Compare the2026 Kia SorentoVS 2026 Hyundai Santa Fe

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Both the Sorento and the Santa Fe have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front and rear side-impact airbags, driver knee airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors, available all wheel drive and around view monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Kia Sorento is safer than the Hyundai Santa Fe:

	Sorento	Santa Fe
	Driver
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	446	460
Neck Injury Risk	23%	28%
Neck Stress	208 lbs.	273 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	4 Stars	4 Stars
HIC	340	369
Chest Compression	.4 inches	.6 inches
Neck Compression	52 lbs.	140 lbs.
Leg Forces (l/r)	118/119 lbs.	726/652 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Kia Sorento is safer than the Hyundai Santa Fe:

	Sorento	Santa Fe
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Hip Force	196 lbs.	203 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Spine Acceleration	29 G’s	32 G’s
Hip Force	196 lbs.	264 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	15 inches	16 inches
Spine Acceleration	32 G’s	38 G’s

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Kia Sorento is safer than the Santa Fe:

	Sorento	Santa Fe
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	GOOD
Structure	GOOD	GOOD
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Head Injury Criterion	64	89
Neck Tension	178 lbs.	223 lbs.
Neck Compression	-89 lbs.	-22 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Shoulder Deflection	.71 in	.87 in
Torso Max Deflection	1.14 in	1.34 in
Torso Deflection Rate	7 MPH	7 MPH
Pelvis	ACCEPTABLE	MARGINAL
Pelvis Force	959 lbs.	1227 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD
	Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Neck Tension	89 lbs.	112 lbs.
Neck Compression	-67 lbs.	-45 lbs.
Torso	GOOD	GOOD
Shoulder Force	134 lbs.	268 lbs.
Torso Deflection Rate	4 MPH	5 MPH
Pelvis	GOOD	GOOD
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD

Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the Sorento is 1.5% to 2.6% less likely to roll over than the Santa Fe.

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J.D. Power and Associates’ 2025 survey of the owners of three-year-old vehicles provides the long-term dependability statistics that show that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Hyundai vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Kia above average in long-term dependability. With 6 more problems per 100 vehicles in the first three years of ownership, Hyundai is rated below average.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ March 2025 Auto Issue reports that Kia vehicles are more reliable than Hyundai vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Kia 1 place higher in reliability than Hyundai.

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The Sorento EX/SX’s standard 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 4 more horsepower (281 vs. 277) than the Santa Fe’s 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder.

As tested in Motor Trend the Sorento EX/SX 2.5 turbo 4-cylinder is faster than the Hyundai Santa Fe:

	Sorento	Santa Fe
Zero to 30 MPH	2.3 sec	3 sec
Zero to 60 MPH	6.3 sec	7.4 sec
Zero to 80 MPH	10.3 sec	12 sec
Passing 45 to 65 MPH	3.1 sec	3.4 sec
Quarter Mile	14.8 sec	15.8 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	97 MPH	92.5 MPH

© 1999 - 2025Advanta-STAR Automotive Research, all rights reserved. This vehicle comparison and all of the content in it are provided only by license from Advanta-STAR Automotive Research Corporation of America (“Advanta-STAR”). If you are not a legally licensed user of this vehicle comparison, it is against federal law to access it, copy it, forward it, or use it in any manner whatsoever. Any unauthorized use of this vehicle comparison is a violation of U.S. and international law and is punishable criminally and civilly. Removal of this watermark/notification without prior written license and approval received from Advanta-STAR is an agreement, understanding, and/or stipulation by the person(s), entities, agents, attorneys, and any other persons involved in the removal of this watermark/notification (including but not limited to Search Optics, LLC and any and all parent entities, sister entities, and subsidiary entities of Search Optics, LLC and/or any other entity, agent, attorney, and persons related in any manner to Search Optics, LLC) to: 1) an agreed upon amount of liquidated monetary damages of a minimum of $1,250,000.00 US Dollars in favor of Advanta-STAR; 2) the jurisdiction and enforcement of any legal claims associated with this matter asserted by Advanta-STAR in the United States Federal District Court in Portand, Oregon; and 3) service of process of any legal claims asserted by Advanta-STAR associated with this matter may be accomplished by First-Class Postage by the United States Postal Service or comparable service. 6ZPP9-8ZFIL 2a06:98c0:3600::103 2025/11/04

