Kia Sportage 1.7 CRDi six-speed manual

Ed Wiseman gets to grips with the fully loaded diesel Sportage

to travel in comfort and the huge flat-bottomed 491-litre boot would accommodate everyone’s clobber with ease. The Sportage offers more than a suggestion of off-road performance. Four-wheel-drive adds real practicality to this SUV, especially with the button that splits torque equally between the front and rear wheels. Price: From £19,745 Engine: 1.7-litre diesel producing 114bhp and 280nm Transmission: Six-speed manual Performance: Top speed 109mph, 0-60mph in 11.1 seconds Economy: 61.4mpg combined Emissions: 119g/km In fact, the pricing makes this a curious model. The car starts at around £18,000, which will buy you a very basic – but still perfectly adequate – SUV.

At the other end of the scale, the £33,000 ‘first edition’ has all the bells and whistles (including the underwhelming auto box) but competes with Land Rover and Audi.

The ‘best’ Sportage is probably the manual 1.7-litre diesel in KX-4 trim, but at around £30,000 many will head in the direction of a premium competitor. In short, the midrange Sportages are excellent value. The Kia Sportage will be a hugely popular car, mainly ONE WORD This car summed up in just a single word: Generalist among people who want to pay between £20,000 and £30,000 for a big, roomy, family barge. It’s hard to recommend the most expensive Sportages, as they’re up against some seriously good alternatives, but a mid-range four-wheel-drive model will be all the car most families will ever need.