New age tug for the old Viscount

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Just had our first weekend away in our trusty old '76 Viscount R66040 using the new Kia Sorento. We travelled from Wagga Wagga to Bright in Vic. with a selection of easy flat highway and mountain roads to test the rig out and found it quite impressive as a tow tug ! The 2.2L turbo-diesel has 145kw and 430nm of torque and a 2000kg towing capacity which is more than sufficient for our old Vicky. The handling was very good (we use a 4 bar WDH) with minimal bounce and float and no problems experienced on the hills except the 6sp auto's habit of trying to stay in too high a gear (using manual mode fixed that). The fuel economy while towing was great with and average of 14.2L per 100km on the way down and 15L per 100 on the way back (both windy days). The Sorento is a very comfortable wagon with plenty of room (we only had 4 on board but it has 7 seats) and all the mod cons like climate aircon etc. A most impressive mid size SUV and very reasonably priced. ;D

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G'day griswalds,

Glad to hear the Kia is up to the challenge.

Both the Kia and the Hyundai equivalent were on my shortlist last year, but I ended up buying my brother's Prado instead. I was pretty impressed with the write-ups on both the Sorento and the Santa Fe, including one article which was a road test towing a 16ft Jayco.

If the Prado decides to give up the ghost, I'll be seriously looking at those other two options.

cheers,
Al.

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Hi griswalds

like Your Choice Of tow Vehicle, Kia Are Making Some Great Towing Suvs Now.
You Need To Read This About The Wdh. Dont Want You To Void Your Warrenty

www.goseeaustralia.com.au/article/862/Sorento_SUV_upgrade_4WD_six-speed_drivetrain_allows_on-demand_driver_control/

Scotty

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Thanks Scotty, I have checked out the article and have found mention of the WDH in the Kia manual but it is very vague. They actually recommend the use of sway control. I am going to consult the dealer for more info.

Cheers, Mick.