Kia Sportage Review & Prices

The Kia Sportage is a practical, well-equipped family SUV with bold styling that will really stand out at the school gates. It’s a bit like one of those Smeg fridges, because it’s an essential tool for family life that’s designed to look trendy.

And stand out it has to, because there are countless Sportage alternatives to consider. The Hyundai Tucson, Nissan Qashqai and Peugeot 3008 are some of the best.

Considering the Kia Sportage’s job is to do all the boring bits of everyday life – school run, commuting, weekly shop, etc – its styling is anything but mundane. Up front you get prominent, angular daytime running lights and a wide, chunky grille that give it a real presence. Subtlety isn’t in its vocabulary.

Group Test: Honda HR-V v Hyundai Tucson v Kia Sportage v Nissan Qashqai

Until you step inside, that is. The Sportage actually has a rather subdued cabin, though that’s hardly a criticism. There are quality materials throughout, and chrome trim flashes around the cabin to lighten things up.

You get a sweeping twin-screen setup for the infotainment system and instrument display, both of which are easy to navigate around and easily customisable. There’s a panel beneath the main screen that switches between the climate and media controls at the touch of a button, which is a neat solution that saves you having to faff about with complicated menus like in some alternatives.

The wins don’t end with the tech and build quality either, because the Kia Sportage is plenty spacious enough for a typical family. There’s a decent amount of headroom and legroom whether you’re sitting up front or in the back, and fitting a child seat is no bother. Boot capacity isn’t quite up there with the Hyundai Tucson, but there’s considerably more space than a Nissan Qashqai.

There’s a great range of engines to suit most needs, with mild hybrid petrol, self-charging hybrid and plug-in hybrid options. The self-charging hybrids are the pick for private buyers because they’re smooth, economical, and not too expensive up front – though company car buyers should look to the plug-in models for the tax benefits. The Sportage isn’t available as an electric car, but you might consider the excellent Kia EV6 if you’re keen on zero-emission motoring.

Out on the road, the Sportage is easy to drive. Forward visibility is good and the light steering makes low-speed manoeuvres a breeze, while driving on the motorway is a largely quiet and relaxing experience, even if you do notice the odd bump crashing through the cabin. On a twisty road the Sportage feels secure and it doesn’t roll too much in the bends, but if it’s fun you’re looking for then check out the Ford Kuga.

Still, if you don’t need your family car to be a hoot in the bends then this is a fantastic all-rounder that should slot into everyday life no problem at all. If this appeals, see how much you could save with Carwow’s Kia Sportage deals, or get a great price on a used Sportage from our network of trusted dealers. You can also check out other used Kia models, and even sell your current car with Carwow when the time comes.

As you’d expect from Kia, the Sportage is really well-priced. The Korean brand may have shed its bargain-basement image in recent years, but good value is still a primary concern for Kia buyers. It’s actually a little bit cheaper than the equivalent Hyundai Tucson in basic form, and also has a much lower starting price than the Peugeot 3008 because that's only offered with a hybrid. A basic Nissan Qashqai undercuts the Kia on price, though.

The Sportage only gets really expensive once you’re into the top-spec hybrid or plug-in hybrid models, where prices stretch to more than £40,000. That’s a lot for a Kia, even these days.

The Sportage manages to be a sensible all-rounder across all road conditions, but the suspension makes the ride feel a bit firm

In town

If pootling around town is your thing, then the hybrid Sportage is the best choice. It’ll reach speeds of up to 40mph in electric mode, albeit only for very short bursts before the petrol engine kicks in again. If you need a quick burst of acceleration, then the Sportage takes a tiny but noticeable pause while it works out if it needs to bring in the petrol engine. Obviously, that’s not a problem with the regular non-hybrid petrol models, but these aren’t as refined around town.

The Sportage’s steering is nice and light, but it's not the most comfortable car to drive — it tackles speed bumps smoothly, but you’ll feel potholes more than you would in a Volkswagen Tiguan. It does have nice smooth brakes though — not always the case with hybrids. The low dashboard and high driving position give you a good view out (although the back window is rather small), and the turning circle is average for the class — it’ll cope with mini roundabouts well enough.

The rear-view camera gets too easily covered in road grime, but at least the camera is very high-definition, and there’s an optional 3D, 360-degree camera setup. The Sportage can, cleverly, also show the view behind from little blind-spot cameras mounted in the door mirrors in pop-up displays in the driver’s digital instrument panel. High spec models even get an automated parking remote control, which can nudge the Sportage out of a tight parking space before you even sit in the car.

On the motorway

Put your foot down on a slip road and the hybrid Sportage will pick up speed quite nicely, but you will get a big, loud burst of engine drone when you do. The plug-in hybrid, with its bigger electric motor, will accelerate even harder again, but the old-school diesel (now only available if you're buying used) feels a bit more comfortable with this kind of driving.

The hybrid quietens down nicely at cruising speed, but you might find that it’s more thirsty on a long haul than you’d think — we struggled to get it to do better than 40mpg. You’ll notice a bit of wind noise around the door mirrors, but tyre roar is kept well at bay.

On a twisty road

It may have sport in its name, but the Sportage isn’t very sporty. That said, it still has good grip and that firm suspension means that it doesn’t roll too much in corners. There’s no sense of feedback through the steering wheel though, which doesn’t encourage spirited driving.

There's a Sport mode which means the car reacts quicker to prods of the accelerator pedal and adds more weightiness to the steering, but there’s no more actual feel and the whole setup seems a bit unnatural. To be honest, you’re as well leaving it in normal mode. It’s about as good, in dynamic terms, as a car like this needs to be.

