We've once again caught the refreshed Kia Sorento on the Nurburgring, now with less camouflage. As Kia prepares to officially release the crossover, we can start to see more design details including the shape of the taillights.
Caught! Refreshed Kia Sorento Crossover Shows Off Sleeker Taillights imageThe loose-fitting, padded cloth-like camouflage typical of Hyundai and Kia prototypes has been removed from this tester, and better show off the car's lines. As this is a refresh of the Sorento, not much appears to have changed on the front end. The headlights feature a similar shape to the current Sorento, but might be smaller on this tester. The most noticeable changes are the redesigned taillamps that look to be influenced by the Optima, sporting a slim, horizontal design. Inside the housings, the new lights do away with the many circular LEDs found in the current model's lamps.
As we previously reported, powertrain offerings aren't likely to change much for the refreshed model. As such, you can expect the same 276-hp 3.5-liter V-6 and 191-hp direct-injected 2.4-liter I-4 to return for model-year 2014. Currently, the 2013 Kia Sorento is EPA-rated from 18/24 mpg city/highway in an all-wheel-drive V-6 model and 22/32 mpg in a front-drive Sorento with the direct-injection 2.4-liter I-4. While this tester looks nearly ready for its debut, we'll probably have to wait until at least the end of the year to see it completely camo-free.