Compare the2022 Kia Sorento HybridVS 2022 Honda Pilot

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Fuel Economy and Range
Environmental Friendliness
Brakes and Stopping
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Ergonomics

Safety

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Both the Sorento Hybrid and Pilot have child safety locks to prevent children from opening the rear doors. The Sorento Hybrid has power child safety locks, allowing the driver to activate and deactivate them from the driver's seat and to know when they're engaged. The Pilot’s child locks have to be individually engaged at each rear door with a manual switch. The driver can’t know the status of the locks without opening the doors and checking them.

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 Sorento Hybrid are reminded to check the back seat when a sensor determines the back seat is occupied. The Pilot doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.

The Kia Sorento Hybrid has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Pilot doesn’t offer knee airbags.

When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Sorento Hybrid’s standard Downhill Brake Control allows you to creep down safely. The Pilot doesn’t offer Downhill Brake Control.

The Sorento Hybrid’s driver alert monitor detects an inattentive driver then sounds a warning and suggests a break. According to the NHTSA, drivers who fall asleep cause about 100,000 crashes and 1500 deaths a year. The Pilot doesn’t offer a driver alert monitor.

Both the Sorento Hybrid and the Pilot have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact 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, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, available all wheel drive and front parking sensors.

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

	Sorento Hybrid	Pilot
	Passenger
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
Chest Compression	.5 inches	.6 inches
Neck Compression	89 lbs.	478 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	81/191 lbs.	478/436 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 post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Kia Sorento Hybrid is safer than the Honda Pilot:

	Sorento Hybrid	Pilot
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	15 inches	15 inches
HIC	280	406
Spine Acceleration	32 G’s	45 G’s

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

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its available headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Sorento Hybrid the rating of “Top Pick” for 2021, a rating granted to only 136 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Pilot last would have qualified as a “Top Pick” in 2019.

Warranty

The Sorento Hybrid comes with a full 5-year/60,000-mile basic warranty, which covers the entire truck and includes 24-hour roadside assistance. The Pilot’s 3-year/36,000-mile basic warranty expires 2 years or 24,000 miles sooner.

Kia’s powertrain warranty covers the Sorento Hybrid 5 years and 40,000 miles longer than Honda covers the Pilot. Any repair needed on the engine, transmission, axles, joints or driveshafts is fully covered for 10 years or 100,000 miles. Coverage on the Pilot ends after only 5 years or 60,000 miles.

Reliability

A hardened steel chain, with no maintenance needs, drives the camshafts in the Sorento Hybrid’s engine. A rubber cam drive belt that needs periodic replacement drives the Pilot’s camshafts. If the Pilot’s belt breaks, the engine could be severely damaged when the pistons hit the opened valves.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Kia vehicles are better in initial quality than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia 6th in initial quality, above the industry average. With 17 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is ranked 17th, below the industry average.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2021 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Honda vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia third in reliability, above the industry average. With 48 more problems per 100 vehicles, Honda is ranked 27th.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Sorento Hybrid gets better mileage than the Pilot:

			MPG
Sorento Hybrid
	FWD	1.6 turbo 4-cyl. Hybrid	39 city/35 hwy
	AWD	1.6 turbo 4-cyl. Hybrid	36 city/33 hwy
Pilot
	FWD	3.5 SOHC V6	20 city/27 hwy
	AWD	3.5 SOHC V6	19 city/26 hwy

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

Environmental Friendliness

In its Green Vehicle Guide, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rates the Kia Sorento Hybrid higher (7 out of 10) than the Honda Pilot (3). This means the Sorento Hybrid produces up to 24.5 pounds less smog-producing pollutants than the Pilot every 15,000 miles.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Sorento Hybrid’s front brake rotors are larger than those on the Pilot:

	Sorento Hybrid	Pilot
Front Rotors	12.8 inches	12.6 inches

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

Suspension and Handling

For better maneuverability, the Sorento Hybrid’s turning circle is 1.5 feet tighter than the Pilot’s (37.9 feet vs. 39.4 feet).

Chassis

The Sorento Hybrid is 7.1 inches shorter than the Pilot, making the Sorento Hybrid easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

Passenger Space

The Sorento Hybrid has .8 inches more front headroom, .5 inches more front legroom and 2.3 inches more rear legroom than the Pilot.

Cargo Capacity

Pressing a button automatically lowers the Sorento Hybrid’s optional second row seats, to make changing between passengers and cargo easier. The Pilot doesn’t offer automatic folding seats.

Ergonomics

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

The power windows standard on both the Sorento Hybrid and the Pilot have locks to prevent small children from operating them. When the lock on the Sorento Hybrid is engaged the driver can still operate all of the windows, for instance to close one opened by a child. The Pilot prevents the driver from operating the other windows just as it does the other passengers.

The Sorento Hybrid’s power mirror controls are mounted on the armrest for easy access. The Pilot’s power mirror controls are on the dash where they are possibly hidden by the steering wheel and are awkward to manipulate.