Compare the2022 GMC AcadiaVS 2021 Kia Sorento

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Transmission
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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The Acadia Denali’s optional pre-crash front seatbelts will tighten automatically in the event the vehicle detects an impending crash, improving protection against injury significantly. The Sorento doesn’t offer pre-crash pretensioners.

For enhanced safety, the front shoulder belts of the GMC Acadia are height-adjustable, and the middle 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 middle seat belts.

The Acadia has a standard front seat center airbag, which deploys between the driver and front passenger, protecting them from injuries caused by striking each other in serious side impacts. The Sorento doesn’t offer front seat center airbags.

The Acadia has a standard blind spot warning system which uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. Only the Sorento S/EX/SX/Prestige/X-Line offers a blind spot warning system.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Acadia has a standard cross-path warning system, which uses sensors in the rear bumper to alert the driver to vehicles approaching from the side, helping the driver avoid collisions. Only the Sorento S/EX/SX/Prestige/X-Line has a cross-path warning system.

Both the Acadia and the Sorento have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

For its top level performance in all IIHS frontal, side, rear impact and roof-crush tests, and with its optional front crash prevention system, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Acadia the rating of “Top Pick” for 2017, a rating granted to only 213 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Sorento has not been tested, yet.

Warranty

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

There are over 2 times as many GMC dealers as there are Kia dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Acadia’s warranty.

Reliability

To reliably power the ignition and other systems and to recharge the battery, the Acadia has a standard 220-amp alternator (155-amp - Acadia V6 and 170 V6). The Sorento’s 150-amp alternator isn’t as powerful.

Engine

The Acadia’s standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 37 more horsepower (228 vs. 191) and 77 lbs.-ft. more torque (258 vs. 181) than the Sorento 2.5’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder. The Acadia’s optional 3.6 DOHC V6 produces 29 more horsepower (310 vs. 281) than the Sorento 2.5T’s standard 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Acadia AWD 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder gets better fuel mileage than the Sorento 2.5 AWD 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder (22 city/27 hwy vs. 23 city/25 hwy).

An engine control system that can shut down some of the engine’s cylinders helps improve the Acadia’s fuel efficiency. The Sorento doesn’t offer a system that can shut down part of the engine.

Regenerative brakes improve the Acadia 2.0 Turbo’s fuel efficiency by converting inertia back into energy instead of wasting it. The Sorento doesn’t offer a regenerative braking system.

The Acadia FWD’s standard fuel tank has 1.7 gallons more fuel capacity than the Sorento (19.4 vs. 17.7 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups. The Acadia AWD’s standard fuel tank has 4 gallons more fuel capacity than the Sorento (21.7 vs. 17.7 gallons).

The Acadia 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.

Transmission

A nine-speed automatic is standard on the GMC Acadia, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only an eight-speed automatic is available for the Sorento.

Brakes and Stopping

The Acadia’s standard front and rear disc brakes are vented to help dissipate heat for shorter stops with less fading. The rear discs on the Sorento are solid, not vented.

Tires and Wheels

The GMC Acadia’s wheels have 6 lugs for longer wheel bearing life, less chance of rotor warping and greater strength. The Kia Sorento only has 5 wheel lugs per wheel.

The Acadia 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 Acadia offers an available driver-adjustable suspension system. It allows the driver to choose between an extra-supple ride, reducing fatigue on long trips, or a sport setting, which allows maximum control for tricky roads or off-road. The Sorento’s suspension doesn’t offer adjustable shock absorbers.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Acadia’s wheelbase is 1.7 inches longer than on the Sorento (112.5 inches vs. 110.8 inches).

Chassis

The front grille of the Acadia FWD 4 cyl. uses 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 Acadia 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 Acadia has 38.5 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Sorento (143.8 vs. 105.3).

The Acadia has .1 inches more front hip room, .4 inches more front shoulder room, .5 inches more rear headroom, .6 inches more rear shoulder room, .4 inches more third row headroom, .1 inches more third row legroom, .4 inches more third row hip room and 1.3 inches more third row shoulder room than the Sorento.

Cargo Capacity

The Acadia’s cargo area provides more volume than the Sorento.

	Acadia	Sorento
Behind Third Seat	12.8 cubic feet	12.6 cubic feet
Third Seat Folded	41.7 cubic feet	38.4 cubic feet
Second Seat Folded	79 cubic feet	75.5 cubic feet

The Acadia’s cargo area is larger than the Sorento’s in almost every dimension:

	Acadia	Sorento
Length to seat (3rd/2nd/1st)	18.5”/48”/83”	15.5”/42.5”/76.5”
Max Width	50”	54”
Min Width	42.5”	42.4”
Height	33”	33”

Towing

Maximum trailer towing in the Kia Sorento is limited to 3500 pounds. The Acadia offers up to a 4000 lbs. towing capacity.

Servicing Ease

The Acadia uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Sorento uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

Ergonomics

When different drivers share the Acadia (except SLE), the memory seats and mirrors make it convenient. Each setting activates different, customized memories for the driver’s seat position and outside mirror angle. The Sorento doesn’t offer a memory system.

The Acadia (except SLE)’s optional easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Sorento doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The Acadia (except SLE) offers an available heads-up display that projects speed in front of the driver’s line of sight, allowing drivers to view information without diverting their eyes from the road. The Sorento doesn’t offer a heads-up display.

The Acadia’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 Acadia’s front power windows 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.

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

The Acadia’s speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Sorento’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

When the Acadia with available tilt-down mirrors is put in reverse, both rearview mirrors tilt from their original position. This gives the driver a better view of the curb during parallel parking maneuvers. Shifting out of reverse puts the mirrors into their original positions. The Sorento’s mirrors don’t automatically adjust for backing.

The Acadia SLT/AT4/Denali’s standard rear view mirror and optional 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 Acadia and the Sorento offer available heated front seats. The Acadia also offers optional heated second row seats to keep those passengers extremely comfortable in the winter. Heated second row seats aren’t available in the Sorento.

The Acadia has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Sorento S/EX/SX/Prestige/X-Line.

The Acadia 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.

Recommendations

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

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