Certified Benz & Beemer Compares 2016 GMC Acadia VS 2016 Kia Sorento Near Phoenix, AZ

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

The Acadia offers an optional 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 GMC Acadia has Daytime Running Lights to help keep it more visible under all conditions. Canadian government studies show that driving with lights during the day reduces accidents by 11% by making vehicles more conspicuous. The Sorento doesn’t offer Daytime Running Lights.

The Acadia has standard OnStar ®, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to get turn-by-turn driving directions, remotely unlock your doors if you lock your keys in, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Sorento doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.

Both the Acadia and the Sorento 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, available all wheel drive, collision warning systems, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

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

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 flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the GMC Acadia is safer than the Kia Sorento:

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

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

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

There are almost 4 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.

The Acadia has a standard “limp home system” to keep drivers from being stranded if most or all of the engine’s coolant is lost. The engine will run on only half of its cylinders at a time, reduce its power and light a warning lamp on the dashboard so the driver can get to a service station for repairs. The Sorento doesn’t offer a lost coolant limp home mode, so a coolant leak could strand you or seriously damage the truck’s engine.

The battery on the Acadia is under the floor, which protects it from hot underhood temperatures which can degrade battery life. By keeping the Acadia’s battery 20 to 30 degrees cooler, its life is increased by years. The Sorento’s battery is in the hot engine compartment.

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2015 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that GMC vehicles are more reliable than Kia vehicles. J.D. Power ranks GMC 9th in reliability, above the industry average. With 35 more problems per 100 vehicles, Kia is ranked 20th.

The Acadia has more powerful engines than the Sorento:

As tested in Motor Trend the Acadia SLE/SLT is faster than the Kia Sorento:

The Acadia has 3.2 gallons more fuel capacity than the Sorento (22 vs. 18.8 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

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

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.

For better traction, the Acadia has larger tires than the Sorento (255/65R18 vs. 235/65R17).

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.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Acadia’s wheelbase is 9.5 inches longer than on the Sorento (118.9 inches vs. 109.4 inches).

For better handling and stability, the track (width between the wheels) on the Acadia is 3.1 inches wider in the front and 2.5 inches wider in the rear than the average track on the Sorento.

The Acadia SLT AWD handles at .79 G’s, while the Sorento LX pulls only .78 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

For greater off-road capability the Acadia has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Sorento (7.6 vs. 7.3 inches), allowing the Acadia to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Acadia has standard seating for 8 passengers; the Sorento can only carry up to 7.

The Acadia has .8 inches more front headroom, 1.3 inches more front hip room, 2.5 inches more front shoulder room, .3 inches more rear headroom, 1.4 inches more rear hip room, 3 inches more rear shoulder room, 2.1 inches more third row headroom, 1.5 inches more third row legroom, 6.9 inches more third row hip room and 5 inches more third row shoulder room than the Sorento.

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

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

The Acadia (except SL/SLE) offers an available heads-up display which projects speed and other key instrumentation 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 Acadia has a standard automatic headlight on/off feature. When the ignition is on, the headlights automatically turn on at dusk and off after dawn. When the ignition turns off, the headlights turn off after a delay timed to allow you to securely get to your front door. The automatic headlight on/off feature is not available on the Sorento L.

The Acadia’s standard side window demisters help clear frost or condensation from the side windows in the winter. The Sorento doesn’t even offer side window demisters, so the driver may have to wipe the windows from the outside to gain side vision.

The Acadia offers optional automatic dimming rear and side view mirrors which 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 Acadia (except SL/SLE)’s available GPS navigation system has a real-time traffic update feature that plots alternative routes to automatically bypass traffic problems. (Service not available in all areas.) The Sorento’s navigation system doesn’t offer real-time traffic updates.

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