Compare the2022 Chevrolet EquinoxVS 2020 Kia Sorento

Safety
Warranty
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Ergonomics
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the Chevrolet Equinox’s rear seat shoulder belts have child comfort guides to move the belt to properly fit children. A better fit can prevent injuries and the increased comfort also encourages children to buckle up. The Kia Sorento doesn’t offer comfort guides on its rear seat belts.

In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Equinox are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Sorento doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Equinox has standard OnStar®, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to get turn-by-turn driving directions, remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Sorento doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.

Both the Equinox and the Sorento have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive, blind spot warning systems, around view monitors and rear cross-path warning.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Chevrolet Equinox is safer than the Kia Sorento:

	Equinox	Sorento
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	159	235
Neck Injury Risk	17%	25%
Neck Stress	190 lbs.	209 lbs.
Neck Compression	10 lbs.	81 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Neck Injury Risk	26%	43%
Neck Stress	153 lbs.	179 lbs.
Neck Compression	51 lbs.	124 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Chevrolet Equinox is safer than the Kia Sorento:

	Equinox	Sorento
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Spine Acceleration	55 G’s	58 G’s
Hip Force	630 lbs.	818 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Spine Acceleration	40 G’s	45 G’s

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Warranty

The Equinox’s corrosion warranty is 1 year longer than the Sorento’s (6/100,000 vs. 5/100,000).

There are almost 4 times as many Chevrolet dealers as there are Kia dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Equinox’s warranty.

Engine

The Equinox’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 25 lbs.-ft. more torque (203 vs. 178) than the Sorento’s standard 2.4 DOHC 4-cylinder.

As tested in Motor Trend the Chevrolet Equinox is faster than the Kia Sorento 4 cyl.:

	Equinox	Sorento
Zero to 60 MPH	8.7 sec	9.1 sec
Quarter Mile	16.7 sec	16.9 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	83.1 MPH	82.7 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Equinox gets better fuel mileage than the Sorento:

			MPG
Equinox
	2WD	1.5 Turbo 4-cyl.	26 city/31 hwy
	4WD	1.5 Turbo 4-cyl.	25 city/30 hwy
Sorento
	2WD	2.4 DOHC 4-cyl.	22 city/29 hwy
		3.3 DOHC V6	19 city/26 hwy
	4WD	2.4 DOHC 4-cyl.	21 city/26 hwy
		3.3 DOHC V6	18 city/24 hwy

In heavy traffic or at stoplights the Equinox’s engine automatically turns off when the vehicle is stopped, saving fuel and reducing pollution. The engine is automatically restarted when the driver gets ready to move again. (Start/Stop isn’t accounted in present EPA fuel mileage tests.) The Sorento doesn’t offer an automatic engine start/stop system.

The Equinox has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Sorento doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Chevrolet Equinox higher (7 out of 10) than the Kia Sorento (5). This means the Equinox produces up to 8 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Sorento every 15,000 miles.

Brakes and Stopping

The Equinox stops much shorter than the Sorento:

	Equinox	Sorento
60 to 0 MPH	119 feet	130 feet	Motor Trend
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	141 feet	143 feet	Consumer Reports

Tires and Wheels

The Equinox’s optional tires provide better handling because they have a lower 50 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Sorento S/EX/SX’s 55 series tires.

The Equinox has a standard easy tire fill system. When inflating the tires, the vehicle’s integrated tire pressure sensors keep track of the pressure as the tires fill and tell the driver when the tires are inflated to the proper pressure. The Sorento doesn’t offer vehicle monitored tire inflation.

Suspension and Handling

The Equinox Premier handles at .83 G’s, while the Sorento LX pulls only .78 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Equinox Premier executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Sorento LX (27.7 seconds @ .61 average G’s vs. 28.4 seconds @ .59 average G’s).

For greater off-road capability the Equinox has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Sorento (7.9 vs. 7.3 inches), allowing the Equinox to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

Chassis

The Chevrolet Equinox may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 550 to 600 pounds less than the Kia Sorento.

The Equinox is 5.9 inches shorter than the Sorento, making the Equinox easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The front grille of the Equinox offers available electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Sorento doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The Equinox uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Sorento doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Passenger Space

The Equinox has .5 inches more front headroom and .5 inches more rear legroom than the Sorento.

Cargo Capacity

The Equinox has a much larger cargo volume than the Sorento with its rear seat up (29.9 vs. 11.3 cubic feet).

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the Equinox easier. The Equinox’s cargo hatch lift-over height is 28.6 inches, while the Sorento’s liftover is 29.9 inches.

Towing

The Equinox can be flat towed on all four wheels (dinghy towed), allowing recreational vehicle owners to bring it with them on the road. When they reach their destination, the Equinox can be unhitched and driven around locally. The Sorento can’t be towed flat on the ground.

Ergonomics

The Equinox’s instruments include an oil pressure gauge and a temperature gauge - which could save your engine! Often ‘idiot lights’ don’t warn you until damage has been done. The Sorento does not have an oil pressure gauge.

The Equinox’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Sorento’s parking brake has to released manually.

The Equinox’s front and rear power windows all lower with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside of the car. The Sorento’s standard power windows’ passenger windows don’t open automatically.

On a hot day the Equinox’s driver can lower all the windows from a distance using the keyless remote. The driver of the Sorento can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Equinox’s available exterior PIN entry system. The Sorento doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system.

While driving with high beams on, sensitive light sensors standard on the Equinox detect other vehicles which could be blinded and automatically switch to low beams. The Sorento doesn’t offer automatic dimming high beams.

The Equinox’s standard side window demisters help clear frost or condensation from the side windows in the winter. The Sorento doesn’t even offer side window demisters, so the driver may have to wipe the windows from the outside to gain side vision.

The Equinox Premier’s standard rear view mirror and side view mirrors have an automatic dimming feature. These mirrors can be set to automatically darken quickly when headlights shine on them, keeping following vehicles from blinding or distracting the driver. The Sorento offers an automatic rear view mirror, but its side mirrors don’t dim.

Both the Equinox and the Sorento offer available heated front seats. The Equinox Premier also offers optional heated rear seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated second row seats aren’t available in the Sorento.

On extremely cold winter days, the Equinox’s optional (except LS) heated steering wheel provides comfort, allowing the driver to steer safely and comfortably before the vehicle heater warms up. The Sorento doesn’t offer a heated steering wheel.

The Equinox LT/RS/Premier’s available GPS navigation system has a real-time traffic update feature that plots alternative routes to automatically bypass traffic problems. (Service not available in all areas.) The Sorento’s navigation system doesn’t offer real-time traffic updates.

The Equinox (except LS) offers an optional 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The Sorento doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

The Equinox Premier’s optional Automatic Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, with the driver only controlling speed with the brake pedal. The Sorento doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Economic Advantages

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Equinox is less expensive to operate than the Sorento because typical repairs cost much less on the Equinox than the Sorento, including $54 less for front struts and $212 less for a power steering pump.

IntelliChoice estimates that five-year ownership costs (depreciation, financing, insurance, fuel, fees, repairs and maintenance) for the Chevrolet Equinox will be $276 to $2255 less than for the Kia Sorento.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Chevrolet Equinox and the Kia Sorento, based on reliability, safety and performance.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Equinox second among compact suvs in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The Sorento isn’t in the top three in its category.