Why on earth would someone graft Wolverine's adamantium claws on the back of a 2016 Kia Sorento? We’ll, they're actually up front too and the reason for that is purely promotional.

Kia created the X-Men-inspired Sorento as part of a collaboration with Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment to promote their upcoming Blu-ray and DVD release of the "X-Men: Days of Future Past", and in a marketing twist, its sponsorship of the Australian Open 2015 as well.

How do those two mix, you ask? We'll let Kia do the explaining:

"Kia will release a video on its Facebook page and YouTube in mid-December, showing Rafael Nadal teaming up with the X-Men and taking on the Sentinels - the robotic antagonists from the latest film in the X-Men franchise- who are threatening the Australian Open 2015. To save the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, the X-Men and Nadal are helped by a 'Kia X-Car', which leads the attack against the Sentinels."

Get it now? Kia will also showcase the X-Men Sorento at Melbourne Park throughout the tennis tournament, which takes place from 19 January to 1 February 2015.

The third-generation Kia Sorento is bigger and better-equipped than its predecessor. It offers seven seats as standard, more features and a more premium interior.

WhatCar magazine invited some of its readers to check out the new Sorento, and among them there were people who drive the second-generation Kia Sorento, as well as other comparable SUVs like the Hyundai Santa Fe and Nissan Qashqai+2 (no longer on offer). There’s also one reader who owns a Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate and is considering a switch to a 7-seat SUV.

All guests saw the Sorento’s design as a significant improvement over the previous model, both in terms of the exterior and the cabin. Most of them noticed Kia has ditched cheap-looking materials for more premium ones. As for the seven-seats, while most of the readers found them spacious enough, access to them is not ideal. Head down for more of their opinions on the new Sorento.

The new 2016 MY Kia Sorento SUV fared much better this time in the difficult small overlap crash test. Before its redesign it rated poor, but now the new one has been tested and that has been brought up to good.

It’s reassuring news when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) says the Sorento would have “a low risk of any significant injuries in a crash of this severity.”

The IIHS reminds us that last time it tested an all-new Sorento, in 2012, that car performed much worse overall, and notes that “the side curtain airbag didn't deploy, and the dummy's head barely contacted the front airbag before sliding off the left side, as the steering column moved to the right. Measures from the dummy indicated a high likelihood of injuries to the left lower leg and possible injuries to the left thigh and knee.”

If you want to see live action footage of how the Sorento performed, check out the video after the virtual jump!

The all-new Kia Sorento bridges the gap between compact and mid-size SUVs and may tempt buyers from both categories, especially since it offers the option of seven seats.

Consumer Reports’ George Kennedy thinks the 290hp 3.3-liter V6 gasoline engine mated to the six-speed automatic transmission is the pick of the range, being better suited to the Sorento than the standard 185hp 2.4-liter four-cylinder or the 240hp 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder.

The ride is described as an improvement over the previous-generation model, as are the fit and finish and the equipment. Still, there are some problems too. Like the Sedona, the standard Sorento’s radio screen is too small both for reading audio info and for the back-up camera. However, if you opt for upper trims, the problem is solved with a larger screen.

Scroll down to watch the review.