Hatfield Kia

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• Summary

Walk Around

Hard as Kia might have tried to make the Borrego look distinctive, it pretty much looks like any other boxy mid-size SUV. If you see the name Kia over the chrome grille, you might say, "Wow, that's a Kia." Otherwise there's nothing exceptional to notice, although the LED turn signals on the sideview mirrors are kind of cool.

The fender flares are edgy, the upright headlights trapezoidal and symmetrical, and there are two big rectangular contoured humps in the hood that, from the driver's seat, make the Borrego feel even bigger. There's gray or black plastic cladding surrounding the vehicle, tarnishing the pretty bronze color on our test EX, apparently there to protect the sheetmetal from bumps and scratches when driving the Borrego off-road. Skid plates under the body and tow hooks are standard.

There's ample glass on the sides, with three distinct pillars making a third rearward window that allows good visibility through the rear corners. The rear window is also ample, no nonsense, along with the taillights that spread over the liftgate and wrap around the fenders. The rear liftgate is one piece, so the window doesn't open separately. The standard tow hitch receiver is cleverly hidden, a first. The Borrego will tow 7500 pounds with the V8, or 5000 pounds with the V6.

Interior

2009 Kia Borrego

The Kia Borrego seats seven, with overall interior volume greater than the competition, including Ford Explorer, Nissan Pathfinder, Toyota 4Runner, Jeep Grand Cherokee and the new Honda Pilot.

The fold-flat second and third row seats produce a vast cargo space that's especially easy to access through the large-mouthed liftgate. The 60/40 second row reclines, and has good legroom because it slides rearward, then slides forward for easy ingress and egress to the standard two-seat 50/50 folding third row. There's also hidden storage compartment under the cargo floor in back.

There's 32.9 inches of legroom in the third row, which compares very favorably to the competition. For example the Nissan Pathfinder is closest to the same size as the Borrego, and only has 28.1 inches for the way-back passengers; Toyota 4Runner, a bit smaller (truck-based like the Borrego and Pathfinder) offers a toe-cramping 24.1 inches. The new Ford Flex crossover and Saturn Outlook, each about 10 inches longer than the Borrego, offer less than half an inch more.

The softness of the leather is just right, and the bolstering is excellent; for sure, the Borrego's seats are more soothing and compatible to our body than those in the Mercedes SUV we recently tested. Our test EX came in a lovely gray perforated leather. The console between the two front seats offers twin fixed cupholders in front of an armrest that's set back just far enough that it's really only an elbow rest.

The driver's compartment is as clean and well laid out as any we can think of. The four-spoke steering wheel has three big buttons on between the spokes on each side, arranged vertically: cruise control on the right, sound system on the left. Easy. The correct buttons on the driver's door armrest and on the console around the shift lever are just as easy. It's a nice shift lever, with a manual mode that's easy to access: slide the lever to the right, then forward and back for upshift and downshift. Again, easy.

The gauges are great: clean white on black, with the speedometer in center and smaller tachometer on the left. Big rectangular vents on the dash, some of the 16 vents total in the cabin, and a center panel for the climate control and navigation system, which we also found easy to operate. We found the defroster slow to clear the windshield, however. We also detected slight wind noise at highway speeds.

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