Literally and figuratively, the Sorento is a heavyweight of the towing world, so great things were expected from the big Kia.

But we were rather disappointed. Soft suspension allowed a disconcerting degree of movement through our lane-change test. It was happy on the first, low-speed run, but the van started to tug the back end of the car around on the second pass. The Sorento was better behaved at a steady 60mph, yet still pitched and wallowed over broken Tarmac. The braking test took place on a slightly damp track, but even making allowances for this, the Kia fell some way short of the best.

The Sorento fared a little better with our practicality testers, who approved of the 12V socket in the boot and the full-size spare wheel. All but two items of our test load could be fitted in the back.

The Kia makes further amends when you consider value. It’s a big 4×4 for compact 4×4 money, and can tow heavy vans.