Two significantly similar cars, no doubt about that. Still, each one has something different to offer. Having both cars powered by diesel engines and utilizing the 5-door suv body style within the same 'SUV' segment, the only major difference here really is their wheel drive configuration (rear for the SSangYong and 4 x 4 in the case of the KIA). The first one has a SSangYong-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 155hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 150hp engine designed by Hyundai.

The fact that the KIA got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, puts it sky-high safety-wise, in my eyes at least. Moving further on, let's take a closer look at some additional safety-related facts. Both vehicles belong to the suv segment, which is generally a very good thing safety-wise, still it doesn't help us solve our dilemma, does it? Furthermore, when it comes to weight, a factor that most people underestimate, Rexton offers a marginal difference of 6% more metal.

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that KIA does have a slight advantage, when all the models are taken into account. These are the results of an independent reasearch, while our visitors describe reliability of SSangYong with an average rating of 4.3, and models under the KIA badge with 4.2 out of 5. Independent research findings rank Rexton as average reliability-wise, and Sorento is more or less at the same level.We should definitely mention that owners of cars with the same powertrain as Rexton rank it on average as 4.5, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 4.0 out of 5.

SSangYong is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.1 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 173 kilometers per hour, 13km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be Sorento, averaging around 6.4 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (44 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 14% difference compared to Rexton.

KIA appears just a bit more reliable, although the difference is truly marginal. The most important thing when deciding between any two vehicles should always be safety, both passive and active. In my opinion, everything taken into account, Sorento beats the other contender by far, making it the best choice without even considering other things. It all continues in the same direction, with KIA offering somewhat better performance, just enough to call it quicker. To make things even better, it consumps less fuel! All together, there's not much more to say, in this case I wouldn't even consider anything but KIA. In any case that's my personal view, built upon all the data available to me. What should decide here though is the way you feel about the two vehicles, and I hope you'll find my guidelines useful in the process. In case you have two minutes to spare I invite you to define your needs, desires and budget and see which car would be chosen by the virtual adviser™, among thousands of similar, yet so different vehicles.