I was too kind to the Kia Borrego after driving the V-8 model. Two stars may have been one too many.

Shortly after reviewing this big SUV, I had the opportunity to drive the V-6 version to Chicago. I briefly considered walking back.

When I tested the bigger Borrego, I found it an unimpressive, ill-timed vehicle, even though it offered a nice powertrain that could chew up snow. The inclement weather played to the vehicle's strong suit -- never going over 40 mph.

When sunny days returned and I opened up the V-6 Borrego, I found few areas of this seven-passenger SUV worth of any consideration.

It's a brand new model but it's already out dated. The only thing the V-6 model will accomplish for Kia is lowering the automaker's fleet mileage in federal CAFÉ ratings.

While the 3.8-liter V-6 provides ample power -- 276 horses and 267-pound-feet of torque -- the highway revealed a soft underbelly of bad performance and awful gas mileage.

Yes, the sticker (and EPA) says the Borrego will get 21 miles per gallon on the highway. Apparently, Interstate 94 is not that highway, where I averaged city mileage numbers (16 mpg) on the trip to Chicago and 18 mpg on the way back.

The poor gas mileage forced me to stop for fuel in Gary, Indiana. If you think Detroit has issues, try touring Gary in search of cheap gasoline and cartons of cigarettes.

Now, I might be more forgiving of the mileage numbers had I kept a blistering pace -- arriving in the Windy City in four hours, like so many of my friends say they do. (I believe none of them.)

No, I was not speeding any more than the next guy outside of Paw Paw, and while the Borrego can hit 80 mph, the high-riding SUV starts to float a little too much at that speed for my liking.

At 70 mph, the wind and road noise become unbearable. You turn up the stereo to try and drown out wind and concrete with "Songs for Drella" or any other Lou Reed on hand. The true test of a car's road noise level comes when you stop. Turn off the car without adjusting the volume and get out of the vehicle for a few minutes. When you get back in, just turn the key and see how loud the stereo was when you were on the highway. If it's at a comfortable level, maybe a touch louder than you like, the interior noise is not bad. In the Borrego, the rearview mirror shook so violently back and forth, I thought it might pop off the glass.

A second test was in order, so I stopped at a Wendy's near Jackson. When I got back into the Borrego and turned the key, the rear view mirror vibrated so much it reminded me of a friend with nystagmus. I should give him a call. Though I couldn't do it hands free -- my test vehicle did not have the $350 Bluetooth option.

I can note that there's a nice little connector on the center console next to the gear shifter that connects your personal music device and automatically switches the stereo to auxiliary mode. There's also a USB connection there, though I couldn't get my iPhone to work with the connection correctly. The downside to the easy access to the connections is that if you plug everything in, it can turn your center console with all of the wires into a plate of spaghetti.

But most of the interior is cheap and overdone.

And the seat, while fine for a quick trip around town, bordered on abusive for the five-hour trip to Chicago. The back support was minimal and if I stay seated the same way for too long my legs would fall asleep.

I would have fallen sleep too during the drive it hadn't been for my suitcase bumping around in the back. On a few occasions, I was hit with a heavy crosswind that would cause me to push to one side very heavily in my lane. This would cause my suitcase to roll across the back of the Borrego. The hard plastic on the back of the third row, which I had folded flat, made it slippery.

The body rolled all of the time: Exiting the highway, entering the highway, turning at a corner and, sometimes, on windy straight aways. It seemed severe and was always punctuated with a from my suitcase hitting the wall of the SUV.

This seems the apt metaphor for the Borrego: A vehicle that arrived too late, and, no doubt, will leave too soon.

With a starting price of $26,000 for a two-wheel drive model, my 4x4, which came nicely loaded with leather, upgraded stereo, running boards and a host of other features, topped out at $36,000.

That's 36,000 U.S. dollars.

The V-6 Borrego wouldn't compare very well to a 10-year-old Ford Explorer, which, according to Kelley Blue Book, you can pick up for $3,300.

Did you hear that? I think it was a