Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort

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Tue 7 Nov 2023 20:06
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - John F

The other day I had the misfortune of being a rear seat passenger in said car. Admittedly Northamptonshire country roads are not particularly smooth, but the experience reminded me of bad patches of Belgian pave. Is this jiggly cheap and cheerful Korean offering renowned for its harsh suspension? With five up it was barely bearable - goodness knows what it's like when lightly loaded.

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Tue 7 Nov 2023 20:18
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - badbusdriver

Is this jiggly cheap and cheerful Korean offering renowned for its harsh suspension?

I take it you have not perused a Kia price list for some time then?

(rrp from £27,950)

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Wed 8 Nov 2023 12:42
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - John F

Is this jiggly cheap and cheerful Korean offering renowned for its harsh suspension?

I take it you have not perused a Kia price list for some time then

I never peruse new car price lists. Inflation seems to have resulted in a decent new motor now costing north of 50k. Anything slightly exotic or loaded with extras can easily breach six figures. I could never have reasonably afforded to buy new the sort of cars I prefer to drive or to travel a long distance in.

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Tue 7 Nov 2023 20:50
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - SLO76
I find most modern cars don’t ride well. It took a run in a surprisingly tidy Peugeot 406 a few years ago to remind me of how well cars used to insulate our rear ends from the roads.
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Tue 7 Nov 2023 20:55
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - movilogo

Ride comfort is highly subjective.

I have a Sportage (new shape) and I find it OK, not much different from cars of same size and similar price range.

But it can't match air suspension ride quality. Also it is not cheap by any means. Top spec GT Line S is over 40k.

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Wed 8 Nov 2023 00:04
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - Adampr

I test drove one before I got the Karoq. That was, I think, a GT Line S so may have had big wheels or sports suspension or something. It was, indeed, very jarring and the steering was awful. Weird, because I also tried a Proceed, which was very nice, so.Kia do know how to make a good car.

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Wed 8 Nov 2023 12:24
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - John F

I test drove one before I got the Karoq. That was, I think, a GT Line S so may have had big wheels or sports suspension or something. It was, indeed, very jarring and the steering was awful.

Aha - I think that was the jarring model I was in. On the boot lid there was a 'GT' and then something indecipherable to the casual glance. That would explain it. I wonder if it had an unused 'comfort' setting?

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Wed 8 Nov 2023 00:20
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - Metropolis.

I do think most cars are pretty bad for this.

Cars have improved so dramatically in refinement in most areas, but for ride comfort, the suspension is too stiffly sprung and has far too little travel.

I blame motoring journalists who have in recent times obsessed over handling 'feel' and 'engaagement' in the corners. I didn't say 'handling ability' because softer suspension can perform just as well if not better on rougher roads.

Frustratingly I have read that we do get cars that are tuned to our apparent taste for stiffer spring set ups.

American cars of the 90s (the non-sporting varieties) hit the perfect balance in my opinion. The handling was pretty good, just take a look at some Motorweek retro reviews of their track tests, combined with ride quality like driving on a cloud. Soft thickly padded seats helped as well.

I was in a Rav4 recently (4 people) and was not impressed by the ride quality in that either.

Edited by Metropolis. on 08/11/2023 at 00:23

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Wed 8 Nov 2023 09:00
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - movilogo

Proceed, which was very nice

I had a Ceed before and its ride quality was better than Sportage. May be due to higher ride height in Sportage the ride becomes harsh? I asked a Kia technician if Sportage suspension can be tweaked for better comfort and he said no, it is not a luxury car and does not allow tweaks to suspensions!

I was in a Rav4 recently (4 people) and was not impressed by the ride quality in that either.

I test drove RAV4 and found it no different from Sportage (on ride comfort). For me it was choosing either RAV4 or Sportage. Toyota made it easy by stopping RAV4 orders temporarily while Kia delivered in 3 months!

