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 198hp unit, while the other one gets its power and torque from a 6-cylinder, 24-valves 249hp engine designed by Toyota.

The fact that the KIA got tested by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP), while the other contender didn't, offers a slight advantage, as the 4-star rating is better than none. That aside, let's consider some other aspects which affect safety. 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, the Korean car offers a marginal difference of 3% more metal.

I don't like generalizing things when it comes to reliability, although it does seem that Toyota 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 KIA with an average rating of 4.2, and models under the Toyota badge with 4.6 out of 5. Some independent research have also placed Sorento as average reliability-wise, and Land Cruiser Prado is more or less at the same level.That apart, owners of different cars powered by the same engine as the Korean car rank it on average as 4.8, while the one under the competitor's bonnet gets 5.0 out of 5.

Toyota is a bit more agile, reaching 100km/h in 0.7 seconds less than its competitor. Still, it lacks the power to win the top speed competition, topping at 175 kilometers per hour, 17km/h less than the other car. When it comes to fuel economy the winner has to be the Korean car, averaging around 11.9 liters of fuel per 100 kilometers (24 mpg), in combined cycle. We can't ignore that 14% difference compared to the Japanese car.

Toyota 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, the Korean car 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 more than 12.000 different ones in our database.