The Sporty, Spunky, And Stepping Up 2024 Kia Sportage

Despite their undeniable improvements and evolution, you can't quite escape Kia's role. The new Kia Sportage shows you why that's not a bad thing. At $28,000 to start, it's a little unfortunate that this actually does undercut most of its competition, but not by the margins that Kia used to be known for. That's because this has a substance that's not usually associated with the brand.

Frugality with Substance

The strongest value proposition it offers is with the base hybrid. For under $30,000, it takes frugality to another level, like watching a bootlegged movie from a floor mattress on a first date. If you're cool with a front-drive base model, that thing will get 44 MPG in a spacious crossover with 227 horsepower. And on top of that, it's not soul-sucking to drive, for the most part. 

Even though it has the shape of an athletic egg, it looks fresh in the mainstream market. Hyundai and Kia have some of the most original designs, but what are your thoughts?

Kia's Features Abundance

Even on the base, you'll still find LED headlights with cool DRLs, alloy wheels, and body-color door handles and mirror caps, so nobody can tell that you cheaped out. Pay a little more, and you can add things like fog lights, proximity entry, a power tailgate, and a 360-degree view camera.

All the details shared today are for the 2024 model; what's next to you is a '23 hybrid, which is predominantly all-wheel drive. 

But no matter which powertrain you select, if you drive all four wheels, Kia will lift the thing by over an inch, which is nice if you're climbing over obstacles but consequently wrecks your gas mileage. Want to chase your wildest dreams in a crossover designed to tackle all terrains? Get the X-Pro, which adds different tires. Oh, and how could we forget dark accents?

Does It Have A Wow Factor?

When you're buying a new car, you often want there to be somewhat of a "wow" factor, and this has that. But when you're buying a compact crossover, you usually want it to be easy to live with, and that's where this could use improvement. With the base model, you'll find analog controls for your HVAC and a pretty straightforward layout with a dual-screen dashboard to make it feel futuristic. 

Here with the EX, there's a little bit less functionality, and there's also a ton of glossy black plastic, which is just going to get dirty easily. But you probably won't notice that due to blinding rage.

This takes the cake for unintuitive controls. Everything except the LX gets a small screen to show HVAC and radio functions, but they share the same real estate. Yet, yes, the tune dials are also the temperature dials; the airspeed buttons are also the seek and track buttons.

Why stop with the climate and radio controls? Let's make the steering wheel double as the shifter or alternate the brake pedal between slowing the car down and a crotch scratcher. The possibilities are endless. Now you can set it to default to climate and then use the steering wheel for all of the radio functions, but it is an inconvenience at best.

But you still have a positive overall impression of the Sportage cabin for a few main reasons. One, the simple design is attractive. The things you touch and interact with feel pretty high-quality. And even though the materials are mostly cheap plastics, they feel well constructed. 

Where You Sit Pretty!

The seats are also among the most comfortable in the class. You have good thigh support at 6'3", lumbar adjustment will be found on most cars, the cushioning is soft, and they're well-shaped. Kia, please do not change anything about these. And storage levels are good. The cup holders are spring-loaded.

Surprisingly, you find the base LX to be the most compelling. So while the screen will be smaller, it'll have wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, whereas the bigger unit will actually lose those. The resolution is good; it could be laid out better, but at least the gauge cluster screen is pretty easy to use, and the feature set is strong.

Most of these are going to have automatic dual-zone climate control with heated front seats. As you upgrade, you'll find things like leather upholstery, a heated steering wheel, ventilated front seats, a panoramic sunroof, and an 8-speaker Harman Kardon sound system. 

The six-speaker unit you'll find in most doesn't really provide a whole lot of clarity, but at least there are tweeters, so you think most people will be satisfied. Though you should note, you can't get a head-up display or heated rear seats here in the US.

Hopping into the back, full-size adults should have no issues with the panoramic sunroof. Tall passengers may be short on headroom, but the thigh support is excellent. Rear console vents are standard. Skip the base, and you'll get charging ports built into the seat.

This would be a nice car for road trips, and the cargo area should accommodate most of your stuff. It's exceptionally long and fairly wide, though many of its competitors offer a more boxy boot. At least the Kia gives you rear seat releases so you can lower the cargo floor for additional height, and most models will come with a compact spare tire.

The Sportage For The Modern Driver

One of the original selling points of a crossover was car-like driving dynamics, and thankfully, the Kia Sportage more than understands that assignment. The base engine is merely adequate. It'll only accelerate with haste if it fell down a Scooby-Doo-style trap door. But it's paired up to a traditional automatic. Is this a big deal for a compact crossover? Maybe not, but it'll certainly be appreciated by those who want more direct and natural acceleration. What you have today is the turbo hybrid. 

