Item: Kia Sportage
Rating: 3.5

Find Kia Sportage deals

Other Services

84% get more money with

The Kia Sportage lived a fairly quiet life initially as a car known to few outside of Asian markets.

But ever since it became one of Kia’s first European-built models in its second-generation form, and then led its company’s transformation into a design-centric brand in its third, the Sportage has taken on special status for the company that makes it.

I wouldn't say that the 2025 facelifted Kia Sportage was a beauty, but it's certainly bold and unmistakably a Kia.
Matt Saunders
Road test editor

Design chief Peter Schreyer’s distinctive ‘tiger nose’ third-generation design drove the car to a level of UK- and wider European-market popularity unknown to Kia in the early 2010s, which the subsequent fourth-generation version built on.

And now, with the Sportage firmly established as Kia’s best-selling car in the UK, mainland Europe and the wider world, the fifth generation has been updated to bring more tech, better efficiency and styling in line with new Kia EV models - including the Kia EV5 that will be the pure-electric counterpart to the Sportage's hybrid and petrol offensive.

Of course, you don't need us to tell you that there's a horde of rival SUVs on offer to compete with the Sportage, but the main competition comes in the form of the Skoda Karoq, Ford Kuga, Nissan Qashqai and the Kia's platform-mate, the Hyundai Tucson.

Kia Sportage range at a glance

The Sportage range includes a standard 1.6-litre petrol engine, as well as full-hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains, with part-time all-wheel drive available on both of the electrified models.

Verdict

Model tested:

Rating: 7

Kia Sportage

Bold Sportage catches the eye but won’t hold a driver's interest

Good

Unusual exterior design is nothing if not bold

Neatly laid-out and appealing interior

Broad engine range offers something for everyone

Bad

Doesn’t deliver the family-friendly occupant space typical of an SUV

Hybrid powertrain gets noisy and coarse when worked hard

Ride and handling aren’t representative of Kia’s better efforts

DESIGN & STYLING

Pros

Aging well and doesn't feel older than much newer machinery

Cons

Maybe a touch too brash

The visual changes are the most significant updates for the Sportage's mid-life refresh. That bluff, cliff-face grille is hard to miss, and the 'Star Map' LED daytime-running lights replace the brash boomerang lights of the pre-facelift car. There's also new side cladding, if much the same familiar overall profile, and a redesigned rear bumper is said to make the car look wider.

This fifth-generation Kia Sportage has always been a fairly brazen-looking car, and when it was introduced in 2021, we wondered if it was a little overly aggressive, but the audience for this market clearly likes bold lines and statement styling and this update brings even more of that.

The wheel range starts with 17in items on entry-level cars, although most non-hybridised models roll on 19s, as will big-selling GT-Line trim cars.
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

The N3 model architecture that underpins the Sportage is shared by the larger Kia Sorento, as well as the Hyundai Tucson and Hyundai Santa Fe. It confers an all-steel monocoque construction; all-independent suspension, with part-time four-wheel drive available on most models; and a choice of transverse-mounted four-cylinder engines up front.

The car’s options for motive power are quite numerous. Towards the more affordable end of the model spectrum is a 1.6-litre T-GDi turbo petrol with a six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch automatic.

Kia also offers full-hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions of the Sportage, both driven primarily by the same combination of 1.6-litre turbo petrol four-cylinder engine, and a six-speed automatic gearbox that's been tweaked as part of the 2025 update for better efficiency and performance. The Sportage PHEV also gains a more efficient front-wheel-drive model (where previously it was four-wheel drive only), but it keeps the same 13.8kWh battery and is likely to get a very slightly longer electric range of around 45 miles when it arrives.

INTERIOR

Pros

Touchscreen is simple to use

Full of neat, clever touches

Cons

There are more sophisticated interiors out there

Trim can look a bit cheap in places

Kia recognised an emerging appetite for slightly more rakish SUV-coupés with the third-generation Kia Sportage in 2010. While the latest version was never officially defined in those terms, it is more of the same: a design-led product that doesn’t offer quite as much passenger space as boxier mid-sized rivals such as the Toyota RAV4.

