Kia Sportage verdict
Should you buy a Kia Sportage?
Yes, if you're looking for a good-looking SUV that's reliable and comes with a long warranty. Aside from these obvious plus points, there are plenty of reasons to buy – or indeed lease – a new Sportage. It offers a spacious interior that’s packed with equipment on nearly the whole range and is very easy to drive.
Add to that a comfortable driving position and quality feel inside, and there’s little to complain about. Sure enough, it’s not the most exciting SUV on sale, but as a spacious family car for four that’s not even trying to be remotely sporty, it does well.
It manages to feel a lot smaller than it looks which makes it easy to manoeuvre thanks to light controls, but still feels planted and controlled on the motorway. There are lots of choices, too – if costs are a concern, an entry-level Sportage in 1 spec with the 1.6 CRDi makes most sense. It costs a little more to buy than the petrol, but the claimed running costs are far superior to the petrol model.
If, however, you’ll be spending the majority of your time driving around town, the petrol won’t be much worse in terms of economy. If you’re using the Sportage as a company vehicle, your best option is one of the 1.6 CRDi diesels that sit in a comparatively lower BIK tax band to the equivalent petrol engine.
The Sportage is far from a performance SUV in the same way the Cupra Ateca is, so if you want the fastest model you’ll have to make do with the 177hp 1.6-litre T-GDi with its automatic gearbox and 0-62mph time of 8.8 seconds. Overall, this is the Sportage that will fit most drivers' needs, with a palatable combination of punch and potential fuel economy. It’s not the sweetest engine on sale and you still have to work it hard to make any progress, but this should be enough for most.
So, although we recommend the Kia Sportage for rational reasons, it's not the best of your choices available. Would we have one over a SEAT Ateca or a Mazda CX-5, though? Not unless we really needed that seven-year warranty…