I rode in my friend's BMW 5 series and found ride no better (in spite of being a saloon).

However, 2 cars I found ride quality best are [1] Mercedes S class [2] Land Rover (several models).

Odd that cars with questionable reliability offer best rides :-)

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Wed 8 Nov 2023 09:17
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - Steveieb

First thing we looked at when choosing my partners Captur was the tyre profile and found one with 55 profile tyres.

The ride comfort is exceptional but like many similar small SUVs including the CX30 and CHR being a rear seat passenger is a claustrophobic uncomfortable experience with very little view out front or side ! Horrible !

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Wed 8 Nov 2023 10:18
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - corax

Funny how people moan about the state of the roads, when they should be moaning about how their modern cars can't handle the bumps in the roads. Makes you wonder if the roads were always rough, you just didn't notice because the old cars suspension/wheel/tyre combo could handle them.

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Wed 8 Nov 2023 12:28
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - John F

Funny how people moan about the state of the roads, when they should be moaning about how their modern cars can't handle the bumps in the roads. Makes you wonder if the roads were always rough, you just didn't notice because the old cars suspension/wheel/tyre combo could handle them.

Fifty years ago it was said that if the ride was rough, the English would complain about the road but the French would complain about the car.

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Fri 10 Nov 2023 21:22
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - Brit_in_Germany

I can't remember when I last saw a pothole. Perhaps car designers do not design cars for the UK's deteriorating infrastructure.

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Wed 8 Nov 2023 10:14
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - SLO76
“I do think most cars are pretty bad for this.

Cars have improved so dramatically in refinement in most areas, but for ride comfort, the suspension is too stiffly sprung and has far too little travel.

I blame motoring journalists who have in recent times obsessed over handling 'feel' and 'engaagement' in the corners. I didn't say 'handling ability' because softer suspension can perform just as well if not better on rougher roads.”

I agree, I call this the Top Gear effect. Motoring journalists seeking notoriety loudly criticise cars that can’t rip round a race track like an F1 car. Manufacturers seeking positive reviews have firmed up suspension and fitted wider lower profile tyres all of which conspire to ruin on road ride and handling.

Peugeot/Citroen and Renault hit the sweet spot in the 90’s for ride quality and real life handling ability. Nothing was better at comfortably hustling down a twisting B road than a Peugeot 306. The Mk I Renault Laguna, Citroen Xantia and Peugeot 406 was all high points too. Sadly even the French have followed this trend, despite Joe Public in general not giving a damn about test track times or ultimate cornering grip.

I had a soft spot for the Renault Safrane, but that was sadly the last genuinely comfortable big Renault exec ever made.
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Wed 8 Nov 2023 11:10
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - Steveieb

Are we heading to a situation where a car like a RAV 4 , recently voted by Which their readers favourite vehicle, will be the type of vehicle of choice to deal with the nations roads.?

This certainly seems to be the way things are going in many cities in South America, where the roads are even worse than here!

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Wed 8 Nov 2023 21:19
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - Ian_SW

The other contributor to discomfort in many modern cars (and trains!) are excessively hard seats.

In their efforts to make seats more "supportive" for that all important high speed cornering in road tests, the easy way to do this is make the seat harder with big bolsters at the side, which is what you get now on most cars - even premium brands seem to have fallen to this now.

A notable exception to this is Citroen - a C5 Aircross hire car I had a while back had the most comfortable seats I've ever sat on in a car, and were up there with the original BR spec seats on 1980s intercity trains. The back of the seat was pretty rigid and supportive, but the seat squab felt like it had a really good 2-3 inches of soft foam on the top of it. I did 600 miles in 2 days in that car and it felt like I'd done no more than 200. If the rest of the car wasn't so wierd I'd consider buying one just because of the seats.....

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Wed 8 Nov 2023 21:58
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - Adampr

I think they make seats worse to reduce cost and weight. On trains (certainly GWR) they've made them very thin and rigid so that more fit in a carriage.

