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Kia Sorento


Infiniti Q30

Summary

Kia Sorento

We’re comparing the Kia Sorento Hybrid in the highest spec GT-Line grade and the Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid in the range-topping Calligraphy spec. Two SUVs so similar they’re pretty much the same, just wearing different clothes.

But there are a couple of crucial differences that might be deal breakers for you when it comes to choosing one over the other. But first, let me give you a bit of background.

The Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia Sorento are direct rivals, but in a sibling rivalry sense as well because both brands are related through a parent company which allows them to share engines and technology, even standard features like stereos and touchscreens.

So, what you’re really looking at is the best SUVs Hyundai and Kia could independently develop using pretty much the same parts.

The Sorento was updated this year with new tech, improved suspension and some cosmetic changes to keep it looking new.

Thing is, the Santa Fe hybrid in this comparison is the all-new, latest generation version that brings with it a more modern design inside and out and even some safety equipment the Sorento doesn’t have.

And at this point, I'm duty-bound to tell you the Santa Fe has airbags completely covering the third row while the Sorento doesn’t. Didn’t want to bury such vital information further down in the review in case you don't get that far.

Well, with that… let’s get into it. 

Safety rating
Engine Type1.6L turbo
Fuel Type
Fuel Efficiency5.6L/100km
Seating6 seats

Infiniti Q30

Welcome to the future - where your Mercedes-Benz is a Nissan and your Nissan is a Mercedes-Benz. 

Lost already? Let me catch you up. Infiniti is the premium arm of Nissan, in much the same way Lexus is the premium arm of Toyota, and the Q30 is Infiniti’s hatchback. 

Thanks to the state of various global manufacturing alliances the Q30 is mechanically, largely a previous-generation Mercedes-Benz A-Class, with a similar arrangement seeing the new Mercedes-Benz X-Class ute comprised largely of Nissan Navara underpinnings.

Recently, the Q30 has had its range of variants trimmed from a confusing five down to two, and the one we’re testing here is the top-spec Sport.

Make sense? I hope so. The Q30 Sport joined me on an 800km trip along the east coast in the height of summer. So, can it make the most of its German/Japanese roots? Read on to find out.

Safety rating
Engine Type2.0L turbo
Fuel TypePremium Unleaded Petrol
Fuel Efficiency6.3L/100km
Seating5 seats

Verdict

Kia Sorento/10

The Hyundai Santa Fe Calligraphy Hybrid and Kia Sorento GT-Line Hybrid are both good value for money, plush, practical and super fuel efficient.

The Santa Fe, however, presents a more compelling case based on its third-row airbag coverage, clever storage and how easy it is to drive.

 Santa Fe Hybrid CalligraphySorento Hybrid GT-Line
Price and features99
Design88
Practicality97
Under the bonnet88
Efficiency99
Driving98
Safety98
Ownership88
Total Score8.68.1

Infiniti Q306.9/10

The Q30 Sport is a left-field choice in the premium hatch segment. For those who don’t care about badge equity and are looking for something different, the Q30 provides maybe 70 per cent the feel of its well-established competition while offering decent value courtesy of standard safety and spec inclusions.

The biggest letdown is how much better it could be with just a little extra in every department. Even in this top-spec the drive experience is a bit generic, and it’s missing an up-to-date multimedia experience limiting its appeal to a younger audience.

Even with its promising mixed heritage, the Q30 hardly feels more than the sum of its parts.

Is the Q30 Sport different enough that you’d consider it over its premium hatch rivals? Tell us what you think in the comments below.

Design

Kia Sorento

The Santa Fe and Sorento’s standard features are almost identical but these two SUVs couldn’t be more different in their designs.

The Santa Fe is the newer of the two and this fifth-generation model only arrived in Australia this year, so its boxy styling is more on-trend than the Sorento's design which is a little more rounded.

The Santa Fe’s more blocky build looks good to my eyes but more than a few in the CarsGuide office think the 2015 Land Rover Discovery must have been an inspiration, or perhaps it's just a coincidence.

In Hyundai’s defence the rear of the Santa Fe looks nothing like a Land Rover. Its design with the low placed tail-lights and bloated tailgate looks more awkward than me attempting to high-five someone. Apparently if you look at their elbow it helps. High-fiving that is, not the design of the Santa Fe.

