2016 Kia Sedona SX-L
Ah the open road. What could be more fun than a great American road trip around this beautiful country— lovely scenery passing by, new towns and places, different regional foods, experiences, and sites. Don’t forget about the hours stuck in the car, screaming kids in the back seat, and passengers all begging and pleading to know, “are we there yet?” Because of this less-pleasant side of the road trip, it’s so helpful to have a comfortable and entertainment-equipped ride like the 2016 Kia Sedona when you head cross-country.
We took a great American road trip starting in Southern California from Los Angeles, up to San Francisco, then Redmond in Oregon, then around back down to Salt Lake City in Utah, on to Four Corners in New Mexico, and finally home to Dallas in Texas. We were driving our new 2016 Kia Sedona SX-L minivan. Fortunately for all of us, though we had a full load of seven passengers, the vehicle included an entertainment package complete with a built-in back seat DVD player. You could say it saved us with the kids on this beautiful and breathtaking, but also very long and quite tiring, road trip.
Features of the 2016 Kia Sedona SX-L
In 2015, Kia Motors re-designed the original 2002 model Sedona and launched this terrific second generation of minivan. For the new 2016 model, they added a few minor appearance changes as well as the so-helpful Back Up Camera that now comes like a standard feature for each of the five models. The vehicle itself provides three seating rows. Trust us when we tell you that this makes it an ideal choice for families, especially larger ones like ours. The vehicle comes with choices of five trims, the SX-L we have, as well as the SX, EX, LX, and L versions.
Our SX-L has so many helpful features that really make that extra difference on a long and tiring road trip. We like the driver memory settings, heated seats in front two rows, power adjustable front seats, upgraded luxury leather upholstery, upgraded infotainment eight inch touchscreen, helpful voice controls, and monitoring system for your blind side that includes an alert system for rear-cross traffic.
For luxury appointments, this has been such a good choice for us, and it adds a lot when you are spending a week or more in a vehicle. The steering wheel is heated and trimmed with wood, the front features parking sensors, the interior is all wood-trimmed, and seats in the second row come lounge style and even include leg rests. The exterior 19 inch wheels don’t look too shabby either.
Sedona Technology and Entertainment Packages
To be honest with you, what we most love most about our 2016 Kia Sedona SX-L is the technology and entertainment packages that are included as upgrade options. When you’re in strange cities and on highways with which you aren’t so familiar, that surround-view parking setup comes in really handy, as do the automatic high beams, xenon headlights, lane departure warning system, warning system for forward collisions, and cruise control that is intelligent and adaptive. Did we mention that the rear entertainment system saved the entire trip as far as the kids were concerned? The optional tow hitch is also great if you just can’t pack light.
Kia Sedona Motor and Power Features
There may only be one engine model available on these Kia Sedonas, but it is more than sufficiently powered, even with the fully loaded seven passengers that we took with us on our great American road trip. The engine puts out a respectable 276 horsepower with 248 pounds-feet of torque. Combine this with an automatic six speed transmission and front wheel drive and you have a more than satisfactory power plant, especially for a seven passenger-loaded minivan.
Gas mileage is not bad for these types of vehicles. Our Sedona got us 24 miles per gallon on the highway, about 18 miles per gallon around town, and a combined 20 mpg overall.
2016 Kia Sedona Interior Features and Style
We like that our new Sedona SX-L has a stylishly modern and yet not too flashy interior. Kia always keeps it pleasantly simple, and we appreciate that fact. The controls in our Sedona are nicely organized and appropriately spaced out, so that they are simple to find and use. Gauges cluster and infotainment is also similarly well designed and laid out. We find the finish and fit of the vehicle to also be a step above most of the bigger mainstay brands in its category.
Space was a huge consideration for us, and it made all the difference on the long Western U.S. road trip too. The interior of the 2016 Sedona is generously spaced. Even taller adults would find the headroom and legroom of all three rows of seats to be sufficient. Those second row seats really are unusually nice, unlike anything else we’ve seen in competing minivans.
The cargo space came through for us on the road trip too, especially with all of the luggage our seven passengers needed to bring. Behind the third row we have nearly 34 cubic feet of cargo space included. If you fold down that third row, you can boost this to a luxurious about 78.5 cubic feet. You can also fold down second row seats to get to an impressive 142 cubic feet of space.
Our Final Verdict on the 2016 Kia Sedona
We really loved this vehicle, and have a newfound appreciation for all of the 2016 Kia Sedona SX-L‘s many comfortable minivan features after this big around-the-West roadtrip. The ride is agreeable, and the power is sufficient to merge on highways and to climb hills, even fully loaded. We like the interior, and especially those technology and entertainment packages. Take our word for it on the utility of the entertainment DVD system if you’re going anywhere far away with kids.