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sorento manual or auto?

R

rodders2

having never towed with an automatic car

and before i finally buy a sorento

it would be good to know any views on

towing with an auto compared to manual

is there a difference in ability?

what are the pro's and con's?

i have so far only looked at manual

but i am wondering if i am possibly

missing out not looking at auto's

cheers rodders
 
Hi,

I have an 04 XS auto and would not go back to manual. The gearbox is well suited to the car and never seems to be in the wrong gear. For hills or 'sporty' driving there is a manual sportronic option too. It makes pitching up easy as you don't worry about clutch wear, and in heavy traffic/congestion again you don't have to worry about slow crawling speeds and clutch wear. The penalty is about 2mpg on fuel consumption. I get 30-32mpg solo and 22-24mpg towing a 1400kg van.

Cheers

Other Clive
 
Had my auto Sorento for two years now and have towed tousands of miles in Europe. Like driving a big armchair! Super two car. I would find it difficult to go back to a manual car.

David
 
Got agree with Clive and David. I have a Sorento auto but have towed in the past with manuals. In my opinion there is absolutely no contest. I would go with the auto every time. Less hassle, easier to manoeuvre and no problems with burning clutches.I honestly can't work out why anyone would prefer a manual.
 
I faced the same questions two years ago when we bought our Sorento, and I agree with Clive and David. Buy the auto and you will not be disappointed, so much more relaxing when towing and reversing the van is much easier.
 
Hi Rodders

I can not vouch for the ability of the auto, but I have a manual (towing 1900kg) and it goes like a dream.

If I remember correctly from when I bought mine, the auto hits the upper car tax bracket and the manual just slips in below it, might be worth considering.
 
It is also worth considering the fact,that not all Sorento owners get such good consumption figures as the Other Clive.

My figures are more like 23-25 mpg solo, 20-22 towing a 1400kg van.

Steve W
 
Away from caravanning, in general motoring circles, Kia is the brand where the official consumption figures are least trusted but there does seem to be big variation between owners of apparently identical vehicles.
 
Auto every time unless you are an MPG obsessive - it's the only way to fly and as others have said I also would never go back to manual.

Modern Autos with selectronic or equivalent are just superb and allow you to fine tune the towing ability to suit conditions, such as long alpine passes, or you can just leave it in Drive and let the electronics figure it all out - iether way the experience is effortless and allows you to concentrate 100% on manouvering the outfit in the steering and braking departments.
 
rodders, i have a santa fe cdx7 auto ( sister compant to kia) . i went and test drove a new sorento manual and if i had to change the santa fe i would have the auto sorento.

if its the same auto box as the santa fe you have the best of both worlds with the tiptronic box just puch it over and drive manually.

good luck let us know what you choose.

jo-anne
 
For me its a basic choice manual or auto (Sorrento is immaterial) , changed to an auto 2 years ago would have done it years ago if it weren't for the other half. Far more relaxed driving both solo and towing, reversing with the van is so simple now, would never go back to a manual.
 
Hi Rodders

I can not vouch for the ability of the auto, but I have a manual (towing 1900kg) and it goes like a dream.

If I remember correctly from when I bought mine, the auto hits the upper car tax bracket and the manual just slips in below it, might be worth considering.
Click to expand...
I agree with you, we have a manual Sorento, pulls like a dream. we tow a 1900 weight Caravan, no Stress, no problem. You are correct about the Tax Bracket. That is what swayed us to a manual.

Loraine
 
I am also thinking of improving my towing ability by buying a Santa fe or a Sorento, am also tempted with auto as my mechanical sympathy for the clutch is often stretched, but , question - in the old days to tow with an auto you always had to fit an extra transmission cooler, is this generally not the case now? Also with the Sorento do you still get low ratio option? (I don't think the Santa fe does at all?)
 
We've just come back from a great holiday in the South West of Scotland. It was our first trip with our new auto Subaru Forester. He who does most of the towing says that everything was much easier, reversing was a doddle, no worry about burning out the clutch and the MPG was not much worse than it's predecessor.

We bought this as I now need an automatic for medical reasons so I can still share the driving on long trips. My automatic Micra has a better MPG than the manual Micra it replaced despite having a bigger engine. I wish I'd had an auto years ago, it took one day to get used to not using the left foot and another day to get used to not using the left hand so much.
 
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