Kia Sportage - Engines, performance and drive

​Comfort and refinement are the Kia Sportage’s key strengths. Its soft suspension set-up means this family SUV is able to deal effectively with bumps in the road and reduce unpleasant jolts intruding into the cabin. 

There is a feeling that you’re not as well-connected to the road as a Ford Kuga, especially over uneven surfaces and mid-corner undulations, and the Sportage will lean a bit more in corners. If you’re after a sportier drive, you may wish to consider the Mazda CX-5 or even the SEAT Ateca, because both are better for tackling the twisty stuff.

What is the Kia Sportage like to drive?

In town

You’ll find the steering in the Sportage to be a touch light and lacking in feel, but the payoff is that the Sportage is easy to pilot around town and in heavier urban traffic – where family car buyers will likely be doing most of their driving. The Sportage (especially in smaller 18-inch wheels) has a smoother and more comfortable ride at low speeds than the Nissan Qashqai.  

If you go for the hybrid Sportage, it feels more lethargic when pulling away from a standstill than the equivalent e-Power Qashqai, which has a more responsive accelerator pedal and stronger feeling electric motor.

On A- and B-roads

Once you’ve got over that initial reluctance to move off, the Sportage has enough performance to cater for most people’s needs. On paper, it takes half a second longer to cover the 0-62mph dash than the equivalent e-Power Qashqai, but once rolling, both the Sportage and Qashqai offer similar mid-range grunt. The engine note in the Sportage sounds harsh, though, so it’s best to avoid putting your foot down unless it’s really needed.

The Kia’s softer suspension set-up is clear on a twisty road because there’s more body lean through the turns. It feels a bit lazy when entering a corner, while the steering in the Sportage isn’t quite as precise as a Kuga or Ateca, either. As with the Qashqai, these aren’t huge negatives for a car of this type, and the softer suspension means that for the most part, the Sportage is very forgiving. Some larger compressions can cause the front axle to bounce a couple of times before it fully settles, though.

On the motorway

At higher speeds, the Sportage has fine straight-line stability on the motorway, and refinement is generally good. Wind noise is well muted, and road rumble is similarly well contained. The engine in all versions sounds a harsh when accelerating up to the national speed limit, but it quietens down to blend in with the background hum once you’ve reached your cruising speed. There’s enough low-down torque (even in the least powerful petrol) to allow you to leave the car in sixth and not worry all that much about changing down for inclines.

0-62mph acceleration and top speed

The mild-hybrid petrol Sportage is the least potent in the line-up, but it still returns a respectable 157bhp and a 0-62mph sprint time of 9.8 seconds for the manual, or a slightly swifter 9.3 seconds sprint with the dual-clutch automatic. The manual has a top speed of 119mph, while the auto is marginally slower at 117mph. 

The 212bhp full-hybrid's extra punch dispatches the 0-62mph run in 8.4 seconds, while the all-wheel drive set-up's extra weight increases the full hybrid's benchmark sprint time to 8.7 seconds. Both versions have a top speed of 115 mph.

The most expensive plug-in hybrid model has more power at 248bhp, but has a bigger, heavier battery and standard four-wheel drive, so it doesn’t get from 0-62mph any faster than the full-hybrid’s 8.4 second time. The top speed is slightly reduced at 112mph.