KIA SPORTAGE 1.7 CRDI
KIA SPORTAGE 1.7 CRDI IGNITE PLUS
More room to live
I HAVE NEVER BEEN OVERLY CONCERNED ABOUT HAVING A LITTLE “JUNK IN THE TRUNK” … EXCEPT, OF COURSE, AFTER A COUPLE OF WEEKS OF FESTIVE SEASON INDULGING WHEN IT IS REASSURING TO KNOW THAT AT LEAST SOMEWHERE, THOSE EXTRA BOOTY CENTIMETRES ARE APPRECIATED. I ALSO SELDOM GIVE A THOUGHT TO THE BOOTY DEPARTMENT OF MY TEST CARS, EXCEPT WHEN IT COMES TO ROAD TRIPS WHEN A SUITCASE OR TWO WILL BE ADDED TO MY USUAL HANDBAG. THAT SAID, ONE ASSUMES THAT MOST SUVS WILL NOT BE LACKING IN THAT DEPARTMENT. WELL, I WAS WRONG.
On a recent trip to Madikwe, four of us arrived at the office to meet the arrival of our press car (which shall remain nameless), suitcases in tow. What greeted us was a beautiful SUV but, as it turned out, its booty would barely have filled out a pair of jeans! What ensued was a complicated game of Tetris as we shoved and manoeuvred the luggage in every possible combination until we eventually had about two-thirds of it squeezed into the boot (with only a sliver of rear window left to look out of) and the rest dotted around the interior of the car. It was a long drive, to say the least.
Imagine my sheer joy then, to open the boot of the new Kia Sportage, to find a cavernous space inside. Angels sang as we popped in bag after bag, which the Sportage swallowed up with barely a burp. My partner even commented that we could shove a dead body in there if we wanted too (not that we did).
SUPERSIZED CHOICE
It turns out that the boot is not the only thing that is supersized in the Sportage. Kia recently announced enhancements to seven models in the Sportage line-up (up from the five-range selection that was launched in 2016). This means that there is a Sportage to suit every price and personal preference. For a start, the entrylevel 2.0 Ignite model now comes with the option of a six-speed auto box, while still retaining all of the standard features (such as automatic headlight control and rear park distance control) which make the baby of the batch still pack quite a specced punch.
The new Ignite Plus models up the ante on the bells and whistles, while retaining their attractive price point, while potential buyers now also have the option of ticking the box for the 2.0-litre petrol engine or the debutante 1.7-litre CRDI turbodiesel engine (our test car) for added oomph in the torque department. The range’s midspec EX offering is also throwing a new engine into the mix – this time a 2.0-litre petrol option – while the addition of the new EX PLUS derivatives allows buyers, who perhaps cannot afford the top of the range SX AWD models, to still add a couple more items to the already impressive EX Dear Santa list. Electric front seats, a rear-view camera, and integrated satellite navigation certainly ensure bootylicious driving enjoyment.
LAST WORD
Enjoyable the Sportage certainly is. Responsive, smooth, and comfortable, it made our 500-odd-kilometre drive as easy as it was to shove our bags in its boot – while its enviable ability to fill out a pair of jeans certainly had heads turning. More choice, more power, more comfort, more added extras, more trunk; the new Kia Sportage range is undoubtedly anything but junk.
MY PARTNER EVEN COMMENTED THAT WE COULD SHOVE A DEAD BODY IN THERE IF WE WANTED TOO (NOT THAT WE DID).