The Golf 7.5 that I had was the proud owner of the least comfortable car seats I have ever experienced. Including a MK1 Panda.

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Wed 8 Nov 2023 23:11
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - Andrew-T

I did 600 miles in 2 days in that car and it felt like I'd done no more than 200.

Not too bad I suppose. Way back in 1966 when I lived in Canada I did just over 1000 miles in the first two days of a summer trip round the western States, in a red Morris 1100. I don't recall finding the seats uncomfortable, but I was only in my late twenties .... :-)

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Sat 11 Nov 2023 08:53
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - gordonbennet
“I do think most cars are pretty bad for this. Cars have improved so dramatically in refinement in most areas, but for ride comfort, the suspension is too stiffly sprung and has far too little travel.

One the best riding cars i ever had was an 80's Renault 21 Savanna (estate), it was at the time a direct competitor to the Peug 405 estate which it beat hands down for boot room and boot shape, like the 405 it was softly sprung and on sensible tyres and i haven't driven a car yet (excluding Subarus) that was so at home cornering fast where no matter the surface the soft set up meant the tyres were always in contact with the road and not 'skipping' as these concrete sprung things on elastic bands will do, the 405 was equally good in this respect...both had excellent simple Diesel engines too.

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Sat 11 Nov 2023 14:04
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - Chris M

I'm with you there GB. I had the 1,700cc 5 seater of 1991 vintage bought from BCA Enfield at 2 years old and 60k miles. The best riding car I've had and absolutely fantastic for a very young family. The boot space was square sided and lined with durable hard plastic. Had a parcel shelf that was half solid, half retractable which the dog would lay on (dog guard in place). Dodgy engine electrics lead me to get rid after 6 years and, from memory, about 40k miles.

Edited by Chris M on 11/11/2023 at 14:07

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Sat 11 Nov 2023 18:15
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - Big John

Re Renault 21 Savanna - I had a 2.0 circa 1991 as a company car. Good car in some respects especially the engine and the ride was "compliant" but rear passengers usually complained of car sickness. However the biggest issue for me was the drivers seat, which initially seemed soft and comfortable but on a run longer than 100 miles it gave me terrible back ache. I regularly drove from Yorkshire to Basingstoke and at the end of each journey it took me 20 minutes to stan up straight.

Car seats are subjective but may favourite ever were the ones fitted to my Saab 9000 - I drove all the way to Munich in one journey, not a twinge. I also hate the modern trend for very bolstered seats even in non sporty models.

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Thu 9 Nov 2023 07:50
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - RT

The other day I had the misfortune of being a rear seat passenger in said car. Admittedly Northamptonshire country roads are not particularly smooth, but the experience reminded me of bad patches of Belgian pave. Is this jiggly cheap and cheerful Korean offering renowned for its harsh suspension? With five up it was barely bearable - goodness knows what it's like when lightly loaded.

I'd have to assume it was a version of Sportage with very large wheels and very low profile tyres - a friend has a Sportage which I occasionally travel in the back of and don't notice any issues - my own car is a VW Touareg with air suspension so I'm used to a smooth ride.

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Fri 10 Nov 2023 14:14
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - Steveieb

Back in my Mk2 Rav4 and appreciating the ease with which it deals with my local roads in comfort.

The 70 profile tyres deals easily with the potholes and crumbling roads which makes it an ideal town car!

Is this the future if nothing is done about the state of our roads?

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Fri 10 Nov 2023 18:39
Newish Kia Sportage - discomfort - RT

Back in my Mk2 Rav4 and appreciating the ease with which it deals with my local roads in comfort.

The 70 profile tyres deals easily with the potholes and crumbling roads which makes it an ideal town car!

Is this the future if nothing is done about the state of our roads?

Given the poor state of the UK's roads it's baffling why "customer demand" still wants big bling wheels with rubber-band-like low profile tyres.

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