Take a tape measure to the new car’s interior and you will quickly find evidence of that. One of our road test subjects, the range-topping GT-Line S fitted with Kia’s panoramic glass sunroof, offered just 920mm from rear seat cushion to roofline, which is really only as much head room as a mid-sized hatchback typically affords. (A RAV4 offers fully 80mm more.) Leg room is more generous of course but, even so, this is probably not a family car you would seek out with grown-up children to transport.

The facelift has done away with a lot of the gloss black plastic that featured on the Kia's interior and was too prone to fingerprints and smudges.
Richard Lane
Deputy road test editor

Limited adult-appropriate second-row practicality aside, however, this is certainly an interior with some visual interest and ambition about it. Striking design features, such as the tomahawk-shaped air vents and the widescreen instrumentation-cum-infotainment ‘flight panel’, catch your eye, and although some cheaper, harder-feeling mouldings are easy to find, the rest of the cabin does just enough to deliver a good all-round impression.

The driver’s seat is comfortable, with a cushion angled well to support your thighs and decent lateral bolstering. The control layout is one of sound ergonomics and grants a clear view of the digital instrument screen behind the wheel, which renders graphics very crisply and clearly.

The infotainment system to the left of that is fairly easy to navigate: it’s touchscreen-operated mostly, but a line of shortcut keys (whose function can be switched to become heating and ventilation controls) does play a part in making it easy to get on with.

In the second row, Kia offers useful and accessible bag storage hooks and USB-C charging ports on the front seatbacks, which is a neat touch. Further aft, boot space is generally good, although its 850mm loading length to the second-row seatbacks is 110mm down on that of a RAV4.

Some useful carrying space is available under the boot floor and there’s a stowage space for the roller load-bay cover when it's removed, as well as more bag hooks and a 12V power supply.

For outright carrying space, it’s slightly disappointing that the rear seats don’t fold completely flat, providing further evidence that this isn’t the most practical car in its class.

Multimedia system

As of the 2025 update, every Kia Sportage gets the dual 12.3in screen, with the central touchscreen infotainment system with over-the-air software updates, ChatGPT AI assistant, and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. There's also a new head-up display on top-spec GT-Line S cars, which will integrate the nav or media info that you may be streaming via phone mirroring.

The system is laid out clearly and quite easy to navigate for an all-touchscreen interface. It’s always easy to get back to the home screen, and from there to find the menu you need without too much distracting scrolling or swiping.

Kia’s factory navigation system is easy to program, user-friendly in its layout and controls, and easy to follow.

The siting of the touchscreen doesn't provide a convenient ledge on which to anchor an outstretched arm, but generally this is one of the more user-friendly touchscreen systems.

ENGINES & PERFORMANCE

Pros

Hybrid is now quicker

Variable brake regeneration

Cons

Gearbox can be clunky when pushed

No longer available with a diesel

The Sportage’s full-fat hybrid powertrain gained 23bhp with the updates, for a respectable 235bhp output and 0-62mph in as little as 7.9sec. It works in pleasant, refined and fairly economical fashion when everyday demands are being made of it. It’s quiet at a cruise and under light loads, and fairly responsive in give-and-take low-speed motoring around town.

To those who think of their car as no more than a means to get to the office and the shops, to cover the school run and football practice, and generally to fit into daily life easily and efficiently, it should meet expectations quite well.

Kia may not use a CVT for its hybrids, but ask for more than average performance and the Sportage's 1.6 is going to spend a lot of time near the redline.
Matt Prior
Editor-at-large

However, the Sportage does surrender the mechanical refinement it offers at a gentle cruise when accelerating hard. This isn’t like a CVT-style hybrid that spins continually to the redline at full power. Instead, it works its way through the ratios of its six-speed automatic gearbox as you accelerate.

But that gearbox downshifts reluctantly and a bit clunkily when you ask for a lot of power; the motor both sounds and feels strained when working at load above 4500rpm; and even when you choose Sport mode and use the steering wheel paddles to pick a gear, you’re never totally in control of shift timing and gear selection. Mind you, it is a really nice touch that the 2025 update brings variable brake regeneration for the hybrid and plug-in hybrid versions. The prototype 2025 Kia Sportage HEV that we drove around Frankfurt offered smooth, predictable regen and - when in Eco mode - the steering wheel paddles allow you to toggle through three fixed levels of regen, or to activate adaptive regen. Not many full hybrids offer that kind of flexibility and control with brake recuperation, and it's a really good feature on the facelifted Sportage.

