DIESEL. DUST

GETTING DOWN AND DIRTY TO DETERMINE THE MERITS OF ALL-WHEEL DRIVE

- ASH WESTERMAN

KIA SORENTO GT LINE

Price as tested $64,990 (driveaway)

This month 105km @ 9.2L/100km

Total 2096km @ 9.1L/100km

IRECKON there’s a broad rule of thumb that can be applied to the essentialness of all-wheel drive on cars and SUVs. If the platform is fundamentally rear-drive, you can almost surely do without it, if you’re happy to live on the edge. Witness the Porsche 911 GT2 RS versus Turbo S, or Lamborghini Huracan LP-2 models. However, if the platform is born as a front-driver, there’s every chance you do want AWD; evidenced by Golf R versus GTI, or a bunch of fast AWD Audis versus their front-drive counterparts.

This thinking carries over to the Sorento. It’s a front-drive platform that really does benefit from AWD.