Well, these are two pretty similar cars we have here! It's only details that could potentially make the difference. Considering they both belong to the suv segment and utilize the same 5-door suv body style and the 4 x 4 wheel drive system, it all comes up to the specific petrol engine choice they offer. The first one has a Hyundai-engineered powertrain under the hood, a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 175hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 4-cylinder, 16-valves 139hp engine designed by Mitsubishi.

Both vehicles got tested by European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), with the same number of safety stars gained in the process. 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, but it doesn't do much to help us decide between the two. On the other hand, taking kerb weight as an important factor into account, Sorento offers a considerable difference of 10% more metal.

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Hyundai does have a slight advantage, all the models observed together. That's the official data, while our visitors describe reliability of Hyundai with an average rating of 4.5, and models under the KIA badge with 4.6 out of 5. The same official information place Santa Fe 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 Santa Fe rank it on average as 5.0, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 3.0 out of 5.

Hyundai is undoubtly more agile, reaching 100km/h in 1.8 seconds less than its competitor. In addition to that it accelerates all the way to 182 kilometers per hour, 14km/h more than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy things look pretty much the same for both cars, averaging around 11.2 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (25 mpg), in combined cycle.

Hyundai is apparently more reliable, not too much, but just enough. 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 offers significantly better overall protection, taking the lead here. From there things take a different direction, with Hyundai being considerably quicker, thus putting more smile on driver's face. It does come at a cost though, and that's the fuel consumption... It's really tough to make a final decision here, but if I'd need to, I'd say KIA. Anyway, that's the most objective conclusion I could've came up with and it's based solely on the information found on this website. Aspects such as design, practicality, brand value and driving experience are there for you to measure them out. 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 more than 12.000 different ones in our database.