• One of the most spacious five-seat SUVs in its class
• Large boot
• Flexible rear seats

The Kia Sportage scores strongly here thanks to it being a little larger than rivals such as the Skoda Karoq, Seat Ateca and Peugeot 3008. There’s plenty of head and leg room up front, while the Sportage’s width means you won’t be battling your front seat passenger for elbow room on the central armrest.

The good news continues as you move rearwards, with space for a couple of tall adults to get comfortable. Even six footers will have ample space between their knees and the backs of the front seats while head room is generous. It certainly beats the vast majority of direct rivals; you’d need to jump up to a seven-seater like a Skoda Kodiaq or Land Rover Discovery Sport for more rear seat space.

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Getting three adults in the back shouldn’t be too much of a squeeze in terms of width, although there is a bit of a hump in the middle of the floor for the centre passenger to contend with. It’s not as large as that found on the Ateca and Karoq, although the Discovery Sport has a usefully flatter floor.

Boot space and storage 

The Sportage’s generous proportions once again pay dividends, with generous boot space. Mild hybrid Sportages lead the pack with a very good 591 litres of boot space, and you sacrifice only four litres in the full hybrid – which retains a useful amount of underfloor storage. This places it ahead of the Nissan Qashqai and its 504 litres, but behind the cavernous 652 litres offered in a Volkswagen Tiguan.

We’re still waiting for figures on the new Sportage plug-in hybrid, but expect the big battery to eat away at boot space. The current PHEV offers 540 litres. It’s smaller but still larger than many rivals – case in point, the Volkswagen Tiguan e-Hybrid can only manage 490 litres.

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The rear seats help with versatility, reclining in a 60/40 split, allowing you to prioritise comfort or boot space, and they fold flat in a 40/20/40 fashion (useful for through-loading long items while still carrying passengers). This is done easily via the tabs on the seats or handy levers in the boot and gives a total capacity of 1780 litres (1776 litres for the hybrid).

There’s plenty of storage up front for odds and ends thanks to a variety of cubbies, while rear seat passengers get pockets and a hook on the back of the rear seats with a nearby USB C port plus door pockets.

Is it easy to park?

Forward visibility in the Sportage is fine, but the rear screen is smaller than in boxier rivals like the Skoda Karoq. Thankfully front and rear parking sensors plus a rear-view camera are standard on all models while light steering makes tight manoeuvring an easier affair. You’ll need the range-topping GT-Line S to get a 360-degree camera system. Self-parking assist is available on the GT-Line S trim, but only if it’s a hybrid.

Safety

• Five-star Euro NCAP rating
• More advanced equipment on top trims
• Lots of standard safety kit

Euro NCAP tested the Sportage back in 2022 and it scored the full five stars, reassuring in a segment where five stars is increasingly becoming the standard. The five star rating also puts it on a level pegging with the likes of the Nissan Qashqai and Volkswagen Tiguan.

All Sportages get plenty of standard safety equipment, much of it designed to stop you having an accident in the first place. This includes advanced automatic emergency braking, lane keep assist and trailer stability assist.

Automatic versions of all but base models get semi-autonomous driving assistance that helps you maintain your speed in traffic and assist with steering on the motorway. Opt for the poshest GT-Line S trim and you get a blind spot alert system that also displays a video feed aimed down the side of the car onto the digital driver’s display. They also get a system to stop you hitting objects whilst parking and a safe exit warning.

We have noticed in Sportage owner reviews that these passive safety systems are proving controversial, with plenty of owner’s reporting the systems to be overzealous and forceful.

Watch Kia Sportage Euro NCAP safety test video