Kia Sorento MPG

[tony_5104319]

I have a an issue with the mpg of my kia sorento. It has been investigated by Kia and they say there is no problem. My ae consumption in aprox 22-23mpg with a mixture of urban and extra urban (mainly extra urban).

I have done the test drive for 60miles at 60mph on a motorway and managed to maintain that speed with cruise control and squeezed 35mpg out of it. Day to day driving I only manage 22-23mpg on ave.

I have seen posts on this site, and others, where other people are not happy with their consumption. I have raise this with the caravan club, however they say that they have had no other complaints about this issue apart from me. If you have this issues please make it known to the caravan club (technical) as they are testing a sorento within the next few months.

I need to get this resolved due to the fuel cost. I know that the official figures don't represent real life but I would expect real life to be within 10-15% other wise what is the point of producing them.

 

[Lol1]

The figures are produced the way they are in order to remove as many variables as they can. This way they get consistent (well reasonably so) and valid data on the models they test. They shouldn't really be used to represent day to day driving as there are so many outside influences that can corrupt these figures. Do you for example live in a hilly area, or within town/city limits? The figures you quote Tony do seem a little low, that I must admit, but have you tried a similar car, such as the Terracan, in order to compare mpg?

That's where the figures can be used, when comparing like for like.

 

[ericcaravanning4u]

LoL is correct if you happen to live in a hilly area you will have different mpg that someone that lives in a place with mainly flat roads.A lot also depends on the way that you drive as some people tend to clog it everwhere and thus they will get a lower mpg than someone who drives at around 40mph .

 

[tony_5104319]

Sorry if this sounds a bit of a rant but I have been through all this with Kia several times. All I wanted my post to do was to get other people who have a Sorento with expected consumption issues to hi-light the issue to the caravan club and Kia UK. I know there are other out there with the same concerns as I have

1. I don't live in a hilly area

2. Most of my driving is out of town dual carriage way/motorway. I live 3 miles from a motorway junction

3. I live in a rural area (very little stop start driving)

4. I have looked at all driving methods and it is true to say that If I maintain a steady 60mph then I return the best mpg, however the point is why have the official figures when they don't come close to 'real life driving' in this case 30% less. Should manufacturers publish their own set of real life figures so expectations can be set.

 

[clivea]

Hi,

if you look at the Kia UK Forum you will see lots of similar posts. Your mpg does look to be low, but you don't say how many miles you have done. Mine improved gradually over the fisrt 15k miles and I get around 28mpg ona mix of country A roads and towns. Ona recent run to Stansted and back (M4/M25 etc) and A raods I got just over 32mpg. Mine is auto and as it is a 'relaxed' engine I make sure it gets worked periodically by taking it into manual and letting the revs rise when going up a locak hill. It aids running in and bedding in. Some VW group cars show awful oil consumption as they have not been used enthusiastically enough. See Honest Johns web site.

 

[tony_5104319]

Hi Other clive,

Thanks for the reply

I am a member of the kia sorento forum. I have done 16k and as I use it for business so get the oportunity to do lots of motorway driving. If I stick at a steady 70-75 MPH with C/C on I return about 27mpg I can only guess that the town driving would be at about 17mpg (don't do alot of town stuff as our offices are mostly near motorway junctions.

Is your 32mpg at a steady 70-75mph or is it lower higher. I am trying to build a mpg to speed picture at the moment. Don't know how it will help me but I think it will give a view of where the mpg drops off.

 

[Lol1]

Is this your first 4x4 Tony? The reason I ask is that if you have come straight from a "normal" car, the mpg can be quite a shock. These sorts of vehicles do need to be treated with a light foot to get anywhere near publicized fuel figures. Although I don't monitor my consumption closely, I seem to get around 30 to the gallon while on a cruise. That may not sound much, particularly when it drops to 25 if I'm in a hurry, but my previous tow car was a 2.5 petrol Suzi Grand Vitara. That drank unleaded at 25mpg with a very light foot, 17-20mpg towing, but weighed 400kg less. So as you can see, I'm happy with the figures for the Sorento.

You will find this argument at the other extreme end of the car world. Where manufacturers have advertised cars as being very economical to run. A lot of owners have complained because they only get 45mpg instead of the quoted 60mpg in the brochure.

I would rather have the Govt fuel figures than rely on the manufacturer, who might be obliged to tweak them for a few extra sales. Which would you have, one that does 25mpg or one that does 28? It's only 3mg difference but doesn't the one doing 28mpg look a lot better? If you are concerned about fuel consumption, you should be doing what you are doing now and gathering info from those that use the cars, cut out the extremes, i.e. those that quote exceptionally high or low figures, and go for the middle ground. That's about the most accurate way of gauging what you should get. If you're out by a few mpg after that then don't worry, that is common, but if you're still some margin away and still displeased, get a 3rd party involved, there may indeed be something wrong with your car.

