Kia Sorento v Honda Pilot

The Honda Pilot and the Kia Sorento. Two very capable three-row crossovers that have been steadily improved over time by their manufacturers, to the point where it is tough to find many – if any – kinks in their armour.

Of the two, the Honda benefits from the more established name; Honda has been selling vehicles in Canada since the ‘70s and they haven’t looked back, continuing to offer one of the bestselling cars in the world with the Civic compact.

Being good at developing a compact sedan or hatchback, however, does not guarantee success in the world of the three-row SUV, though, and you could almost say the Pilot was quite a paradigm shift for them.

The Pilot comes powered by a 3.5-litre V6 – your only engine choice – good for 280 horsepower and 262 pound-feet of torque, fed to all four wheels through either a six- or nine-speed automatic. It’s a fine engine, but it is aging a little and isn’t the most fuel efficient offering out there, using 11L/100km of fuel in the combined cycle and 12.4 L the city.

The Sorento, however, offers a total of four powertrains: a 2.5-litre naturally-aspirated four-cylinder, a 2.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder good for 281 hp and 311 lb-ft, a hybrid with a 1.6L turbocharged four-cylinder and perhaps the crown jewel of them all: a plug-in hybrid variant good for over 50 km of all-EV range. That’s a pretty robust selection that eclipses the Pilot although the Honda does gain some points back by offering a more off-road specific Trailsport version. Then again, Kia also has an X-Line version of the Sorento with a slight slant towards off-roading so you’ll want to keep that in mind.

Inside, the two come well-equipped with seating for up to seven, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, satellite navigation and crisp back-up cameras. The Pilot is the slightly larger vehicle, however, and has more room inside as a result. But that also makes it a little tougher to navigate through the urban jungle.

These are both great vehicles, but you do have to appreciate just how varied the powertrain choice is for the Sorento. Hard to beat that.