Otherwise, the Sportage’s hybrid system covers those gearshifts smoothly under lighter loads, and boosts both drivability and running economy in heavy traffic and around town, making this a much more agreeable car to drive when you have no particular interest in what it’s doing, how it’s doing it, or when you might get where you’re going to.

We also had a brief drive in the standard 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol, which gets 147bhp and will do 0-62mph in 9.4sec. Our top-spec car came with the six-speed automatic transmission too, and in many ways this version of the Sportage is the best. There's obviously less going on with the powertrain technically, so it feels a touch more predictable and linear. It's still a coarse-sounding engine, and the silent creep of the HEV in town situations is a big benefit, but if purchase price is more of a priority than tax breaks and fuel costs, the straightforward petrol Kia Sportage ICE variant is a very sound choice.

Details for the updated, 2025 Kia Sportage PHEV haven't been confirmed, so we'll have to wait and see what meaningful improvements Kia might bring to its company car favourite where emissions and fuel economy are concerned.

RIDE & HANDLING

Pros

Crisper turn-in than your average SUV

Cons

Some of the assisted driving tech feels superfluous

Suspension crashes around more than we'd like

There haven't been any changes to the Sportage's suspension and steering for this update, so it remains… just fine. There is a monotone weight and texture to the Sportage’s controls when the car is on the move, and little finesse about the way it deals with vertical suspension inputs and pitch control. The car is apparently the work of extensive European chassis tuning but, to be honest, when we road tested the pre-facelift car on UK roads, there wasn't much evidence of that.

The car's ride composure was quite easily upset by complex surfaces, beginning to porpoise and fidget over the rear axle when given medium-sized bumps to deal with, and tossing its occupants around somewhat on country roads taken in no particular hurry.

On UK roads, there was not much evidence of the Sportage's extensive European chassis tuning. There's a fair bit of pitch and roll, and ride quality becomes jittery on more testing surfaces.
Richard Lane
Deputy road test editor

The specification might have had a little to do with that: our GT-Line S car wore 18in alloy wheels, and a smaller 17in rim is available on lower-grade models. But an 18in rim isn’t a big wheel for a modern SUV, and doesn’t really wash as an excuse for dynamic mediocrity.

On smoother asphalt, the Sportage works better, having slightly crisper turn-in than your average mid-sized SUV, displaying reasonable outright grip levels and keeping body roll in check when cornering with speed.

But the lack of dexterity over more testing Tarmac is too big a factor to be recovered by any handling keenness evidenced when the surface is just right. The car’s steering only really communicates at all when its contact patches are very heavily loaded. Its stability control systems are effective and unintrusive but can’t make up for the pervasive numbness of the wider driving experience.

If this is Kia’s attempt at fashioning a better-handling, more engaging, European-flavoured compact SUV, it simply isn’t cleverly enough executed to manifest itself on UK roads, or to go down as a particular selling point.

Comfort and isolation

The Sportage gets off to a decent start in this section, having a comfortable driver’s seat, plenty of room for drivers of all shapes and sizes, and offering good visibility all round.

Wind and road noise are both adequately well filtered and the car recorded a 63dBA cabin noise level at a 50mph cruise – the same result, predictably perhaps, as the identically engined Hyundai Tucson we tested in 2021 and only a decibel noisier than the diesel Land Rover Discovery Sport we tested in 2019.

Uneven road surfaces, especially those with sharper-edged lumps and bumps, don’t agree with the car’s suspension, making it thud and crash more than you would like. There’s a slightly fiddly, excitable sense about the secondary ride too, and a hollowness about the damping that permits more intrusions into the cabin than the most refined rivals would allow in the first place, and makes the body more likely to deflect than absorb when bigger intrusions present.

Assisted driving

There are plenty of active driver assistance systems on the Sportage, even at lower trim levels. All versions get an autonomous emergency braking system that includes both cyclist and pedestrian recognition, and monitors for potential accidents when turning across junctions.

Top-spec GT-Line S models also get a blindspot monitoring system that will beam a video image of your blindspot into the digital instrument screen when you first indicate.

This may be a helpful prompt to check your mirror for some drivers, though our testers found it a little superfluous. They felt similarly about the Remote Smart Parking Assist function, which allows you to reverse into a tight space remotely from outside the car. The lane keeping system is easy to deactivate via a button on the left spoke of the steering wheel.