This current-generation Sorento arrived in Australia in 2020 and while an update earlier this year added a few cosmetic styling tweaks to try to keep it looking fresh, I think it's a tough looking, handsome SUV even if the smoother, more rounded design is starting to date.

The LED daytime running lights on both cars are distinctive. The Sorento’s, which skirt the bonnet edge before dropping down the side of the headlights, is a Kia design signature seen across its line-up from the tiny Picanto to the EV9 electric SUV.

The Santa Fe’s  'H' design is unique to Hyundai, a theme that’s mirrored in its tail-lights. The Sorento’s Ford Mustang-style tail-lights look good, but could do with an update. 

The interiors are just as different as the exteriors with the Santa Fe’s cabin looking more modern and luxurious in its design with some quirky styling touches (Morse Code dots on the steering wheel anybody?) while the Sorento has a sporty and plush but more conservative look and feel.

These are large SUVs with almost matching dimensions. As you can see in the table below the Santa Fe is only slightly taller and longer than the Sorento.

 Santa Fe Hybrid CalligraphySorento Hybrid GT-Line
Score88

 


Infiniti Q307/10

The Q30 drew more than just looks for its badge. It genuinely looks like a concept car from a motor show stand. Not the paper mache Mars rover early prototype kind, more like the six-months-before-production kind.

It’s all swoopy with curves cutting all down the sides, and Infiniti has done a good job imprinting the brand’s signature design queues – like the chrome-framed grille and notched C-pillar - on the front and rear three-quarter views.

It’s genuinely hard to tell it shares major componentry with the last-gen (W176) A-Class from the outside and I’d place the overall look somewhere between Mazda and Lexus’ design languages for better or worse.

While the front is swoopy and resolved the rear is a bit busy with lines everywhere and bits of chrome and black trim all over the place. The tapered roofline and high bumpers set it apart from your regular hatchback fare. 

It might grab the eye for the wrong reasons, but it certainly gives the Q30 a slick look when viewed in profile. I wouldn’t call it a bad looking car, but it is divisive and will appeal only to certain tastes.

Inside is simple and plush. Perhaps a little too simple when compared with the new (W177) A-Class with its entirely digital dashboard or the 1 Series with its M bits. One could even argue the Audi A3 has done ‘simplicity’ better.

The seats are nice in the two-tone white-on-black trim and the Alcantara roof is a premium touch, but the rest of the dash is a bit too basic and dated. There’s a smattering of buttons down the centre stack which are replaced with more intuitive touchscreen functions on most rivals, and the 7.0-inch touchscreen looks small, distantly embedded in the dash.

The materials are all nice to the touch, with most important touch-points clad in leather, but it also feels a little claustrophobic, with the abundance of dark trim, thick roof pillars and a low roof-line, especially in the back seat. The switchgear, which is mostly dropped straight out of a Benz A-Class, feels good.

Practicality

Kia Sorento

Not all SUVs are created with equal practicality and even though the Santa Fe and Sorento are much the same in many ways one of these vehicles is more spacious, has better storage and a bigger boot. Oh, and it has two wireless phone chargers, not one.

Yes, it’s the Santa Fe. Not just the more practical one because it’s shaped like a box, although that does have something to do with it. What makes the Santa Fe so much more practical is the interior design with storage more of a priority.

Look at the area under the centre console - there’s a tray big enough for a backpack or handbag. And above it are the two wireless phone chargers, USB ports and cupholders.

There’s the glove box, of course, but above that is a shelf with a grippy surface for keys or wallets and purses. And above that is one of the weirdest contraptions I’ve seen not just in a car, but anywhere - a sterilisation compartment.

It looks like another glove box but it’s actually a space to put anything you want decontaminated - freed from bacteria and germs using UV-C radiation. Stop looking at me like that, I’m serious.

You put your phone in, shut the door, press the UV-C button on the dashboard and 10 minutes later - bing! - your phone is sanitised. Have a look at the video we've made if you still don’t believe me.

The second row of the Santa Fe has excellent legroom, even for me at 189cm tall, and good headroom, too.

