Kia Sportage Review 2024

If you're looking for a versatile family car, the Kia Sportage is an excellent choice. It looks more distinctive than the Skoda Karoq and new Nissan Qashqai, while its interior is impressively spacious while also looking considerably more special than before. Standard equipment levels are impressive, while the Kia Sportage isn't going to cost a fortune to run - no matter which of the many engine choices you go for.

The obvious competitor to the Kia Sportage is the Hyundai Tucson - another Korean SUV with a bold appearance and expansive engine line-up. You should also look at the latest Nissan Qashqai, while VW Group alternatives like the Skoda Karoq, SEAT Ateca and Volkswagen Tiguan are all equally desirable. We rate the stylish Peugeot 3008 highly, too, while the Ford Kuga, Citroen C5 Aircross and Toyota RAV4 are three very practical choices.

It's been a while since the Kia Sportage was a budget option, but the Sportage's interior is just as impressive as the latest Nissan Qashqai's in terms of interior quality. Our mid-spec Kia Sportage 3 test car had soft-touch materials in all the right places, while chrome interior highlights mean there's no danger of the interior looking bland.

There is some hard plastic on the door panels, but it feels like it'll last a decade or so of being thwacked by feet, while the centre console is all wipe-clean - important for a family SUV such as the Sportage.

Most Kia Sportage models (that's 3, 4 and GT-Line S variants) come with an impressive curved twin-screen display with a widescreen infotainment system sitting alongside crisp digital dials. Lower-spec models come with a simple eight-inch digital display, which we're yet to sample.

We found navigation with the 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system that our test car came with to be a simple affair, although you do have to lean forwards to press it - not an issue on certain rivals (including the Mazda CX-5) with their twistable toggle controller on the centre console. You get Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard, while Kia Sportage 4 and GT-Line S models come with a wireless phone charger. There's even USB chargers on the back of the front seats, meaning the kids have somewhere to charge their devices.

At 4515mm in length, the new Kia Sportage is 30mm longer than the old model, while its 1865mm width is wider than before. Its height is up 10mm to 1645mm, while its wheelbase has been extended by 10mm to provide more interior space.

The front of the Kia Sportage is adequately spacious for an SUV of this size, with enough room between the driver and front-seat passenger to prevent any awkward arm bashing. You get a (fairly small) cubby box underneath the armrest, while the door bins are a little on the narrow side but big enough to lose various bits and pieces.

Rear-seat passengers have it pretty good in the new Kia Sportage. Knee room is a little on the tight side if you're a tall adult sat behind another tall adult, but kids will be pretty happy back there - especially when they learn how to recline the rear seats.

There's loads of headroom (especially on models without a panoramic sunroof) and decent visibility, although a rising window line might make things feel a little claustrophobic for young children. There's space in the middle for a third passenger, too, although a lump in the floor does make it feel a little awkward. It's certainly not as comfortable for three rear passengers as the Citroen C5 Aircross.

With an impressive 591-litre boot capacity, the Sportage's boot is just as functional as you'd want it to be. Access is high, like all SUVs, but a false floor means there isn't a lip to hoist things over. You get tie-down points, a 12V socket and useful levers for dropping the rear seats. These split 40:20:40 and leave an entirely flat floor, providing up to 1780 litres of luggage space.

Fold down the back seats and you get a flat floor and a huge lipless opening that makes it easy to stow bulky luggage into the now 1780-litre space. 

There's quite an extensive range of engines available in the new Kia Sportage. Aside from a pure-electric version (the Kia e-Niro and EV6 cater for that market), you can get an engine to suit every buyer - including petrol, diesel, mild-hybrid, hybrid and plug-in hybrid power.

So which should you buy? Well, the entry-level 1.6-litre petrol is pretty good. It's a turbocharged unit, representing a significant step up in power compared to the naturally aspirated motor offered to buyers of the old Sportage. Indeed, with 150PS, it'll accelerate to 62mph in 9.9 seconds - swift enough for a car like this. It comes with a six-speed manual transmission, which is fine, if not as slick as you'd find in a Mazda CX-5.

Although we're yet to sample it, we suspect it'd be worth hunting out a Kia Sportage with the 1.6 T-GDI petrol engine with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox and 48-volt mild-hybrid tech. As well as providing improved fuel economy, the petrol Sportage MHEV is a bit quicker than the standard petrol, while - on higher spec models - this combination is also available with four-wheel drive.

If you cover a lot of motorway miles, you might be in the minority of Kia Sportage buyers who want one with a diesel engine. You can buy a 1.6 CRDi diesel with 115PS or a mild-hybrid version with 136PS (the latter with a seven-speed automatic gearbox and optional all-wheel drive). These were later discontinued, along with non-mild-hybrid versions of the petrols, but there are still plenty to be found on the used car market.