On the EPA test cycle the Sorento gets better mileage than the Santa Fe:

			MPG
Sorento
	FWD	2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	23 city/31 hwy
	AWD	2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	23 city/28 hwy
		2.5 turbo 4-cyl.	20 city/27 hwy
Santa Fe
	FWD	2.5 turbo 4-cyl.	20 city/29 hwy
	AWD	2.5 turbo 4-cyl.	20 city/28 hwy
		XRT 2.5 turbo 4-cyl.	19 city/25 hwy

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The Sorento offers an available sequential manual gearbox (SMG). With no clutch pedal to worry about and a fully automatic mode, an SMG is much more efficient than a conventional automatic but just as easy to drive. The Santa Fe doesn’t offer an SMG or a conventional manual transmission.

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The Sorento stops much shorter than the Santa Fe:

	Sorento	Santa Fe
60 to 0 MPH	115 feet	125 feet	Motor Trend

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The Sorento X-Line SX Prestige handles at .85 G’s, while the Santa Fe Calligraphy HTRAC AWD pulls only .80 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Sorento X-Line SX Prestige executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver quicker than the Santa Fe Calligraphy HTRAC AWD (26.5 seconds @ .67 average G’s vs. 27.1 seconds @ .64 average G’s).

For greater off-road capability the Sorento has a 1.2 inches greater minimum ground clearance than the Santa Fe (8.2 vs. 7 inches), allowing the Sorento to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

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The Kia Sorento may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 250 to 550 pounds less than the Hyundai Santa Fe.

The Sorento 4x4 is 11 inches shorter in height than the Santa Fe, making the Sorento 4x4 much easier to wash and garage and drive off-road (lower center of gravity).

© 1999 - 2025Advanta-STAR Automotive Research, all rights reserved. This vehicle comparison and all of the content in it are provided only by license from Advanta-STAR Automotive Research Corporation of America (“Advanta-STAR”). If you are not a legally licensed user of this vehicle comparison, it is against federal law to access it, copy it, forward it, or use it in any manner whatsoever. Any unauthorized use of this vehicle comparison is a violation of U.S. and international law and is punishable criminally and civilly. Removal of this watermark/notification without prior written license and approval received from Advanta-STAR is an agreement, understanding, and/or stipulation by the person(s), entities, agents, attorneys, and any other persons involved in the removal of this watermark/notification (including but not limited to Search Optics, LLC and any and all parent entities, sister entities, and subsidiary entities of Search Optics, LLC and/or any other entity, agent, attorney, and persons related in any manner to Search Optics, LLC) to: 1) an agreed upon amount of liquidated monetary damages of a minimum of $1,250,000.00 US Dollars in favor of Advanta-STAR; 2) the jurisdiction and enforcement of any legal claims associated with this matter asserted by Advanta-STAR in the United States Federal District Court in Portand, Oregon; and 3) service of process of any legal claims asserted by Advanta-STAR associated with this matter may be accomplished by First-Class Postage by the United States Postal Service or comparable service. 6ZPP9-8ZFIL 2a06:98c0:3600::103 2025/11/04

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the Sorento. The Santa Fe doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

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A maintenance reminder system is standard on the Sorento to save the owner time and money by calculating maintenance intervals for oil changes, based on odometer mileage. This takes the guesswork out of keeping your vehicle in top condition and helps it last longer. Hyundai doesn’t offer a maintenance reminder on the Santa Fe.

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Consumer Reports® recommends both the Kia Sorento and the Hyundai Santa Fe, based on reliability, safety and performance.