The
twisty mountain roads of the Colorado Desert seem like the absolute
worst to place on earth to test a benign little family crossover, but
here we are behind the wheel of a 2017
Kia Sportage. These high desert roads deep in San Diego County seem built for the Porsche 911, the Shelby GT350, or the BMW M3, not the
Kia.
And yet, it’s surprisingly lively, almost… fun. Surely the hairpins and
drops will show all the shortcomings in its chassis, cross-up its
six-speed automatic transmission, make its tires beg for mercy – but no,
it handles it, all of it. From the brand “least likely” to a few years
ago comes a smart, stylish, well-built crossover that actually knows how
to have a good time.
It’s difficult not to begin a
piece on Kia or its sister brand Hyundai and not mention their
astonishing growth over the past decade and a half. But even Kia gets in
on the game, framing the new Sportage as its next logical step on its
journey from bargain-basement also-ran to equal of Honda and Toyota.
“Rock and roll history is filled with countless stories of innovation
and reinvention,” a rep says at the Sportage launch, returning to the
music theme the brand has used in its advertising since the Soul was
introduced in 2009. Kia wants the Sportage to “stand out in a sea of
beigeness,” to connect with the ‘urban pioneer,’” to have its
“Euro-centric” design resonate with a generation that seems more
interested in good infotainment systems and having enough room for a big
Costco run than an emotional connection with their car. So will it
work? We happen to think it will.
For starters, the
Sportage is a popular nameplate for an increasingly popular brand. Kia
sold over 625,000 cars in the U.S. 2015, and over 50,000 of those were
Sportages – a 25% increase over 2014 sales. And despite being a
lame-duck model, sales are up for ‘16 models too. By the time you read
this, the ’17s will be on their way to dealerships around the country,
and the number of improvements to the model won’t just overshadow the
current crossover, they could bump the Sportage to the top of the
compact crossover heap – no small feat considering it’s competing for
market share against the likes of the Mazda CX-5, Honda CR-V, and Toyota
RAV4.
The 2017 Sportage is improved inside and out in
a ways that should be catnip for crossover buyers. The new UV03
infotainment system is compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay,
but also takes its cues from the phones by utilizing a “pinch to zoom”
feature and allowing users to swipe between screens, which should make
it one of the most user-friendly infotainment systems on the market.
Inside,
it has more soft-touch materials in the cabin than most of its
competitors, giving its interior quality that punches well above its
weight. It’s the widest crossover in its class (73 inches), and it’s
grown 1.6 inches overall, which helps account for the 18% increase in
cargo room to 31 cubic feet. And to access the rear hatch, you don’t
need to pull any handles or wiggle your foot under the bumper; there’s a
proximity sensor that will detect the key fob and open it for you,
making the grocery store run easier than ever.
Under the skin,
Kia has
used a structural adhesive that bonds panels to the frame and greatly
reduces squeak and rattle. Its monocoque chassis is made of 51% advanced
high-strength steel, making the new model 39% more rigid and 55 pounds
lighter than the outgoing
Sportage, which makes it feel sturdier and more confident in the corners.
Deeper
still, a new front and rear subframe design makes the ride smoother and
quieter, bigger brakes shorten stopping distance by 12%, and the
drive-by-wire steering system has been revised for better road feel and
quicker inputs, thanks to a faster processor. Engines are carried over
from the current model, with the 2.4 liter four coming standard, and
producing 181 horsepower and 175 pound-feet of torque. The 2.0 liter
turbo, which produces 240 horsepower/260 pound-feet is available on EX
and SX models. Mated to a revised six-speed automatic, they both return
1-2 miles per gallon better fuel economy (depending on front- or
all-wheel-drive) than the outgoing model.
The Sportage
also benefits from an all-new Dynamax all-wheel drive system developed
by Magna, as in Magna-Steyr, builders of the Mercedes G-Wagen and other
models. Using predictive software and ECUs mounted fore and aft, the
system transfers power between the front and rear wheels in real time,
adapting and outperforming most current all-wheel drive competitors.
With AWD sales taking off in Northern states, Dynamax-equipped Sportages
– with their revised front fascia and steeper departure angle – could
become a common sight fairly soon.
Which brings us to
the drive. We had the opportunity to put a front- and all-wheel drive
2.0 liter TDI SX (the top of the line, starting at $32,500, base LX
models start at $23,885) through their paces, and both proved well up to
the task. Fit and finish is very good, and in Burnished Copper (the
color of our FWD tester) it really looks striking. It has plenty of good
and bad angles, but it’s all of a piece, and certainly one of the
bolder crossovers in the segment. Designed between Munich and Seoul
under styling chief Peter Schreyer, it’s the anti-CR-V or RAV4 in the
sense that you probably won’t lose yours in the Target parking lot
anytime soon. For that alone, we’d probably take one over either
Japanese stalwart.
Inside, the leather seats wouldn’t
be out of place in a Toyota or Lexus. Nothing feels cheap, and the UV03
is clean, quick, and as simple to use as advertised. The optional
panoramic sunroof is perfect for taking in the sweeping desert vistas,
and thinner A-pillars help to make it that rare crossover that doesn’t
feel like you’re driving a rolling gun bunker.
Switching
back and forth between pavement, gravel, sand, and the occasional farm
field, both front- and all-wheel models performed nobly, with nary a
misstep. If you don’t plan on doing any soft-roading or dealing with
snow, we’d recommend the front-wheel model. The Dynamax system is
seamless and impressive (Kia recommended we do a hard launch with the
front wheels on pavement and the rear on dirt or gravel to show how
quickly it worked), but after driving the front-wheel version first, the
AWD model is a bit slower on the throttle.
And that
2.0 liter TDI is a gem. It makes excellent use of its power at the low
end, is peppy and responsive, and sounds far better than we expected it
would. The six-speed auto does its job quietly and without getting in
the way, and while the different drive modes were nice to have, the
handling was crisp and engaging enough that sport mode seemed to make
little difference. But then, if the
Sportage can handle mountain twisties with ease, it’ll probably inject a little fun into your daily commute too.
At the end of
Kia’s
designated circuit in the tiny town of Borrego Springs, the gathered
auto press had lunch then turned around to head back to San Diego. But
Borrego Springs is home to Galleta Meadows Sculptures, where artist
Ricardo Breceda has built over 130 massive steel sculptures on the
desert floor, wild horses, to dinosaurs, to a massive 350 foot long
giant serpent that looks like it’s slithering beneath the barren
highway. We barreled South looking for it, past the steel cowboys,
eagles, and camels, but couldn’t see a 350-foot anything – and from our
vantage point we could see for miles.
Turning around
and heading north, it slowly began to loom above the horizon, rippling
in 90-plus degree heat. Well outside of town, and well away from
everything else, there it was, furious and inanimate, silently oxidizing
in the desert air, a massive scaled beast that looked like it slithered
out of a Japanese woodblock print. It all seemed like an apt metaphor
for Kia (outside a place that lent its name to one, no less): After a
long, punishing journey, it caught up to the towering figure it was
chasing all along. The 2017 Sportage is as good as anything to come from
its older, more established competitors. Get used to mentioning Kia,
Honda, and Toyota in the same breath – we expect a number of new
crossover buyers will.
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