CAR GAZING
Borrego shows surprising refinement
Built-from-scratch SUV competes with American, Japanese stalwarts
By Derek Price
If a car company wants to update one of its models, it's a straightforward job.
Engineers will just take this year's version and make it better. They'll add more power, more room, a stiffer chassis, fresher style and a longer options list, all of which is aimed at getting people to come to the dealer showrooms.
But what if they're building a car entirely from scratch?
That's the problem Kia engineers had to tackle when building the new Borrego SUV. While American and Japanese companies have spent decades refining their SUVs to meet the ever-increasing demands of consumers, poor little Kia puttered along with its tiny compact cars. It just didn't have anything comparable.
Now, all of a sudden, Kia had to come up with a big, body-on-frame SUV without any precedent. Someone in Korea picked up a blank piece of paper and said, "Hmmm ... What am I going to put here?"
That's why I'm surprised at just how good the Borrego is.
For a vehicle designed from scratch, the very first Kia of its kind and the first one with V8 power, the Borrego feels remarkably like the upscale mid-size SUVs it competes with. It's quiet, smooth, refined and well-built vehicle that compares well with the American brands that have been evolving for years.
So much for automotive Darwinism.
This really shouldn't be a surprise considering how much the Korean brands – Kia and Hyundai – have improved in the past decade. While Kia used to be the punchline of countless jokes, today it can hold its own with Honda and Toyota. It's a serious, legitimate alternative.
Of course, price is still a primary reason people will drive to a Kia dealer instead of a more well-known brand. And the Borrego doesn't disappoint.
It starts under $27,000, which is a bit less than the Ford Explorer, Toyota 4Runner and Nissan Pathfinder. Better yet, its smooth ride feels more comfortable than the built-for-off-road 4Runner and Pathfinder. Its soft, bread-pudding suspension makes it float almost like a luxury SUV.
Note the word "almost." Despite Kia's assertions that the Borrego is a luxury vehicle, nobody is going to pick the Kia over a Lexus. They just don't compare.
The Borrego does have high aspirations, though, with upscale options like a navigation system, rear-seat DVD player and automatic climate control.
It's also interesting to see that the Borrego is a real, honest-to-goodness SUV at a time when the rest of the world has fallen in love with crossover vehicles. As such, the Borrego is heavier, bouncier and less fuel efficient than its car-based competitors, but it also offers the advantages of a real SUV, like off-road capability and a higher towing capacity.
It can tow up to 7,500 pounds, which proves how different it is from the cheap and famous Kia Rio.
It just goes to show how this Korean can do an awfully good American impression.
(Derek Price is a newspaper editor and freelance writer living in Texas.)
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