 

[clivea]

Hi tony.

I got 32mpg going from Bath to Stansted and back so it wasa mix of motorway going and Motorway and A roads coming back. On the motorway I was driving ata staedy 70-75, and on A raods up to the legal limit traffic permitting. I had a passenger and some luggage. I always use branded diesel as I tend to get better mpg and don't have to pay more than at supermarkets. I have done even beter with mpg using BP Ultimate but I only buy that when the price differentail is no more than 3p per litre. My local garage don't put it above 99.9 pence per litre when the normal can vary between 94.9 and 97.9 (todays price for local bP).

I don't use cruise control as some say it will lead to increased consumption and there seem to be few places that I can use it for any time anyway.

Cheers

O Clive

 

[Graham_5106711]

I have a Sorento 03 Reg 2.5 CRD with 50k on th eclock

I was also a little disapointed with the fuel consumption figures after reading the Kia brochure.

I reckon on about 20-22 MPG around town, and with the c,van on the back about 17 MPG.

My previous towcar was a Freelander TD4 which did return higer MPG,However I personally rate the Sorento alot higher and am overall very happy with it as a sound MPV (I know should say 4 x4 ) but after all it is a multi purpose vehicle and a good one at that!

I guess I'm a little cynical nowadays about any claimed MPG figures (for any vehicle) as after all driving conditions are endlessly variable.

Hope this helps.

 

[tony_5104319]

Thanks for the responses. I'm off to Bournemouth tonight so will be able to get a steady 60-70mph run for 180 miles. it will be interesting to see what the MPG is, however I'm estimating it will be about 27mpg going by previous readings.

If this is the case I may well get an independant engineer to look at the consumption. if it is said to be OK after that then that's how is it

 

[RichardH]

I'm following this thread with great interest as I was looking at getting a kia sorrento to replace my petrol mondeo. however it looks like I'm better off sticking with the mondeo as that returnd 32-36mpg solo on the motorway and about 25-26 when towing a 5 berth van, both far better than the kia so maybe I wont be getting one

 

[354]

For a car of the size and weight of the Sorrento 25 - 30 mpg isnt bad , on our 2.2DTI Frontera I used to retuen 30 - 32 mpg at 60 and 25 - 27 towing and with the current 3.0 V6 CRD Grand Cherokee I am returning 25 - 27 mpg over all. However with both the Jeep and Frontera I am able to get with 15% of the manufactures quoted figures, where as Kia quote 43mpg (cant see where they get that) which is a loss of over 30% on the manufactures figure. And before anyone quotes the average that kia quote I am comparing like for like Vauxhall quote 35mpg and Jeep quote 32mpg at a constant 55 so for the Frontera I was getting 86% of the quoted figure and with the Jeep I am getting 85% of the quoted figure why then does the Sorrento on average only achieve 75% of the manufactures figure.

We did look and purchasing an XT Sorento and have to say that we were impressed with the car which was very comfortable and smooth, for the money it is a lovely car .

 

[Graham_5106711]

For a car of the size and weight of the Sorrento 25 - 30 mpg isnt bad , on our 2.2DTI Frontera I used to retuen 30 - 32 mpg at 60 and 25 - 27 towing and with the current 3.0 V6 CRD Grand Cherokee I am returning 25 - 27 mpg over all. However with both the Jeep and Frontera I am able to get with 15% of the manufactures quoted figures, where as Kia quote 43mpg (cant see where they get that) which is a loss of over 30% on the manufactures figure. And before anyone quotes the average that kia quote I am comparing like for like Vauxhall quote 35mpg and Jeep quote 32mpg at a constant 55 so for the Frontera I was getting 86% of the quoted figure and with the Jeep I am getting 85% of the quoted figure why then does the Sorrento on average only achieve 75% of the manufactures figure.

We did look and purchasing an XT Sorento and have to say that we were impressed with the car which was very comfortable and smooth, for the money it is a lovely car .

Your spot on Del

It is a lovely car and I have had mine 18 months now - towing a 1350kg 6 berth van is a breeze . Ok economy isn't what I would like it to be but when looking around at other vehicles similar (including the "best badges")

 

[tony_5104319]

Del,

Thanks for your reply. You have hit the nail on the head. If I was getting within 10-15% of the offical figure I would not have a problem. The fact is that 30% below the official figure is not good at all.

