There once was a time when the term “exciting Kia” would have been listed in the dictionary together with “political honesty” under “oxymoron.”

Many families around here used to cram into bare-bones Korean rides for family outings or learn to drive in one, but that’s a throwback to VHS days. Today, things have most certainly moved on. The latest example for this South Korean engineering evolution is the new Kia Sorento Turbo Hybrid AWD, which we got to try out for a week.

The Sorento is an exciting car, but not in the way that kids would stick pictures of it up on their bedroom walls. It’s a more grown-up feeling of excitement where, as a middle-aged couple, you use it every day and find yourself going “Oh, that’s nice/clever/well-made” over and over.

Like when you try the fantastic Bose stereo that even makes my wife’s TikTok Philippines Spotify playlist almost sound like music, or discover the huge panoramic sunroof, or the various charging outlets with indicator lights to tell you if your phone is actually receiving juice. The seats are ventilated and electrically adjustable, and the front passenger can even be moved forward by the rear passengers thanks to buttons in the seat back, right next to another phone charger.

The list goes on: It displays little video feeds from the side mirrors in the dash when you activate the indicator to eradicate blind spots, and the controls for stereo and air-conditioning have been cleverly designed to share one slim panel in the dash. In aircon mode, the physical dials control the temperature, and in media mode, they control the volume and the station. Everything feels lovingly and carefully designed to look good and function even better.

The hybrid powertrain is made up of a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine and a lithium-ion battery powering a permanent-magnet synchronous motor. It produces a combined 232hp and 367Nm. In everyday driving, this means plenty of power that’s delivered smoothly, and results in pretty decent fuel efficiency. There are three main driving modes: Eco, Sport, and Smart, plus terrain modes for Snow, Mud, and Sand. It even has flappy paddles to go up and down the six-speed auto box, but don’t expect sports-car vibes when you use them. Their presence feels like a calculated gesture, added to ease the transition for the patriarch (or matriarch) who swapped revs for responsibility.

Even if that responsibility is on the bigger side, your family won’t feel squeezed in this boxy seven-seater. There’s ample space for everyone. The third row is easy to get into thanks to a clever access mechanism, and if you drop the seats down (done with a press of another clever button), a gigantic 2,139L of luggage space opens up. With the second-row seats up, it’s still 1,090L; with all seats in use, 357L remain.

We’ve taken a fair few cars out of town for road trips over the years now, but few have been as relaxing and enjoyable as this one. The combination of things—from the comfy ride to the well-working driver-assistance tools like the adaptive cruise control—seems to give it the power to turn “Are we there yet?” into “Oh, we’re there already?”

It was hard to find things we didn’t like on the Sorento. The white interior might not be ideal if your human cargo consists of sticky-fingered snack hoarders or crayon-wielding chaos goblins. And the auto-closing tailgate seems unnecessary. It starts beeping and then closing on its own after a set amount of time, keeping you scrambling to reach the button to switch it off before it descends. Easy if you’re my height; not so easy if you’re vertically challenged. Luckily, it can be deactivated.

The biggest thing we didn’t like about it was no doubt the fact that it’s only available in four colors, and those are: boring, bland, dreary, and dull (or Aurora Black Pearl, Silky Silver, Snow White Pearl, and Volcanic Sand Brown, as Kia likes to call them). Just why many carmakers deny buyers the chance to be a bit bolder in their color choices remains a mystery to me, but here it probably has to do with being sensible and retaining resale values.

Despite being a full-size SUV that stands 4.8m long and 1.9m wide, it’s pretty easy to maneuver around town and into tight spaces thanks to rearview and 360° cameras. They help to keep it scratch-free and protect your P2,888,000 investment if you opt for the top-of-the-range SX Turbo Hybrid AWD. There are also the midrange EX+ Turbo Hybrid 4×2 for P2,588,000 and the entry-level EX Turbo Hybrid 4×2 for P2,188,000.

Included in the price of all models are an eight-year/160,000km warranty for the battery, and a five-year/160,000km one for the rest of the car. Not that you’re likely to need it. Kia consistently ranks high in customer satisfaction rankings across the globe, and by now has a reputation for selling well-engineered cars that last. The Sorento seems poised to continue that trend, and is honestly one of the best family cars on sale right now.

Who said being boring couldn’t be exciting?