Mild hybrid for revamped Kia

Along with the Nissan Qashqai, the Kia Sportage was one of two cars that kicked off the SUV craze.

The Sportage remains Kia’s bestselling car in Britain, accounting for around 40% of sales here, and is hugely important to the brand.

They’ve given the current version a mid-life refresh and I headed to Slovakia – where Kia manufactures its European cars – to try the new model out.

It doesn’t look much different from the outside, which is because the biggest changes have happened underneath the bonnet.

Both petrol and diesel engines have been tweaked to comply with the latest EU emissions regulations.

The old 1.7 litre diesel has been ditched altogether, replaced by a modern 1.6 diesel that’s less polluting

The big-ticket item, however, is the addition of a hybrid powertrain.

Rather than converting the Sportage into a full hybrid, Kia has bolted on a 48-volt mild-hybrid booster system instead.

It adds 13bhp, bringing power up from 182 to 195bhp. I spent some time driving this model in the scenic environs of the Tatras Mountains. It isn’t cheap, with my top spec version costing £34,545 – but that was paired with a fancy eight-speed automatic gearbox.

Unlike more powerful hybrids, the Kia can’t run in electric mode alone – the hybrid system isn’t powerful enough for that.

Instead it reduces the engine’s workload under acceleration, improving fuel economy. The battery tops itself up when the vehicle is coasting or braking.

The difference between the hybrid and non-hybrid version is fairly subtle.

The stop-start system is able to shut off the engine while the car is still doing around 10mph, and it feels smoother in mid-range acceleration.

Kia hasn’t released fuel economy figures yet but says the hybrid improves it by up to 4%.

The car rides as well as ever, and is a good machine for cruising in. Given its height, it doesn’t handle nearly as well as a hatchback such as the Ford Focus, but it does fine when set against rivals like the Nissan Qashqai.

The mild hybrid is an enticing rangetopper to the impressive Sportage range.

Were it my money, I would probably go for the new 1.6 litre diesel which also offers strong fuel economy and costs around £3,000 less than the hybrid model.

The stopstart system is able to shut off the engine while the car is still doing around 10mph

Kia’s Sportage has had a mid-life refresh.