Eric's Autos: Reviewing the 2016 Kia Sedona
The sporty-themed SX-L trim (which is the heaviest version) comes with a fairly appalling 17 city, 22 highway rating. The SX is a little better - 18/ 25. But that's still low-20s/high teens, in average everyday driving.
In other words, about 5 MPG better than a V8 muscle car averaged. Without a four-barrel Holley sucking air. And with an overdrive transmission.
But in the Kia's defense, the others - with one exception - are not much better: 18 city, 25 highway for the Sienna (16 city, 23 highway with the optional AWD), 17 city/25 highway for the T&C. The exception is the Honda Odyssey, which somehow manages 19 city and 28 on the highway.
The Kia's V6, like the others in this class, is paired only with an automatic (six-speed) and the only available drive configuration is front-wheel-drive. This includes Chrysler - which used to aggressively tout its AWD-available vans. No more.
It's not that AWD isn't popular. Virtually every crossover SUV offers this feature. It's that adding it really eats into the mileage (viz, the AWD Sienna's hole-in-the-gas-tank 16 city rating).
People seem to be more tolerant of OPEC-friendly MPG numbers in crossovers - which are seen as rugged and sporty. Whereas minivans are supposed to be at least plausibly practical. But V8 muscle car MPG numbers don't fit that vibe.
Kia compensates for its hungrier-than-others engine by adding an extra gallon of tank capacity - 21.1 gallons vs. 20 for the Sienna and T&C. So you can go about the same distance in any of them. You'll just pay a little more to fill up the Kia.
The Odyssey also has a 21 gallon tank - and because its V6 drinks less fuel than the others, it can go farther on that tank than any of them: 588 miles on the highway vs. 506.4 for the Kia, 500 for the Toyota and the Chrysler.
When ordered with the optional hitch/trailering package, the Sedona can pull a respectable 3,500 lbs. - same as the Sienna and Odyssey, slightly less than the T&C (3,600 lbs.)
ON THE ROAD
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