For storage, I love the way the centre console box between the driver and front passenger can also be opened from the back by the second row passengers. And below that is a long, deep drawer.

The second row also has door pockets, cupholders and directional air vents, plus USB ports in the sides of the front seats.

Third row seats in SUVs are never the most accommodating for someone my height, but the Santa Fe’s offer good leg and headroom for children. There’s also a USB port on either side along with air vents with fan control and cupholders.

Worth noting the Santa Fe’s large and tall rear doors made putting our toddler into her car seat easier than in the Sorento with its more angular aperture.

The Santa Fe and Sorento have dark-tinted privacy glass for the rear windows and pull-up sunshades.

The six-seat option for the Santa Fe reduces this SUV’s practicality in a couple of ways. Obviously, you lose the capability of carrying seven people, but not being able to have a middle section to slide across to the other side or even just place items on is a problem.

A hire car company might prefer the six-seat option, but if you have a family the seven-seater is the way to go. Not only does it cost less, it's more practical. 

The Sorento is by no means impractical, but compared to the Santa Fe there are fewer storage areas in what feels a more compact cabin.

Up front in the Sorento there’s a wireless phone charger forward of the shifter but it’s in a small hidey hole which makes retrieving the phone tricky.

There are USB ports there, too, as well as cupholders and big door pockets. You won’t find a floating centre console with storage underneath as in the Santa Fe, or shelves and there's no sign of a sterilisation compartment.  

In the second row the Sorento has little buckets in the doors, bottle holders and more cupholders in the centre folding armrest. USB ports are in the sides of the front seats along with power adjustment controls.

There’s good legroom and headroom in the second row,  and directional air vents in the rear of the centre console.

The third row is on the cramped side for me, but most third rows are and they’re really for kids. My eight-year old son wanted me to let you know the windows for back seats in the Sorento are tiny, while the Santa Fe has much larger windows. There are still storage wells, USB ports and fan controls with air vents, though.

The Santa Fe and Sorento both have small cargo capacities when the third row is in place but there's enough space for one carry-on luggage-sized suitcase. With the third-row seats folded flat the Sorento has a volume of 608 litres while the Santa Fe is slightly larger at 628 litres. 

 Santa Fe Hybrid CalligraphySorento Hybrid GT-Line
Score97

Infiniti Q306/10

Infiniti calls the Q30 a “crossover” rather than a hatchback and this is best reflected through its pumped ride height. Rather than hugging the ground like the A-Class or 1 Series, the Q30 sits propped up, almost like a small SUV.

There’s also the QX30 which is an even more pumped version of this car complete with plastic guards in the vein of Subaru’s XV. The QX30 is also your only way to all-wheel drive now that the Q30 is front-wheel drive only. 

While the extra ride height means you won’t have to worry about scraping expensive body panels on speedbumps or steep ramps you won’t be wanting to get too brave off the tarmac.

Interior space is fine for front passengers with plenty of arm and legroom, but back seat passengers are left with a small, dark space which feels especially claustrophobic. Headroom is not great no matter which seat you’re in. In the front seat I could almost rest my head on the sun-visor (I’m 182cm tall) and the back seat was not much better.

Rear passengers do score nice seat trim and two air-conditioning vents though, so they haven’t totally been forgotten.

There’s average amounts of storage up front and in the back, with small bottle holders in each of the four doors, two on the transmission tunnel and a tiny trench – useful for keys maybe – in front of the air-conditioning controls.

Even the centre console box is shallow, despite a large opening. Once I had collected enough loose objects on my trip I started to run out of room for things in the cabin.

There are nettings on the back of the front seats and an odd extra one on the passenger’s side of the transmission tunnel.

Power outlets come in the form of a single USB port in the dash and a 12-volt outlet in the centre box.

The boot is a much better story despite the swoopy roofline with 430 litres of space available. That’s bigger than the A-Class (370L), 1 Series (360L), A3 (380L) and CT200h (375L). Needless to say, it ate up two large duffle bags and some extra items we brought with us for our week-long trip.

This is due to its impressive depth, but it does come at a cost. The Q30 only has the sound system’s base and an inflator kit under the boot floor. There’s no spare for long distance trips.