MPG & RUNNING COSTS

Pros

No finalised CO2 and MPG figures yet

Cons

PHEV won't go as far on electric power as some rivals

Priced from just under £31,000, Kia’s entry-level petrol offering is ready for comparison with crossover hatchbacks like the Seat Ateca, Nissan Qashqai and Toyota C-HR; and, at the opposing end of the scale, Kia will hope to tempt people away from Volvo, Lexus and even Land Rover with Sportage HEVs coming in at around £35,000-£44,000. Pricing hasn’t been confirmed yet for the PHEV model, but we expect it to be priced from roughly £39,000.

The facelift has brought a simplified three-level trim line-up: Pure, GT-Line and GT-Line S. All Sportage models get that full infotainment system we’ve already described, as well as 17in alloy wheels, electric driver’s lumbar support, front and rear parking sensors with reversing camera, and adaptive cruise control provided you’ve opted for an automatic gearbox.

The Sportage's residuals are predicted to not quite be a match for the smartest buys in the compact SUV class, but are hardy enough more generally.
Matt Saunders
Road test editor

GT-Line adds bigger wheels, gloss black contrasting exterior features, part-leatherette and suede upholstery, heated front seats and a couple of USB-C charging ports for the back seats.

GT-Line S steps up the assistance systems with the blindspot view monitor, 12.3in driver's readout, head-up display, heated rear seats, wireless phone charging and more.

We'll have to wait to see regards tax specifics, because Kia has yet to confirm the post-facelift WLTP figures for emissions and fuel economy.

Even so, with generous equipment, a seven-year/100,000 mile warranty and plenty of desirability to boot, this updated Sportage seems likely to maintain the model's popularity.

VERDICT

Verdict

Model tested:

Rating: 7

Kia Sportage

Bold Sportage catches the eye but won’t hold a driver's interest

Good

Unusual exterior design is nothing if not bold

Neatly laid-out and appealing interior

Broad engine range offers something for everyone

Bad

Doesn’t deliver the family-friendly occupant space typical of an SUV

Hybrid powertrain gets noisy and coarse when worked hard

Ride and handling aren’t representative of Kia’s better efforts

This is hardly a drastic refresh for the Sportage, but the even more brash new fascia works well (if you like your SUVs with a level of boldness verging on confrontational), and there’s always that warranty to sweeten the deal. The standard 1.6 petrol Sportage is the best option unless you’re a company car buyer, but if you want the economy gains and quieter, cleaner about-town running, then the prototype Sportage HEV that we drove suggests that it'll do a fine job - if an uninspiring one, when it comes to the dynamics.

There are alternatives in this class that ride more comfortably and offer better refinement, and we know that the PHEV will retain the same battery and will only receive a small gain in pure-electric running (expect around 45 miles of range), so there are plenty of other PHEV SUVs that'll be cheaper company cars too. Basically, the Sportage actually isn't Kia's finest achievement despite it being its most popular. But factoring in everything that is going in the Sportage's favour, it's not hard to see why this solid yet mildly underwhelming SUV is such a hit.

Spec advice? If you have taller passengers to think about, avoid the panoramic sunroof because it eats into head room.
Illya Verpraet
Road Tester

Matt Saunders

Title: Road test editor

As Autocar’s chief car tester and reviewer, it’s Matt’s job to ensure the quality, objectivity, relevance and rigour of the entirety of Autocar’s reviews output, as well contributing a great many detailed road tests, group tests and drive reviews himself.

Matt has been an Autocar staffer since the autumn of 2003, and has been lucky enough to work alongside some of the magazine’s best-known writers and contributors over that time. He served as staff writer, features editor, assistant editor and digital editor, before joining the road test desk in 2011.

Since then he’s driven, measured, lap-timed, figured, and reported on cars as varied as the Bugatti Veyron, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Tesla Roadster, Ariel Hipercar, Tata Nano, McLaren Senna, Renault Twizy and Toyota Mirai. Among his wider personal highlights of the job have been covering Sebastien Loeb’s record-breaking run at Pikes Peak in 2013; doing 190mph on derestricted German autobahn in a Brabus Rocket; and driving McLaren’s legendary ‘XP5’ F1 prototype. His own car is a trusty Mazda CX-5.