A HIGH FIVE FOR KIA
LET’s give a big cheer to Kia which has launched the fifth generation of its popular five-seater sportage family suV which I’ve just spent a pleasant day driving ahead of first deliveries this week. Five trim grades rise from: 2, 3, 4, GT Line and GT Line s, in either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, with prices from £26,745.
all eight engine variants are based around 1.6-litre turbo petrol or diesel, including standard, mild hybrids, and self-charging hybrids, with a plug-in hybrid all-wheel drive due in spring.
and what perfect timing as, for the first time, the Kia sportage was yesterday named the biggest selling uK car in January (3,458 sales) and Kia the biggest selling car firm with 10,504 sales.
since its first arrival in Britain in 1995, more than 327,500 have been sold, with the outgoing fourth-generation model launched in 2016 accounting for nearly 200,000 of the total.
Kia hopes to sell a record 100,000 cars here this year, of which one in three could be fifth-gen sportages. I drove two versions of the beefy, fully-stocked, rangetopping 226 bhp 1.6 GT-Line s hybrid, starting with the frontwheel drive option.
Priced from £38,645, mine was £39,445 thanks to a few ‘extras’.
It’s spacious, comfortable, enjoyable to drive and easy and intuitive to master, with supportive seats, a commanding view, a funky twist of design, and some clever tricks up its sleeve including fold-away cup-holders. It’s chock-full with driver-assist and safety kit and features panoramic sunroof and modern interior.
There are just two drive modes: ‘eco’ for everyday driving and cruising, and ‘sport’ for a performance feel. It accelerates in decent order from rest to 62 mph in 7.7 seconds up to a top speed of 120mph, where legal. Easy on the pocket, too, with an average 48.7 mpg fuel consumption and Co2 emissions of 132 g/km.
I also took the all-wheel drive for a spin, including some light off-roading along a muddy track and field. It felt very together and even more planted on the road. Not for serious off-roading, but it may get you out of a rut at a drenched Glastonbury Festival.