Kia Sportage
Mix of good looks and superb value sets the Kia Sportage apart
The Sportage is attractively priced, comes with lots of standard kit and looks great. Kia’s industry-leading warranty and decent residuals add to the appeal, yet the car doesn’t handle or ride as well as the Mazda, while the 2.0-litre CRDi engine is unrefined and noisy. Even so, it does enough to finish ahead of the new Forester.
Compact SUV buyers demand style and desirability from their cars, and the eye-catching Kia Sportage scores in this respect, even though the brand can’t trade on its four-wheel-drive heritage as Subaru can.
However, there’s a price to pay for these sweeping lines. Thick A-pillars cause nasty blind spots, while the sloping roofline affects the maximum luggage capacity – the Kia trails both rivals here, with a figure of 1,353 litres. The rear seats don’t fold fully flat, either.
Still, with the seats in place, the well shaped 564-litre boot is the biggest of the SUVs on test. Plus, the Kia Sportage is also the only car in this test to squeeze a full-size spare wheel under the boot floor. Passengers don’t fare too badly, either, with similar rear legroom to the Mazda’s, and the flat transmission tunnel makes the middle seat a bit more comfortable.
Up front, the layered dash design and large buttons are easy to live with, while the big touchscreen navigation features clear mapping and a reversing camera. There’s lots of seat and steering wheel adjustment, and cabin quality is a match for the Mazda CX-5’s.
The Kia Sportage also has lots of kit, with leather, heated seats, electric folding mirrors and a panoramic sunroof. And if you head off-road, the compact SUV's all-wheel drive is complemented by a locking differential and hill-descent control.
Some key flaws let the Sportage down, though – and the engine is one of them. Not only does the 134bhp 2.0-litre trail the 173bhp Mazda on performance, it emits 12g/km more CO2 as well – with no stop-start, it produces 156g/km. And if you upgrade to the 181bhp version, to get closer to our CX-5 on performance, emissions leap to 158g/km for the manual and 189g/km for the auto.
A bigger concern is the refinement. At idle, there’s noticeable under-bonnet rattle, and once on the move the CRDi is strained above 3,000rpm. Engine drone is apparent when cruising, too, and this combines with a firmer ride than in the Mazda CX-5 to take the edge off comfort aboard the Kia.
It’s still more refined than the Subaru Forester, although the Kia Sportage suffers more body roll than either rival. And while the four-wheel drive eliminates the wheelspin that troubles front-driven Sportages, the rest of the driving experience is a letdown. In particular, the steering lacks the Mazda’s natural feel, with weighting that changes either side of the straight-ahead, as well as artificial feedback.
The Kia Sportage is over £3,000 cheaper to buy than the Mazda, and comes well equipped. You obviously have to put up with a lower power output and limited performance compared to the CX-5, plus higher emissions. But Kia’s seven-year warranty is included, and residuals are strong. Plus, the bold styling and smart, solid cabin stand the Sportage in good stead when lined up against the Subaru Forester.