 

[354]

What I cant understand is that if I go to the pub and order a pint of beer that is what I get, if I buy a 43mpg Sorrento I get 30% less? Why is it that trading standards would (quite rightly) not permit short measures from retailers, why then can a car manufacturer state a fuel consumption that no one can get near

 

[clivea]

Hi,

surely to try and achieve the Extra Urban figure may be a pipe dream under normal conditions. It is carried out over 4.3 miles under simulated tests with a small number of accelerations and decelerations and an overall average test speed of 39mph. The accepted norm is nearer the 'Combined Figure' which fora Sorento is between 36 and 33 mpg. For the tests the manufacturer only has to submit one car so I guesss its ECU could be set for econmomy rather than the Sorento's 'more sportier' response!

 

[ericcaravanning4u]

Another consideration is the Air Con doesn't it use more fuel if you use it.I have filled up for the first time and done 300 miles on 10 gallons so thats 30 to the gallon around town .What I did find this week was that it seems to stick in fourth for a long time on auto so I have now got used to selecting 5th with the tiptronic when I think it should be in 5th and you hardly have to press the accelerator. I have had a mercedes 300D for the past 30 years and was very aprehensive about buying the Sorento.But I must say I love it and after 30 years of Mercs it has bettered my expectations.

 

[Alan_5084951]

Just taken delivery of our 2006 Sorento. First tank of fuel returned 34.5mpg which is mainly 'A' roads and dual carraigeway - certainly no cities or traffic jams!! Second tank was marginally better and third tank slightly less. I must say though that this is 70mph cruising and generally been pretty light on the throttle.

One thing I have noticed on our car is that it is one of those cars with quite a bit of play on the pedal, and if you lift your foot a little you do maintain the same speed.

So for us, 34mpg 'ish but you really have to work at it. I can imagine it is pretty easy to drop into the twenties.

 

[tony_5104319]

Just taken delivery of our 2006 Sorento. First tank of fuel returned 34.5mpg which is mainly 'A' roads and dual carraigeway - certainly no cities or traffic jams!! Second tank was marginally better and third tank slightly less. I must say though that this is 70mph cruising and generally been pretty light on the throttle.

One thing I have noticed on our car is that it is one of those cars with quite a bit of play on the pedal, and if you lift your foot a little you do maintain the same speed.

So for us, 34mpg 'ish but you really have to work at it. I can imagine it is pretty easy to drop into the twenties.

Hi Alan,

Is yours an manual or Auto. If it's an auto you have a good one.the only way I have got 35mpg is 60miles at 60mph with no change in speed apart from when I have finished the test.

 

[tony_5104319]

Hi Alan,

Is yours an Auto or manual?

 

[Fouldsy]

Our Manual 2.5 CDR with country lane driving and a bit of town gives me about 29-31mpg with 20k on the clock....I never look when I am towing it would be too depressing.

Mike

 

[xtrailman]

after reading the posts on the sorento I cant understand the comments of disappointment re the fuel consumption..

I always expect and usually do, achieved the government figures, locally I get the urban figure+/- 10%. And on a run I would expect to achieve the combined figure.

Never would I be looking for the extra urban figure. This has been the case with my last three cars. a 2l primera, a 1.8t Quattro A4, and my present car a 2.2dci xtrail.

considering the lack of aero dynamics, the weight, the possibility of a auto gearbox along with aircon and possibly four wheel drive, the fuel returns of the sorento is what I would expect.

If fuel consumption is a priority don't use the cruise control, this does not anticipate oncoming inclines

driving style and weather conditions are other variables, incorrect tyre pressures all contribute towards economy. Engine tolerances another.

one trick I use with the X is only to top up with

 

[joeby]

you have remember ,you are driving over 2 ton of car around and every body gets different MPG readings bacause they all drive different ,how many times have you been approaching a roundabout and some one has come flying past you ,then the next moment they are slamming there brakes on ,the more gentle you are on the accelerator the better your fuel consumption will be ,but how boring it would be to drive like that all the time ,i used to own a 2.5 V6 mondeo and i would accasionally do 140 MPH on the M4 and the MPG would suffer ,but boy did i enjoy it

 

[clivea]

Hi,

managed to get the Combined figure (almost) 32.9 mpg over the last 700 miles of M and A road driving with about 10% in towns. Fora 2tonne + auto I am happy with the Sorento, but not so with diesel prices..c'est la vie.

 

[tony_5104319]

Other Clive,

That's great going. Wish I could get near that. were you making an effort to get that sort of comsumption. It does not matter how much effort I put in overall It's about 22mpg (not much town driving). I spoke again with another service manager and he told me that 22 is all I should expect.