You do get a decent amount of space throughout the Sportage, but choosing the plug-in does drop the boot space slightly

The Sportage’s front door bins and glovebox are of an average size — not bad, but the door pockets are a little bit snug for bottles and flasks. There’s better storage in the centre console. Ahead of the gear shifter there’s a lidded storage space which is also home to the (optional) wireless phone charger, and you’ll find some USB sockets and a 12-volt outlet in there too. Under your elbow, there’s a big storage box in the armrest, and in front of that there’s more storage space as well as two adjustable cupholders. It’s properly practical, this Kia. 

Space in the back seats

There’s good space in the back of the Sportage, and in the six-footer-behind-a-six-footer test, those in the back will have plenty of air between their knees and the back of the front seat. Headroom is good too, even with the optional glass roof but space for your feet is tight, as the runners for the front seats intrude onto the rear floor. The back seat is plenty wide enough to get three people in, but again foot space is compromised by the chunky transmission hump. You do get ISOFIX points for child seats in the back, but the anchor points are buried deep, so it’s slightly harder to slot the seats in than with some similar models.

There are some very nice touches though — you get reclining rear seatbacks, and as well as storage pockets and little bag hooks on the back of the front seats, there are also USB-C sockets built in to the front seats which are nice and high up and easier to access than ones that are mounted down low on the centre console. The rear door bins are fine too, and the rear windows go all the way down. There’s an integrated coat hanger in the back of the front seat headrest which is also a nice touch. Oh, and the roof-mounted middle rear seatbelt is annoying as it cuts across both the driver’s rear view and the head of the person sat in the outer rear seat. 

Boot space

At up to 591 litres, the Sportage’s boot is basically huge. Really, the only other car in its class with more loadspace is the Hyundai Tucson, which can carry up to 620 litres. But bear in mind it drops from that high, which is only for regular petrol models, with mild hybrid, hybrid and plug-in hybrid models all being affected to some degree by the need to package batteries. The plug-in has the smallest boot of all at 540 litres, so still decent, just a bit less than other Sportages. 

Folding the seats down does allow for up to 1,780 litres in the petrol models, while hybrid models aren't penalised too much for their extra electrical drive components - being no more than 65 litres down.

Other models, like the SEAT Ateca (510 litres), Peugeot 3008 (520 litres) and Nissan Qashqai (504 litres) do fall quite a way short of the Sportage at their best. But the Volkswagen Tiguan offers 615 litres in its boot, a similar amount to the Tucson.

On the petrol model, you can adjust the height of the boot floor to take away a slight load lip, and very sensibly there’s space under the boot to store the rear luggage blind when you’re not using it. All models also get a 12-volt socket, hooks, tie-down points and handles that release and fold the backs of the rear seats. Those fold down in 40:20:40 formation, so you can still have two people in the back and carry a long, narrow load. There’s no spare wheel though — not even as an option.

High quality digital screens, but a few less visible plastics could feel more expensive

The design of the Sportage’s cabin is really nice, with some interesting touches such as the arrow-head air vent just in front of the front seat passenger. All models get a big, bright, 12.3-inch infotainment display, while the high-spec '3' trim gets a 12.3-inch digital instrument screen to go with it.

Kia is actually matching, even besting, some premium-brand models with this infotainment setup, as it looks expensive and it’s easy to use. Helpfully, there’s a second touch-sensitive panel below the big screen which, at the touch of a button, changes from heating and air conditioning controls to shortcuts for the navigation and media selection. If that sounds over-complicated, but it’s not — it’s actually really easy to use and the whole setup is so much better than what you’d find in an equivalent Volkswagen. 

Quality levels are excellent, and while you will find a few cheaper plastics down low, up top everything’s made of lovely soft-touch materials. The overall build is rock-solid too, and we couldn’t even make the centre console wobble around in spite of really, really trying to. The circular gear selector is a nice touch for automatic and hybrid models, while the steering wheel buttons are actual proper buttons, and not the fiddly touch-sensitive ones you'll find on some VW models.

The Sportage has a fairly broad engine lineup that opens with a mild hybrid petrol and a manual transmission. This makes 157hp and is offered with an automatic gearbox on higher trims, achieving up to 44mpg on official tests.

There are also self-charging and plug-in hybrid options, making 212hp and 248hp respectively. The regular hybrid is a good compromise on price and economy, but the plug-in hybrid will offer the lowest running costs if you can keep the batteries topped up, and it's also the best choice for company car choosers because of the low Benefit-in-Kind rate.

Kia has loaded the Sportage up with electronic driver aids. As standard, you get forward collision avoidance assistance with pedestrian and cyclist detection, an intelligent speed limiter, lane-following steering, trailer stability assistance if you’re towing, and a tyre pressure monitor. You can optionally add to that, including the clever little blind spot cameras, and the parking collision avoidance system (which automatically brakes if you’re about to back into something), as well as the remote parking assistant. There’s also a switchable driving mode for four-wheel drive models, which changes the settings for mud, snow, or sand but few Sportage owners are ever likely to really need or use that. 

The Sportage has been tested by Euro NCAP for safety, and it scored a full five stars, including an 87% rating for adult occupant protection, and an 86% score for child occupant protection.

Kia has an enviable reputation for both reliability and customer service, and with the brand’s lengthy seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty coming as standard, we don’t expect that many owners will encounter problems.

Furthermore, it ranked a hugely impressive 11th place in the 2024 Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, indicating those who buy a Sportage are very happy with their purchase.