s mission is to coddle occupants while heading from the city to a ski weekend or day hike. Mission accomplished.

2024 Kia Sorento X-Pro huffs boost

As I flicked the drive mode knob left two clicks to Sport mode, the Sorento’s 8-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission dropped a gear and the 2.5-liter inline-4’s turbo suddenly went “whoosh.” As the turbo huffed I could hear the distinct intake noise as air was sucked into the 4-cylinder’s combustion chamber at a more rapid rate. This entire sequence made the Sorento’s momentum increase as the crossover climbed a mountain pass in Colorado’s Rocky Mountains  just outside Devil’s Thumb Ranch. Normal mode ensured the gearbox would upshift earlier for the sake of sipping less fuel, but nobody wants to climb a mountain pass as if they were in a slow Toyota 4Runner with miserable gear ratios like the guy we passed. 

Sport mode made quick work of uphill climbs in snow-capped mountains, but standard wheel-mounted plastic paddle shifters enabled further downshifts or manually-controlled upshifts with a quick flick. They work, but seem a bit unnecessary and out of place here.

The turbo-4’s strong powerband and quick kick of early torque at about 2,000 rpm made it feel stronger than the naturally-aspirated V-6 found in the Honda Passport. Strong and inoffensive, this turbocharged powertrain won’t offend in day-to-day cruising out to the mountain, will satisfy climbing to the slopes, but it won’t set anyone’s pulse racing upon passing maneuvers. 

Sorento X-Pro models receive an upgraded radiator design that provides extra cooling. This keeps the engine vitals in check for more strenuous activities such as mountain passes or when hauling a trailer. The extra cooling also translates to a tow rating of 4,500 pounds, which is an increase of 1,000 pounds over every other Sorento. Though, the midsize crossover SUV doesn’t get the larger Telluride’s trick self-leveling rear suspension system. In an odd bit of cheapness the most capable Sorento doesn’t come standard with a receiver for towing. That’ll be an extra $500 upon check out.

That 2.5-liter turbo-4 with 281 hp and 311 lb-ft of torque is the only engine option in the Sorento X-Pro, as the hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains won’t be offered in the soft-road trim. 

2024 Kia Sorento X-Pro can go off-pavement and lock it up

The Kia team told us to bring boots and fully expected there to be snow-covered graded gravel ranch roads on our route. I wore boots, there was snow, but not much. Most of the drive was on wet, hard packed gravel roads.

The X-Pro Sorento trim downsizes the X-Line’s 20-inch wheels for a set of 17-inch matte-black alloys wrapped in 235/65R17 BFGoodrich Trail Terrain all-terrain tires. With their knobby sidewalls the tires look the part. The taller sidewalls and large tread blocks softened the Sorento’s ride and absorbed impacts that would have otherwise translated to more jarring movements. Surprisingly that tread pattern didn’t translate to a whir on the highway. Subaru Wilderness and Honda Trailsport models all ride on all-terrain rubber, but their chosen tires aren’t as knobby and the tread blocks aren’t as large.

Ensuring the power doesn’t just spin the rubber on the ground is Kia’s all-wheel-drive system that features a killer app: a locking center differential. No competitor from Subaru or Honda has a mechanical locking differential that locks the torque split front to back. The system further uses the electronic stability control system and brake system to vector power side-to-side and limit wheel spin. It’s a clutch-based system engaged at the push of a button and can work at highway speeds in slick snow.

But as one journalist found out, should the Sorento plow through wet, thick, snow and get high-centered on its engine–the underside of which is exposed as the Sorento X-Pro has no skid plates–leaving the tires clawing for traction nowhere to be found. The locking center diff and brake-based vectoring was no use since the tires couldn’t make contact with the earth. Like every Sorento equipped with all-wheel drive, the X-Pro has 8.2 inches of ground clearance.

2024 Sorento gets boxier

The body sides didn’t change, but the front and rear both received noticeable updates. Up front the Sorento takes on a more squared-off and blunt look with amber day-time running lights outlining the now vertically-stacked LED headlights. The grille ditches the previous dogbone shape for a box similar to the larger Telluride. It’s a tougher overall look. The split LED taillights are now connected to be one piece on each side. The small change in plastics give the taillights a finished look instead of appearing to be afterthoughts carried over from prototypes. The design flourish on the C-pillar that The Car Connection editorial director Marty Padgett dubbed “the door tooth” lives on. I learned internally the Kia team refers to the flourish as “the shark fin.” Seems Padgett wasn’t far off.

2024 Sorento X-Pro aims upmarket

The X-Pro sits atop the 2024 Sorento lineup costing $1,000 more than the X-Line, both of which are SX-Prestige trim levels in Kia speak. This translates to an interior that is a full cut above the Honda Passport and Subaru Ascent. My teaster’s Olive Brown leather was soft, the dashboard and door panels were covered in soft-touch material, there was a distinct lack of cheap hard plastics previously found in the Sorento, and even the open pore “wood” that I was told was harvested from a petrochemical forest felt nice despite being fake. The two-tone leather-wrapped heated steering wheel looked “bougie” as my co-driver noted, and the low dashboard and high seating position provided a terrific view of the road.

Lower trim models make do with a 4.3-inch digital information display in the gauge cluster, but SX and above models feature a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster. That cluster twins with the 12.3-inch touchscreen used in every Sorento, and it’s housed under a single pane of curved glass. Unlike some Toyota vehicles, the digital cluster doesn’t get washed out in direct sunlight. Every Sorento sports wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto and the connection worked flawlessly, unlike in some Hondas. 

Sorentos continue to feature three rows of seating with the ability to haul six or seven passengers depending on whether the second row has the available captains chairs. The first two rows are spacious with plenty of knee-, leg-, and headroom. But at 189.4 inches long, which is 2.5 inches shorter than the two-row Chevrolet Blazer, the Sorento stuffs a fold-flat third row in the back. Being shoehorned into the third row wouldn’t be on my list of things to experience, but it suffices as an occasional pop-up kid zone when needed. There’s a scant 12.6 cubic feet of cargo space behind the third row, but the 50:50-split folding setup opens up to 40.5 cubic feet of space. Fold both the second and third rows and there’s 75.5 cubes.

2024 Sorento upgrades its safety tech

Every 2024 Sorento features automatic emergency braking front and rear, active lane control, blind-spot monitors, adaptive cruise control, and automatic high beams. An available surround-view camera system makes parking easier and blind-spot cameras that turn on when the turn signal is engaged is a ingenious safety feature removing blind spots, but parking sensors still aren’t standard. Notably Kia’s upgraded the Sorento’s active lane control system to include an auto lane change capability. While using adaptive cruise control and the Highway Drive Assist 2 system a tap of the blinker will automatically engage a lane change. The system requires at least one hand to be resting on the steering wheel, but in brief testing it did an impressive job keeping the Sorento centered between the lines on the highway.

To truly take on a Subaru Wilderness or Honda Trailsport model Kia would need to take the X-Pro one step further with skid plates and a bit more ground clearance, but the interior is nicer than any direct competitor while the price is larger as well. For those that live in areas that might tax the powertrain with mountain climbs, want a bit more towing capability, or just want a beefier appearance, the X-Pro justifies the extra $1,000 over the X-Line. The Sorento X-Pro won’t venture too deep into the wilderness, but where it does go it’ll be sure-footed enough with a sharp design and a lovely interior to boot.

Kia flew The Car Connection to Colorado to drive the Sorento X-Pro on some lightly snow-covered ranch roads.