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Kia’s new Sportage driven
July 6, 2010
If you listed car manufacturers currently ‘on the up’, Kia Motors would rightfully feature very strongly. It’s rather appropriate then that Kia means ‘to arise out of Asia’. Annual sales are fast approaching the two million mark, thanks mostly to a flood of superbly designed new product, including the all-new Kia Sportage I’ve just driven in Seoul, Korea.
Chunky proportions, clean detailing, strong surfaces and Kia’s distinctive front grille define the new Sportage, giving it real visual presence. Basically, it’s a crossover that majors on style and sucks at stealth, especially in nuclear Techno Orange paintwork.
Great detailing continues inside too, with layered dash architecture and an attractive layout. Plastics aren’t soft-touch, but never feel low rent and the build quality appears hard to fault. There’s comfy seats, a multi-function steering wheel that rather oddly adjusts only for rake and potentially lots of kit including all the necessary auxiliary audio input and a double sunroof. The Sportage cabin scores well in the packaging stakes with ample rear legroom and a fair size boot. Compared to its predecessor, it’s 90mm longer, 15mm wider but 60mm lower. Ground clearance shrinks by 23mm to 172mm, clearly indicating a more urban bias.
Engines include petrols in 2.0 and 2.4-litre capacities and a 2.0-litre turbodiesel. All engine derivatives, apart from the 4WD-only 2.4-litre, will be available in FWD and part-time 4WD with a lockable centre diff offering a 50/50 torque split. Gearbox options include 5 and 6-speed manuals and an in-house developed 6-speed automatic.
We drove the 122kW 2.0-litre in FWD auto guise and it was quickly apparent that Kia’s engineers have delivered a very competent ride and handling package that, despite reasonably stiff suspension, manages to absorb harsh irregularities without much fuss. While the test drive conditions didn’t allow for a thorough dynamic evaluation, all the ingredients for spirited handling exist – a stiff monocoque allied to firm springs keeps body roll in check. The new electro-hydraulic steering setup is speed sensitive offering a class competitive compromise between accuracy, weighting and feel without being overly synthetic. So far it’s an almost perfect package, but wait… there is one major gripe.
Both the engine and gearbox are mechanically sound in isolation, and the combination is generally a happy marriage. But nail the throttle as you would to execute an overtaking manoeuvre and while the gearbox kicks down smoothly and quickly, it unfortunately always seems to be a gear too far. Blame the high 4600rpm torque peak or perhaps the ‘box’s software, but as the revs boom, the engine note changes from classic to thrash metal without the expected forward thrust. I found it much less intrusive when shifting in manual mode. (Hopefully we’ll get a chance to try out the manual version on local soil soon.) ‘To be fair though, it’s only disappointing when you boot the throttle, and perfectly acceptable everywhere else, especially in an urban setting. Which is precisely where most Sportages will do duty.
There’s no doubt the new car is a massive leap forward for Kia that is bound to please current Sportage owners trading in. And I won’t be at all surprised if it also attracts many new converts to the brand.
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