A considerable chunk of Kia Sportage buyers are expected to plump for hybrid power. This is a 229PS petrol-electric unit, which isn't quite as rapid as its figures suggest (it'll accelerate to 62mph seconds in 7.7 seconds) but it is very efficient. It's a bit noisier than we expected, with the engine causing quite a din under acceleration. There's also a plug-in hybrid version that has a slice more power, but it actually feels very similar to the regular hybrid in terms of bother performance and refinement with the engine running, although it does give you the ability to swan around for extended periods on electric power alone.

Generally, the Kia Sportage is a very quiet and refined car with little outside noise intruding into the calm of the cabin. There's a but, though - the Kia Sportage Hybrid can trundle off serenely, but once the petrol engine kicks in it makes quite a din. That's especially true under hard acceleration, something you soon learn to avoid.

If you're in the market for a family SUV like the Kia Sportage, safety's going to be high up in your priorities. Fortunately, the new Sportage comes with an extensive list of safety equipment across the range. This includes features such as the Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist, which can detect other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists and apply the brakes automatically to prevent (or reduce the severity of) a collision.

Lane Keep Assist will keep you in your lane on the motorway, while Intelligent Speed Limit Assist can adjust the speed of the cruise control based on the speed limit.

High-spec models add even more safety tech. Kia Sportage 4 and GT-Line S models come with a 360-degree camera (making parking a breeze), as well as a Blind-Spot View Monitor and Blind-Spot Collision-Avoidance Assist and Parking Collision-Avoidance Assist.

The Kia Sportage was crash-tested by Euro NCAP in 2022, and was awarded the full five stars.

Kia is so confident about the reliability of its products that the firm offers a super-generous seven-year/100,000-mile warranty with all its cars. That's among the best in the business.

It would appear that this confidence is extremely well founded, too. In the latest HonestJohn.co.uk Satisfaction Index, the brand was voted as the seventh most reliable manufacturer in the whole study. The Sportage itself didn't make the list of the top ten most reliable cars in the study, but the Hyundai Tucson did - coming second overall - and under the skin, the Sportage is all but mechanically identical to its Korean cousin.

The cheapest Kia Sportage to insure will be the entry-level 2 grade with the diesel engine, which sits in insurance group 15E. The petrols start from insurance group 17E. The more powerful hybrid and plug-in hybrid derivatives are a little more expensive to insure, sitting between groups 24 and 26 depending on equipment grade.

The first year's VED (car tax) is lumped into the on-the-road price, so you don't really have to worry about the cost of that. After the first year, you'll pay a flat rate of £180/year for petrol or diesel models, or £170/year for hybrids.

Be careful, though. Cars with a list price of more than £40,000 will be subjected to an extra £390 in tax for five years. This is the price when the car is new, including optional extras - so it doesn't matter if you bought it second-hand or with a discount. That means the top-end Kia Sportage models could cost as much as £570 a year in tax.

The range kicks off with the Kia Sportage 2. Standard equipment on this model is pretty comprehensive, including 17-inch alloy wheels, front- and rear parking sensors, a reversing camera and cruise control. You also get an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system with DAB radio.

The slightly sportier Kia Sportage GT-Line adds 19-inch alloy wheels (18-inch on the hybrid), chrome exterior highlights and a gloss black radiator grille, side sills and wheel arch mouldings. Rear privacy glass is standard, while inside there's a 12.3-inch navigation system, suede leather seats, sports pedals and a D-shaped perforated leather steering wheel. 

The mid-range Kia Sportage 3 is also based on the 2 but adds 18-inch alloy wheels, rear privacy glass and LED front fog lights. Inside, you'll find black cloth and faux-leather seats, a heated steering wheel, heated front- and rear outer seats and a 12.3-inch navigation system. There's also a 12.3-inch digital instrument display.

Things start to get a bit premium with the Kia Sportage 4. Standard equipment includes a panoramic sunroof, Harman Kardon premium sound system and a wireless phone charger. The 4 trim level also comes with a range of driver-assist tech, LED tail lights and ambient interior lighting, while cosmetic exterior highlights include a gloss black radiator grille and chrome garnishes.

Topping the range is the Kia Sportage GT-Line S, which adds bespoke exterior styling, 19-inch alloy wheels (18-inch alloys on the hybrid), artificial leather and suede upholstery and ventilated front seats with 10-way power adjustment. There's also an electric tailgate and an optional two-tone black roof.