Kia Sportage (2010 - 2016)
'2' 1.7 CRDi
Stylish, comfortable, economical. The best value crossover on the market today?
Performance: No hot hatch, but it's punchy enough and has good torque.
Ride: Comfortable, and doesn't lean much in the bends.
Handling: Steering weights up nicely at speed (had to go to dealer for a software change to sort it though).
Refinement: Engine is quite noisy when accelerating, but quiet when up to speed. Bit of wind noise from the big mirrors at motorway speeds.
Running costs: Relatively cheap to buy, £120 road tax, 47 mpg around town on a brand new engine. £550 '5 year service' package, 7 year warranty, low insurance group.
Quality: Really robust inside. Tried pulling all sorts apart on a test drive and was pleasantly surprised. Buttons, stalks and knobs have a lovely damped feel to them. Way ahead of my previous Peugeot 407. Dashboard is logically laid out, if a bit sensible in a VW kind of way. Good supportive seats, decent boot size, full size spare wheel (a rarity these days).
Equipment: LED DRLs, Power folding mirrors, Cruise control, hill assist, descent assist, Bluetooth, excellent sounding stereo, iPod control, usb drive, two sunroofs (one a 'proper' one), part leather, stop-start tech, rear park sensors, rain sensors.
Anything I'd change / add?: Driver's window has auto down, but annoyingly no auto up. Bit of a pain in car parks, but not a massive issue. Auto lights would be nice, but that's saved for the spec above. A mate's Kuga has a digital radio which is nice, but this can be done through the phone and bluetooth. Talking of which, the voice recognition could be smoother. I have to say my contacts surname then christian name to make a call. This could be a phone issue though? Lastly, doors require a bit of a shove to close properly.
Overall though so far, very impressed.
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About this car
Price | £17,465–£29,510 |
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Road Tax | E–J |
MPG | 34.4–55.4 mpg |
Real MPG | 80.2% |