Kia Sportage First drive in all-new version of monster-selling family SUV

KIA SPORTAGE 1.6T-GDI PHEV

All-new fi fth-generation version of Kia’s medium SUV has futuristic styling and cutting-edge hybrid technology – as well as all the virtues that sent previous models to the top of the sales charts

THE FIRST KIA SPORTAGE was a proper 4x4 and you could get it in pink. The world has become a more sensible place in the intervening quarter of a century and Kia’s modern-day colour palette is rather more grown-up, but the new fi fth-generation model is still available with all-wheel drive.

It’s also available with a plug-in hybrid powertrain, and that’s what we’ve got here. A 1.6-litre petrol engine is coupled to a single electric motor to deliver 261bhp and 258lbf.ft to the wheels, resulting in headline fi gures of 7.9 seconds, 252mpg and 25g/km. Kia quotes an EV range of 43 miles and a charging time of 1 hour 45 minutes from 10-100%.

The result is a vehicle with no shortage at all of pace. It has plenty of getup-and-go from a standing start and continues to pull well throughout its rev range, with urge to spare in every situation.

Its handling is smart enough to keep up, too, with enough feel in the steering and suspension to let you attack corners. You do notice a bit of waywardness on uneven roads, where body control becomes a little bouncy at times and you can get a fl oating sensation over crests, but it doesn’t respond to rough surfaces anywhere like as harshly as some SUVs.

We can’t yet comment on its performance on the motorway or around town. But based on a short test drive on tight, hilly B and C-roads, we have no reason to doubt that it will be resolutely competent in these situations. There was nothing available to us that would test the Sportage’s capabilities as a 4x4, whether on or off tarmac. Certainly, grip is assured on dry roads and we would expect the same to be the case in the wet. It’s not built for extreme terrain, or anything approaching it, however previous models have been more than competent on loose and rough surfaces and we expect the same to be the case this time. Watch this space, as they say. Inside, the cabin feels very modern. It’s dominated by an enormous media screen which fl ows into a digital dashboard, in a style reminiscent of vehicles like Mercedes’ SUVs and the current Volkswagen Touareg, and build quality is of the sort of standard you might expect from either of these manufacturers.

Trim materials, too, are very pleasing indeed, if not exactly ultra-premium in their mature, and in ergonomic terms it both looks and feels good. The controls are well situated and feel positive in operation, and the steering wheel fi ts nicely in the palms of your hands.

Up front, there’s a good seating position giving you a decent view in all the directions that matter. Leg and head room are very generous up front – though the seats themselves could do with a wider range of adjustability. We instantly felt we were going to get backache unless we used all the available lumbar support. The seats do hold you well in corners, though.

Headroom is excellent in the back, too. However one six-footer will struggle to sit comfortably behind another without getting his knees mashed into the back of their seat. By no means is it the worst in this regard, though – and when you want to carry cargo, the seats drop down and lock into position just a couple of degrees off fl at to give you a big, long loadspace that’s accessed through a good, big aperture. It’s very good indeed in this way.

For everyday odds and ends, there’s a decent glovebox and cubby in addition to a huge general compound stowage area in the fl oor console. If you run out of space for your stuff, you’ve got too much stuff. What you might run out of is breath when you learn that prices for the new Sportage climb all the way up to £43,795. The vehicle tested here lists at £38,395, which is enough to be going on with, but however much this sounds you have to see it in the context of the Sportage now being one of Britain’s most popular vehicles. The most popular, actually, going by sales fi gures from February this year, which goes to show how far Kia has come since its days as a maker of cheap, crummy runabouts. Now, the top of the Sportage range gets within a few grand of a Porsche Cayman or Land Rover Discovery. Decide for yourself which of these is closest to being a like-for-like comparison. Either way, buyers don’t mind – and on this evidence, they’re right not to. The Sportage is a slick, modern SUV whose place in the motoring mainstream is very well earned indeed.