One irritation I have to mention is the shift-lever, which was annoying in its tilt-shift operation. Often when trying to change to drive from reverse or vice versa it would get stuck in neutral. Sometimes I wonder what’s wrong with a shifter which locks in position…

Price and features

Kia Sorento

We tested the top-of-the-range Hyundai Santa Fe Hybrid here. It’s the Calligraphy grade with all-wheel drive and although it comes standard with seven seats you can also option it with six (as per our test car) and this means the bench seat in the second row is replaced by two 'captains chairs' for a more luxurious feel.

The list price for the Santa Fe Hybrid Calligraphy all-wheel drive is $75,000 and $500 for the six-seat option, so the MSRP comes out as $75,500.  

The Kia Sorento Hybrid we tested was also the fancy one in the range. It’s the GT-Line and also all-wheel drive with a list price of $73,330.

As well as sharing a lot of the same engineering these SUVs have nearly identical standard features lists.

Standard on the Sorento GT-Line Hybrid and Santa Fe Calligraphy Hybrid are LED headlights and LED running lights, roof rails, proximity unlocking, privacy glass, rear side window sun blinds and split-style sunroofs.

Both cabins feature Nappa leather upholstery, the front seats are heated and ventilated, while the second-row outboard seats are heated. There’s dual-zone climate control, too.

You’ll find the same curved, double 12.3-inch displays for media and instruments in each, as well as head-up displays. There’s sat nav, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio and both have 12-speaker Bose sound systems. 

Both feature wireless phone charging but only the Santa Fe can charge two phones wirelessly at the same time. The Santa Fe also has a sterilisation compartment. Sounds weird and is weird… I’ll show you how it works in the practicality section.

 Santa Fe Hybrid CalligraphySorento Hybrid GT-Line
Score99

 


Infiniti Q307/10

If you’re shopping in this segment, there’s a good chance you’re not looking for a bargain buy, but the Q30 shines in some areas its competition doesn’t.

A promising start is the complete lack of a lengthy and expensive options list with items which should be standard. In fact, apart from a reasonable set of accessories and the $1200 premium 'Majestic White' paint, the Q30 has no options in the traditional sense.

The base Q30 scores 18-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights with high-beam assist, heated leather seats, flat-bottomed leather steering wheel, leather trim on the doors and dash, Alcantara (synthetic suede) roof-lining and a 7.0-inch multimedia touchscreen supporting DAB+ digital radio and built-in navigation.

Our Sport adds a 10-speaker Bose audio system (which could have been better…) dual-zone climate control, a fixed panoramic sunroof, fully-electric front seats and Nissan’s 360-degree ‘around view monitoring’ parking suite.

It might have premium aspirations, but value-wise Q30 is still specified like a Nissan.

The standard safety suite is also reasonably impressive, and you can read more about it in the safety section of this review.

Our Q30 Sport comes in at a total of $46,888 (MSRP) which is still premium money. The price pits it against the BMW 120i M-Sport (eight-speed auto, $46,990), Mercedes-Benz A200 (seven-speed DCT, $47,200) and fellow Japanese premium hatch act - the Lexus CT200h F-Sport (CVT, $50,400).

Herein lies the Q30’s biggest problem. Brand recognition. Everybody knows the BMW and Benz hatches by virtue of their badges alone and the Lexus CT200h is known by those who care about it.

Even without the extensive options list, it makes the price of entry against such established competition tough. While you might see a couple of them around Sydney, the Q30 is a relatively rare sight which garnered more than a few quizzical looks in the towns of NSW’s mid-north coast.

The standard spec is also missing the all-important Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. It rendered the 7.0-inch multimedia screen clumsy and largely useless, although the old-fashioned built-in nav gives peace-of-mind when you’re out of phone reception range.

If you have an Apple phone you can make use of the iPod music playback feature via the USB port.

Under the bonnet

Kia Sorento

The Santa Fe hybrid and Sorento hybrid share very similar drivetrains - they both have a four-cylinder petrol engine paired with an electric motor and a six-speed automatic transmission with all-wheel drive.

While the drivetrains are virtually identical (because both companies share engines, transmissions, motors and other engineering technology) Hyundai says the hybrid system in the Santa Fe is a generation ahead of the Sorento's.

