Compare the2023 Honda PilotVS 2023 Kia Sorento

For enhanced safety, the front and second-row seat shoulder belts of the Honda Pilot have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Kia Sorento doesn’t offer pretensioners for its second-row seat belts.

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

Both the Pilot and the Sorento have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, 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, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The Pilot’s 5 year corrosion warranty has no mileage limitations, but the corrosion warranty on the Sorento runs out after 100,000 miles.

Honda pays for scheduled maintenance on the Pilot for 2 years and 24,000 miles. Honda will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance. Kia doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Sorento.

There are over 37 percent more Honda dealers than there are Kia dealers, which makes it easier should you ever need service under the Pilot’s warranty.

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the Pilot’s reliability 45 points higher than the Sorento.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Kia vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Honda 4 places higher in reliability than Kia.

The Pilot’s 3.5 DOHC V6 produces 94 more horsepower (285 vs. 191) and 81 lbs.-ft. more torque (262 vs. 181) than the Sorento’s standard 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder. The Pilot’s 3.5 DOHC V6 produces 4 more horsepower (285 vs. 281) than the Sorento 2.5T’s standard 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

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

The Pilot 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.

A 10-speed automatic is standard on the Honda Pilot, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only an eight-speed automatic is available for the Sorento.

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

For better traction, the Pilot has larger standard tires than the Sorento (255/50R20 vs. 235/65R17). The Pilot TrailSport’s tires are larger than the largest tires available on the Sorento (265/60R18 vs. 255/45R20).

The Pilot EX-L’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 60 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Sorento LX’s standard 65 series tires.

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Pilot has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 17-inch wheels are standard on the Sorento LX.

The Pilot 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.

The Pilot TrailSport has a standard full size spare tire so a flat doesn’t interrupt your trip. A full size spare isn’t available on the Sorento; it requires you to depend on a temporary spare, which limits mileage and speed before replacement.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Pilot’s wheelbase is 3 inches longer than on the Sorento (113.8 inches vs. 110.8 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Pilot is 2.6 inches wider in the front and 2.5 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Sorento.

For greater off-road capability the Pilot has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Sorento (7.3 vs. 6.9 inches), allowing the Pilot to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged. The Pilot TrailSport’s minimum ground clearance is .1 inch higher than on the Sorento X-Line (8.3 vs. 8.2 inches).

The front grille of the Pilot 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 Pilot 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.

The Pilot offers optional seating for 8 passengers; the Sorento can only carry 7.

The Pilot has 53.1 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Sorento (158.4 vs. 105.3).

The Pilot has .2 inches more front headroom, 2.8 inches more front hip room, 2.8 inches more front shoulder room, 1.1 inches more rear headroom, 2.3 inches more rear hip room, 3.6 inches more rear shoulder room, 2.5 inches more third row headroom, 2.9 inches more third row legroom, 2.1 inches more third row hip room and 6.5 inches more third row shoulder room than the Sorento.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the Pilot’s middle and third row seats recline. The Sorento’s third row seats don’t recline.

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

The Pilot’s minimum standard towing capacity is much higher than the Sorento’s (3500 vs. 2000 pounds).

The Pilot Elite has a standard heads-up display that projects speed and navigation instruction readouts 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 Pilot’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Sorento’s parking brake has to be released manually.

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

The Pilot EX-L/TrailSport/Touring/Elite’s standard rear 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.

The Pilot 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.

The Honda Pilot outsold the Kia Sorento by 19% during 2022.