Sorento

[argonaut]

Ok .. I have mixed feelings about this review – I ordered a KIA Sportage, and at same time decided to buy a new boat ... checked the boat weight (1.6T) so still all OK.

Duh .... no

The trailer weighs in at 0.55T and add a tank of fuel, a Tower and the all up weight becomes 2.2T. That means the Sportage was not suitable.
So at 1 day old I took it back to garage and thought I was going to be fleeced (BMW screwed me previously) The KIA dealer added they also forgot about weight of trailer ....... anyway a new Sorento was due out in 2 months would I be interested ? that has a 2.5T tow capacity.
They even lent me a car for interim at no charge, and gave me 100% of my refund as trade against Soento – amazing customer service by dealer (Gravells)

The Sorento tows perfectly when underway ... want a nice long run on Motorway no issue, hills no problem, there is loads of torque in the 2.2 Diesel so cruises well. Without the boat attached it was a great daily use car – although did feel I’m paying over the odds for 7 seat capacity when only ever use front 2 seats.

The problem is the Sorento has a dual mass flywheel ... these are designed to partially slip to allow smooth power take off with high torque diesel engines ... the issue is put it on a slipway (8 degree) with 2.2T attached and the clutch slips very badly, once underway its OK, but to get it moving it slips so much there is a stench of burnt clutch linings.
Also when at home reversing the trailer into drive (2 degree slope) as soon as you take trailer off straight line and into a tight reverse manoeuvre the load put on car by the twin axles again causes clutch to slip badly.
I was concerned about failure – as a new DMF is £1,200 and although KIA offer 7yr warranty it does not cover ‘wear’ items, and via Google – a search shows many have failed. I got my dealer to witness problem, and they said it would be fine and put it in writing they would cover any repair to clutch (again great dealer)
A number of us on KIA owners forum took the matter to KIA, we each had same response ‘no report faults’ ........ which was rubbish as we now had proof of names & Car Reg. No’s of those who had reported the faults.


KIA were backed into corner and had to accept the fault .......... they sent Technical experts on several occasions to inspect my car, even witness the issue at the slipway ... they changed the clutch 3 times. The official line form them was that this is working as designed, and the matter is now with European Quality for resolution.
Volvo, BMW, Mercedes, Lexus, Land Rover all had same problem ... and ditched the DMF moving instead to multi gear automatic gearboxes (Discovery for example is 9 speed auto only)
Unfortunately KIA do not do a ‘modern’ auto box, theirs is quite old, and de-rates tow capacity to only 2T when fitted (no use to me) They did respond that a higher rated automatic was not an option as they cannot cool it (seems stupid answer to me – fit a gearbox oil cooler as other manufacturers)
After having the issue for 2 years – and no change in the new 2015 model ... decided to trade-in my Sorento and bought another make instead.


For all the hype about KIA 7yr warranty .. their customer service was not good, they simply kept refusing to accept there is a problem. The dealer was excellent.
If KIA pulled their finger out they have a very good car, and it could be a great Tow car.
If you are towing less than 1.8T then the auto version would be an option, but is you want to tow greater than 2T ... not recommended.

[Carl]

Oh dear .... That's not good. .. DMF's are a right p.i.t.a (previous experience)

so what did you get as a replacement for the Sorento ??

[argonaut]

A JEEP Cherokee ... 2.5T tow capacity and 9 speed auto box

[Carl]

Very nice. ...

[argonaut]

Colour matches the boat

[Ianfs]

a flywheel in two concentric parts or two facing flywheels stuck together with flexible compound to damp down transmitted vibration from diesel engines, improve gear change quality and protect transmissions from torque reaction at around 2,000rpm, particularly the change from first to second

Thanks for a great write up Argonaut.

DM Flywheels have been used with a number of Diesel engine vehicles typically the Land Rover Discovery 11 for the above reasons and which have been reasonably successful. However, when you read Forum site reports, it seems a little different. It seems to me that flywheels stuck together with flexible compound where a vehicle may weigh up to 2 tons and which are not accessible easily within a few minutes might hinder the life of the said vehicle.

[argonaut]

Interesting if you take a look at how many SUV & 4x4 have now ditched DMF and offer only autonatic ... the new Discovery being typical example.

KIA & Hyundia are made in same factory, and share many common parts, and the DMF has been such an issue on Hyundia Santa Fe that they have released a kit to convert to standard clutch plate.
You lose the smooth clutch change, but no issues with towing.

KIA could also fix the problem by fitting a Low Ratio bo , which they offered this on US variants ... but not in Europe.

A pity as otherwise Sorento is a very good car.

[_Ed_]

Just a technical observation, the DMF clutches are not designed to slip any more than a normal clutch, their purpose is to allow a lighter flywheel to absorb the inter-rotational acceleration of the combustion events going on in each cylinder and to detach these forces from the drive train, without having to use an excessively heavy traditional diesel flywheel to do the same thing.

By the sounds of it, the clutch was just not strong enough, and couldn't deal with the weight of the towing loads etc and was overheating it, so it slipped until it cooled down perhaps. Out of interest did it smell like burning clutch too?

[argonaut]

The ONLY symptom was severe smell of burning every time I recovered boat or reversed up drive.

My worry with this strong smell was longevity.

The KIA tech expert was the one who advised that the clutch was designed such that the inbuilt springs allowed the unit to dissipate the power on initial take up.

They could not fix it.

There is a good video below ..
Look at the part 2:52 in

[Carl]

Had a DMF in our old Vauxhall frontera .. damn thing was a right p.i.t.a so ended up ditching the thing and fitting a solid fly wheel and a sprung heavy duty clutch
This was the easy route as the older frontera's were basically an Isuzu Trooper with a different body. ..

My current Toyota Land Cruiser is an automatic.

I personally prefer automatics for towing (and offroading) uses ..