KIA Borrego

AS WE go smaller and greener and move away from big, body-on-frame V-8 sport/utilities to more compact crossovers, Kia branches into a new segment with its V- 8 - po we red, b ody-o n -f ra m e, seven-passenger Borrego sport/ utility. It features the same powerful (about 375 horses!) 4,6-liter V-8 you'll find under the hood of Hyundai's new Genesis. Kia says the V-8 Borrego (Mohave in South Korea) will go on sale just ahead of the Genesis V-8. So let's talk timing. When Kia began developing the Borrego some four years ago, gas was under $2 per gallon, automakers were still touting the sustainability of the big-truck boom, and Toyota was working on its huge new Sequoia.
Good thing for Kia, the Borrego is closer to the Highlander in size and will come with a 260-horsepower, 257-pound-foot 3.8-liter V-6 as its standard engine. A year after the Borrego's summer launch, Kia will add a new"clean-diesel"six. It can't come soon enough—it's the type of engine that could save this segment.



Kia claims the Borrego's platform is unique, featuring an independent rear suspension, although it has some things in common with the shorter Sorento's. Kia expects the Borrego to be nearly as good off-road as the Sorento (save for ramp-breakover angles), thanks to the same four-wheel-drive systems; standard electronically switched part-time with a iow range or optional Torque-On-Demand full-time with a low range. Transmissions are a six-speed automatic with the V-8, five-speed automatic with the V-6. Borrego will tow 7500 pounds, Kia says.

Outside, the Borrego is handsome in an anonymous, safe way. inside you'll find proof that Kia and sister company Hyundai are spending lots of money and quickly refining interior quality, with perforated leather seats, decent switchgear, and good fit and finish. Base price will be in the mid-$20s when the Borrego hits showrooms in late July or August, but a top-trim model with navigation system, backup camera, and the V-8 will breach $30,000. Along with the rest of the 2009 Kia line, Sirius Satellite Radio is standard. As for Kia's on-again, off-again plans for a pickup based on the Borrego's platform, they're off again, it's alt a question of timing.