Hyundai claims its set-up produces more power and torque, but we felt no noticeable difference in the outputs when we drove them back-to-back. You can see all the output figures in the table below.

These hybrids are also not plug-in hybrids - they will recharge through regenerative braking, which means you don’t have to worry about charging - it’ll do it for you automatically. It’s the easiest kind of hybrid to live with.

So, how much fuel will you use? Let’s talk about that.

 Santa Fe Hybrid CalligraphySorento Hybrid GT-Line
Score88

 


Infiniti Q307/10

For 2019 the Q30 has had its list of engines trimmed from three to just one. The diesel and smaller 1.6-litre petrol engines have been culled, leaving a 2.0-litre petrol.

Thankfully, it’s a strong unit producing a once-V6-range 155kW/350Nm across a wide band from 1200-4000rpm.

It feels responsive and isn’t let down by a slick-shifting seven-speed dual clutch automatic transmission.

The new-generation A-Class equivalent, even in 2.0-litre A250 guise produces less torque with outputs of 165kW/250Nm, so for the money the Infiniti scores a solid serving of extra punch.

Efficiency

Kia Sorento

We take testing the manufacturer’s fuel efficiency claims seriously and don't take their word for it.

We filled the fuel tanks of the Sorento and Santa Fe with the recommended 91 RON petrol, then set out on a 100km test covering city and urban traffic, motorways and country roads to approximate the combination of conditions an owner would encounter. We then measured the amount of fuel used over the distance to calculate the fuel consumption.

As you can see from the tables below we achieved better results than the manufacturer claims and both of these hybrid SUVs use almost exactly the same amount of fuel. These are large SUVs consuming about 5.0L/100km. That’s outstanding fuel economy. 

Not having to plug these kinds of hybrids into an external power source to charge makes them very easy to use. There’s nothing to do, they charge automatically and after a while you’ll just forget it's a hybrid.

 Santa Fe Hybrid CalligraphySorento Hybrid GT-Line
Score99

Infiniti Q306/10

Over my week-long test the Q30 returned a figure of 9.0L/100km. I was a little disappointed with this figure given much of the distance covered was cruising at freeway speeds. 

It’s made worse when you pitch it against the claimed/combined figure of 6.3L/100km (not sure how you could achieve that…) and the fact that I left the irritating stop-start system on for much of the time.

For a leader in the luxury hatch class consider the Lexus CT200h which makes full use of Toyota’s hybrid drive and pitches a fuel consumption figure of 4.4L/100km.

The Q30 has a 56-litre fuel tank and takes a minimum of 95 RON premium unleaded.

Driving

Kia Sorento

You’d imagine these two closely-related SUVs with the same engines, same vehicle platform and same standard features would drive the same.

They don’t. We drove them back-to-back for two days on motorways at 110km/h, course-chip country roads and even at walking pace around car parks. 

Both are extremely comfortable and composed across every type of road condition. The Sorento, however, has better handling for a sportier drive while the Santa Fe has a ‘floatier’ feel for a more luxurious experience. 

An interesting fact for you is that Kia has a local engineering team which tests and develops the Sorento’s suspension for Australian conditions, constantly improving the ride and handling.

The latest retuning was done for this version of the Sorento which was updated this year. 

Hyundai also had a local engineering team but doesn’t anymore. Instead, the local subsidiary is most often given a choice of suspension tunes used in other markets in the hope it will work well on Australian roads. The Santa Fe has a 'global' tune.

The hybrid powertrains feel equally matched despite the Hyundai’s slightly higher combined output. Neither feels underpowered and for regular duties they perform well with a smooth transition from motor to engine that only becomes noticeable on hills where electric power isn't enough and petrol has to come to the rescue with a relatively abrupt shove.

If you’re after a sporty experience the Sorento is for you, but I found the Santa Fe’s higher driving position, light steering, more luxurious ride and better visibility through larger windows makes for an easier SUV to drive day in and day out. 

 Santa Fe Hybrid CalligraphySorento Hybrid GT-Line
Score98

Infiniti Q307/10

Thanks to its shared underpinnings with the A-Class the Q30 Sport drives largely like you would expect a premium hatch to drive. It’s just lacking a bit of character.

