JUST A MILD REFRESH
Modestly redesigned sport ute is a good little driver, but you’ll get dinged at the pumps
The compact SUV segment is one of the most popular in Canada, and generally with good reason. They’re about the length and width of a comparable sedan, but taller and with more upright seating. That can make exit and entry easier, especially for older occupants, or parents getting children inside and buckled up. And for the most part, Kia’s Sportage is a good example in this crowded market.
For 2020, the Sportage undergoes a mild refresh, with redesigned front and rear fascias, new headlights, and some tweaks to its list of features. That’s fine, because not a lot on this little trucklet needed to be changed.
It sits about mid-pack in Kia’s lineup, between the larger Sorento and the smaller Seltos, and with two rows of seats for five-passenger seating. Most trim levels, including my tester, use a 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine that makes 181 horsepower and 175 poundfeet of torque. The top-level SX comes exclusively with a 2.0-L turbocharged four-cylinder, with 237 hp. The base Sportage starts at $25,795 with front-wheel drive. All others are all-wheel drive, including my EX Tech tester, at $37,995. The lineup tops out with the SX, at $39,995.
The Sportage’s 2.4-L engine definitely isn’t a powerhouse, but it propels the trucklet just fine through traffic. You might not brag to your friends about its acceleration, but it’s smooth and linear. I also tend to prefer the simplicity of a naturally aspirated engine to one that’s turbocharged, especially in something I’m planning to keep for a long time. Both engines are mated to a six-speed automatic.
The AWD system primarily drives the front wheels, but sends power to the rear ones when it’s needed for traction. There’s a 4×4 button that locks the axles for equal power distribution, front to rear, at low speeds; it’s handy if you’re trying to get out of a snowy or muddy driveway.
The Sportage definitely isn’t an off-roader, but put some winter tires on it and you’ll be good to go through inclement weather.
While the Sportage gets the job done, there’s a price to be paid — at the pumps. Fuel efficiency is a key component in this segment, but the Sportage is relatively thirsty, with a combined city/highway rating of 10.0 L/100 kilometres. Most of its AWD competitors do better: the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, and Volkswagen Tiguan average almost 2.0 L/100 km better. Natural Resources Canada estimates that, compared to any of those three, you’ll spend about $500 a year more on gas when fuelling up the Sportage.
The Sportage’s suspension is firm but the ride is still comfortable, and the steering is light and accurate. It’s easy to spin it around in tight parking lots, but the Sportage also is well-planted and confident on the highway. You’ll feel the nastier road bumps, but the cabin is fairly quiet.
The cabin has a simple and pleasing design. There are some wide expanses of hard plastic, which doesn’t always look like they’re in harmony with a vehicle worth $38,000, but everything is fitted together very well.
I prefer physical switchgear to paging through computer screens to find a function, and the Sportage delivers with large, easy-to-use buttons and dials. The fan speed is a little annoying, in that you have to tap one button for up and another for down — spinning a knob is much easier — but I can live with that, given how easy everything else is to operate.
The Sportage is roomy inside, including in the rear seats, which fold easily and almost flat to increase the cargo compartment. The front seats are supportive and they stayed comfortable on a longer drive.
Kia’s about stuffing in a lot for the price, and the base Sportage includes heated front seats, automatic headlamps, and an eightinch touch-screen infotainment system with Apple Carplay and Android Auto. The EX, midway in the trim levels, includes such items as lane-keeping assist, emergency front braking, a panoramic sunroof, wireless phone charging, a 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, and my new favourite feature, a heated steering wheel.
My tester, the EX Tech, also includes heated rear seats, ventilated front seats, LED headlamps, and an auto-dimming rear-view mirror. The “Tech” part of the package adds GPS navigation, a premium sound system, and satellite radio.
That’s a decent set of features, and it’s topped off with a five-year or 100,000-km warranty on just about everything.
Driving.ca