Kia Sportage 2.0 CRDi (2012) long-term test review
By the CAR road test team
Long Term Tests
Our Kia Sportage arrives
The Sportage arrived the other day and it doesn’t look as though I’ll be needing a course of therapy after all. After a couple of drives and a good poke around my new accommodation I don’t think the switch from Cayman to 4x4 is going to be as bad as I thought. Not because they’re similar, obviously, but because they’re so completely different.
There’s nothing wrong with a car-life-laundry now and again and what the Sportage lacks in raw performance it makes up for in convenience, comfort and decent equipment levels. I found my kind of driving position easily (thought there might be a big compromise on that one) and the the rear seat backs just fold flat on the squab with no fancy catches to find and fiddle – though it’s a shame they don’t fold entirely flat. The six speed ‘box is light with a slop-free gate, and the brakes are strong, but unlike some others not over-sensitive with it.
The electric power steering feels overly light at first but that’s only at low speed. On the move it progressively loads up and at cruising speeds has a good, meaty feel. Kia reckons the EPS is worth a 3.5% improvement in fuel economy over a hydraulic rack so I wouldn’t want it any other way. The engine is a torquey beast and the little change-up light in the instrument display is addictive and encourages short shifting.
Generally, the Sportage is an intuitive package, a bit like an Apple Mac, and the manual has so far stayed put in the glove box. The cruise control has a separate steering wheel button to arm it and another for set and resume – a neat setup. It’s not adaptive but likely to get used a lot on motorways, more to keep the lid on fuel consumption than through laziness. That said, there’s some towing to be done as well so it’ll be interesting to see what some serious haulage does to the fuel consumption.
By Jesse Crosse
Long Term Tests
Our Kia Sportage arrives The Sportage arrived the other day and it doesn’t look as though I’ll be needing a course of therapy after all. After a couple of drives and a good poke around my new accommodation I don’t think the switch from Cayman to 4x4 is going to be as bad as I thought. Not because they’re similar, obviously, but because they’re so completely different.
There’s nothing wrong with a car-life-laundry now and again and what the Sportage lacks in raw performance it makes up for in convenience, comfort and decent equipment levels. I found my kind of driving position easily (thought there might be a big compromise on that one) and the the rear seat backs just fold flat on the squab with no fancy catches to find and fiddle – though it’s a shame they don’t fold entirely flat. The six speed ‘box is light with a slop-free gate, and the brakes are strong, but unlike some others not over-sensitive with it.
The electric power steering feels overly light at first but that’s only at low speed. On the move it progressively loads up and at cruising speeds has a good, meaty feel. Kia reckons the EPS is worth a 3.5% improvement in fuel economy over a hydraulic rack so I wouldn’t want it any other way. The engine is a torquey beast and the little change-up light in the instrument display is addictive and encourages short shifting.
Generally, the Sportage is an intuitive package, a bit like an Apple Mac, and the manual has so far stayed put in the glove box. The cruise control has a separate steering wheel button to arm it and another for set and resume – a neat setup. It’s not adaptive but likely to get used a lot on motorways, more to keep the lid on fuel consumption than through laziness. That said, there’s some towing to be done as well so it’ll be interesting to see what some serious haulage does to the fuel consumption.
By Jesse Crosse
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Kia Sportage 2.0 CRDi,
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