The engine is responsive, the transmission is fast and the availability of peak torque from just 1200rpm will lead to spinning the front wheels if caution is not applied. Power is no real issue.

Although Infiniti says it has tuned the Q30 in Japan and Europe, the ride has an undeniably Germanic flavour. It doesn’t feel quite as tight as the A-Class or 1 Series but it doesn’t feel as soft as the CT200h, so it strikes a decent balance.

The Q30 uses MacPherson strut suspension in the front and multi-link at the rear, more suited to a premium car than the torsion bar rear on the new Benz A 200.

The wheel has a nice amount of feedback, and thankfully doesn’t use the larger Q50’s strange ‘Direct Adaptive Steering’ which has no mechanical connection between the driver and the road.

If you’ve driven a decently-specified A-Class before the drive experience will feel familiar. The added ride height seems to remove a bit of feel from the corners, however.

There’s also the inclusion of three drive modes – Economy, Sport and Manual. Economy mode seems to be the default with Sport simply holding gears for longer. Steering-wheel mounted paddle-shifters could be used to mill through the seven gears in 'Manual' mode, although this didn’t add much to the experience.

The addition of active cruise control and adaptive high beams proved to be fantastic for reducing fatigue on long highway stints during the night, but the lack of a padded surface on the inside of the transmission tunnel proved uncomfortable for the driver’s knee on longer trips.

I persisted with the stop-start system to test it, but it proved slow and irritating. Under normal circumstances it would be the first thing I’d turn off.

Visibility was also a bit limited out the rear three quarter courtesy of the low, swoopy C-pillars.

Safety

Kia Sorento

At the start of this review I pointed out some crucial safety information about these SUVs. This new-gen Santa Fe has side curtain airbags which fully cover the occupants in the third row, while the Sorento does not.

For many parents, including me, that could be a deal breaker especially if that's all that separates these two similar SUVs.

Still, the Sorento is a very safe vehicle and scored the maximum five-star ANCAP assessment in 2020. The Santa Fe is still so new that its ANCAP rating isn’t in yet, but there’s nothing to suggest it wouldn’t score five stars, too. 

Both SUVs have a large amount of advanced safety technology including AEB which can detect pedestrians, cyclists and other cars, lane keeping assistance, blind-spot warning and rear cross-traffic alert with braking.

For child seats both cars have two ISOFIX points in the second row and two in the third. There are also top tether anchor points for each of the seats in the second and third rows.

Both provide full-sized alloy wheels located under the vehicle.

 Santa Fe Hybrid CalligraphySorento Hybrid GT-Line
Score98

Infiniti Q307/10

The Q30 scores some decent active safety goodies alongside the usual refinements. Active safety items include auto emergency braking (AEB) with forward collision warning, blind spot monitoring (BSM), lane departure warning (LDW) and active cruise control.

There’s also Nissan’s signature ‘Around View Monitor’ 360-degree reversing camera which sounds more useful than it is. Thankfully there is also a standard reversing camera.

The Q30 carries a maximum five-star ANCAP safety rating as of 2015 but has not been tested to the more demanding 2019 standards.

The rear seats also benefit from two sets of ISOFIX child seat mounting points

As previously mentioned, there’s no spare wheel in the Q30 Sport, so best of luck with the inflator kit if you end up with a flat in the outback.

Ownership

Kia Sorento

The Sorento is covered by Kia’s seven-year, unlimited km warranty. Servicing is annual or every 15,000km and over five years the cost averages out to be about $500 per year.

The Santa Fe has Hyundai’s five year, unlimited km warranty and services are recommended annually or every 10,000km, Service cost also averages around $500 each year over five years.

 Santa Fe Hybrid CalligraphySorento Hybrid GT-Line
Score88

Infiniti Q308/10

As with all Infiniti products, the Q30 is covered by a four-year/100,000km warranty and a three-year service program can be purchased with the car. Pricing was not available for the 2019 Q30 model year at the time of writing, but its 2.0-litre turbo predecessor averaged $540 per service once a year or every 25,000km.

Credit where credit is due, the Q30 edges out the European competition by a year of warranty length and general service pricing. This market segment is still wide open for a manufacturer to take the lead offering five or more years of warranty coverage.