Kia Sportage - a significant improvement
Kia Sportage is one way to make your SUV dreams come true. Perhaps this is what he owes his popularity to, but it sounds wrong. Could the new Sportage be a dream in itself? We'll find out during the test.
Kia Sportage life was not easy. A model that has been on the market for so long can be associated with moderately successful predecessors. Take, for example, the first generation Sportage. Even in South Korea, it didn't sell well. The actions of the service did not help create confidence in the model - the cars were twice called to the service station because of ... the rear wheels falling off while driving. The second improved the quality, but only the third generation became a real success for the Koreans - Sportage took as much as 13% of the Polish market in the C-SUV segment. This success was due to more interesting styling and overall practicality - probably not how the car handled.
After a turbulent past, is the Sportage finally a car worthy of customers' dreams?
tiger frog
Comparisons to the Porsche Macan are most apt. Kia Sportage The fourth generation does not so much draw inspiration from Porsche design as it happens to be very similar to it. Hood-height headlights look the same, and the compact and massive stature of both cars looks the same. However, we have no doubt that the Macan is even more of a sports car and the Sportage is a family car.
Not to dwell on the lines of Peter Schreyer's project, which he previously drew for Audi, I must admit that it is far from boring here.
New quality inside
The previous generation of the Korean SUV boasted a lot, like the singing verdict of the IIHS crash tests, but not the interior. The quality of the materials was quite mediocre. The dashboard design itself was rather uninspired, although there were some glimpses of Mr. Schreyer's craftsmanship in it.
Such a picture Kii Sportage outdated. Its interior is now modern and very well finished. Of course, as long as we look superficially at what is within reach and as high as possible, the plastic is soft and pleasant to the touch. Lower quality is much lower, but such solutions are used by many manufacturers, even from the premium segment. Cost optimization.
However, you cannot have any reservations about the equipment. The seats can be heated, also at the rear, or ventilated - only at the front. The steering wheel can also be heated. Air conditioning, of course, two-zone. In general, it is pleasant to spend time here and travel very comfortably.
And if you go somewhere, then with luggage. The trunk holds 503 liters with a repair kit and 491 liters with a spare tire.
Runs much better, but...
Exactly. Kia needed to catch up when it came to performance. Has it changed? The test model was equipped with a 1.6 T-GDI engine with 177 hp, which means that this is a version with a sportier character, the GT-Line. 19mm wide Continental tires with a 245% profile were wrapped around 45-inch rims. This already suggests that Sportage should be fine.
And that's how it rides - rides confidently, accelerates efficiently and doesn't lean too much into corners, which was a feature of its predecessor. The qualitative leap in driving is very large, but there is still room for improvement. In each sharper, but faster turn, we feel a slight vibration of the steering wheel. These vibrations naturally herald the limit of front wheel traction, followed by understeer. Despite the fact that nothing happens to the car and it goes where we show it, it seems that it is about to go straight - and this does not inspire confidence in the driver.
The adaptive steering is certainly commendable. It works directly and precisely, we can immediately feel the car and transmit some information to the steering wheel. That's why we can detect such early signs of understeer.
The engine, which develops 265 Nm of torque from 1500 to 4500 rpm, is paired with a 7-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission. The DCTs used in Kia and Hyundai are very pleasant transmissions - they don't twitch and keep up with the driver's driving style most of the time. The 4×4 drive and automatic add almost 100 kg of weight, so the performance is just decent - 9,1 to 100 km / h, top speed of 201 km / h.
While the GT-Line shouldn't be off the road, especially on these wheels, we tried our hand. After all, the ground clearance is 17,2 cm, that is, slightly higher than that of a conventional passenger car, and in addition, there is a rear axle lock button on the dashboard.
Riding on light terrain comes with quite a lot of sway and bounce - the suspension is clearly road oriented, geared towards a more sporty nature. It turned out to be impossible to drive up to the wet, muddy hill, despite the blockade. The wheels are spinning, but not able to support 1534 kg of weight - probably not enough torque is being transmitted to the rear wheels, although again, let's look at low-profile tires. It would be better on an off-road "cube", but no one will put such rubber on a city SUV.
What is the need for fuel? The manufacturer claims 9,2 l/100 km in the city, 6,5 l/100 km outside and 7,5 l/100 km on average. I would add at least 1,5 l / 100 km to these values, but there is, of course, no rule here - it all depends on the driver.
Love for design, see how to buy
new Kia Sportage this is a car that is nothing like its predecessor. However, the predecessor has achieved great success, including in Poland, so if the new generation has caught up with such a big gap, we will definitely talk about it as another Kia hit. We can quickly fall in love with the Sportage for its highly expressive design that is both eye-catching and pleasing to the eye. To some, it may seem ugly, but this only confirms the expressiveness of the design. The interior, of course, will bring us closer to buying, because it is difficult to find major flaws in it, but before signing an agreement with the seller, you should definitely go for a test drive. Perhaps we will feel more confident behind the wheel of a competing car, and perhaps what I wrote about earlier will not confuse us in any way.
Can the price put us off? She shouldn't. Base model with naturally aspirated 1.6 GDI engine producing 133 hp. and equipment "S" costs PLN 75. A car with the same drive, but with the “M” package will cost PLN 990, and with the “L” package – PLN 82. The most expensive is, of course, the GT-Line with a 990-horsepower 93 CRDI engine, 990-speed automatic and 2.0×185 drive. It costs PLN 6.
Okay, but if we want to buy one Kia Sportage for 75 thousand. PLN, what will we get as standard? First of all, this is a set of airbags, the ESC system, ISOFIX anchorages and seat belts with the function of detecting the presence of passengers. We'll also get power windows, manual air-conditioning with rear airflow, an alarm, a six-speaker radio, and 16-inch alloy wheels. It's enough?