So this is going to use a 1.6L turbocharged direct-injected inline-4 with a permanent magnet electric motor sandwiched in between the engine and a six-speed traditional automatic. 0 to 60 comes up in about 7 seconds flat. But more importantly, even with all-wheel drive, this thing is rated to get 38 MPG with the hybrid, which is much better than the standard model, which's also a couple of seconds slower to 60.

While it has a buzzy engine note, the electrified model makes for easy passing power with smooth shifts and seamless regenerative braking too. Really, for less than 2 grand more, the hybrid is pretty attractive. What's a bit harder to justify for most is the pricey plug-in hybrid. Its 34-mile EV range is competitive, but I'll need to drive one to say more.

And unlike Toyota, the all-wheel-drive system remains the same. It'll be optional on most of the 2.5L Sportages. It'll send a maximum of 50% of torque to the rear wheels. It can use some brake vectoring to redirect power side to side, and there is a center locking function that should help force more power to the rear axle. But it's no Subaru just yet. The approach angle limits the capability, and the all-wheel drive system itself doesn't let the car power out of tricky situations well. The X-Pro's tires will help, but this setup is better suited for snow and such.

At 65, you're about 1,800 RPM. There's a little bit of tire noise. Wind noise is kept down. This is quiet for the segment. On a dismal Indiana backroad, the Sportage is smooth. After being battered constantly, the ride stays composed. Many of the vehicles in this class are also forgiving and comfortable over stuff like this, but I think the Kia does a better job than most at keeping the ride from feeling busy, even if the road remains imperfect.

As you're throwing it around corners, the independent rear suspension keeps this thing glued to the ground. Though it is still a softly sprung SUV with some handling limits, once you bring this thing up to more speed, the body roll is present but well-managed. 

Nonetheless, it doesn't feel unstable. And you are actually impressed by the steering. There's very little play on center. It builds up nicely in weight. If you have it just in normal mode, it's light and easy. Here in sport, it feels a little bit more dialed in. It doesn't offer quite the feedback or playfulness of the Mazda CX-5, but compared to most Subarus and Toyotas, you prefer this on a back road. And seeing out of the front is pretty easy. You're glad that the screens are nice and low, but the higher beltline that provides this seductive design does hamper things a little bit

Reliability And Safety

Probably the most touchy subject in this review is going to be the reliability. While oil consumption plagued the previous-gen Sportage, the proven 1.6L turbo is a good engine at this point. In the past, some had cylinder head leaks and forums, but recent reports are hard to find. The Theta 3 2.5L was introduced around the 2020 model year and includes direct and port fuel injection, so extra maintenance isn't needed to keep the intake valve squeaky clean. There are still some miscellaneous complaints with the engine and stalling on carcomplaints.com with NHTSA reports. 

The most frequent issues so far are easily cracking windshields and brake problems, with some others having qualms with a randomly rebooting infotainment. We won't pretend that this will have the same reliability as a RAV4, but so far, we've seen much worse complaints with first model years. It may be too soon for me to draw any hard conclusions on its reliability, but at least it comes with some strong warranties. 

And if you decide to test out your body's durability, this has performed pretty well in the IIHS crash tests. While most of the usual active driving aids are standard, including lane tracing and rain-sensing windshield wipers, adaptive cruise control only comes on the well-equipped SX and above.

Final Thoughts

With the ever-increasing price of cars, Kia's role in the market is important. And the new Sportage, especially in its hybrid configuration, is an awesome car for the money. However, in some areas, Kia went needlessly far. This checks all of the important boxes: power and efficiency with the hybrid, versatility, comfort, natural steering, competitive quality, and a distinct design inside and out. The Sportage, if you can get past its couple of quirks or you want the base trim, which is one of the best in the segment, and the hybrid is a no-brainer.

Kia seems to be playing dumb. The best-performing cars in the class don't overcomplicate things, and they have to know that some innovation isn't welcome. While the Korean sister brands are killing it right now in sales, their trendiness will keep them from beating Honda and Toyota model for model. 

Hyundai and Kia are constantly redesigning and refreshing, changing many things for the better and a few others for worse, or much worse. And it feels like the customer is a guinea pig as much as they are a client. Some of their cars are exceptional, like the new Palisade or the Elantra, while others have poorly thought-out transmissions or, in the case of the Sportage, controls so ass-backwards an LA plastic surgeon couldn't fix them. It's like the Hyundai Motor Group is your favorite sports team that can never win in the finals. You still think highly of them, but you also hope a few people will get fired.