Boldly going
£31,445
FOR Strong looks, big boot, posh interior
AGAINST Mild hybrid lacks oomph when you demand it
The new Sportage is certainly not shy It’s the second car after the all electric EV to be designed around Kia’s “opposites united” philosophy and there’s a clear family resemblance The Sportage is slightly boxier than the swoopy EV but from the rear many of the creases are the same That aggressive face is another matter altogether but it seems as though the public is onboard according to SMMT data the Sportage was the bestselling new car in the UK in January That success might have been helped by the sheer amount of choice you get when speccing a Sportage There’s a dizzying array of powertrains that includes basic litre petrols and diesels mild hybrid versions of both a full petrol hybrid with bhp and an all wheel drive only plug in hybrid that gets an additional kWh battery pack And we haven’t even started on the manual auto and DCT gearbox options
We’ve been driving the mild hybrid petrol which combines the bhp litre turbo four pot with a spd DSG and V architecture that essentially acts as a more aggressive stop start system It’s far from a quick car with an alarming moment of hesitation when you put your foot down as the different systems work out how best to manage forward propulsion On the move it’s reasonably quiet and refined with smooth gearchanges and decent feel to the brakes
This is a family SUV so the lack of steering feel won’t worry many prospective purchasers either More importantly the Sportage rides well and smooths out rough roads even on optional inch wheels It’s worth noting that this generation of Sportage is the first to feature a bespoke Euro spec chassis with a shorter wheelbase than the one sold in the rest of the world although Kia is at pains to point out that headroom legroom and luggage space all increase over the previous iteration
It’s the interior where the biggest leap forward has been made too Higher trim levels get a giant wraparound dash complete with a
inch infotainment screen and a matching dials display There are huge amounts of kit for the money as is often the way with Kia but that’s teamed with some neatly designed air vents and door pulls to make it all feel more premium than you’d expect
What a shame that the weedy MHEV powertrain can’t quite match the interesting looks and tech filled interior then Our advice? Best to hold out for the bhp PHEV