Kia Sportage LX 2007 review

The Australian market for anything that remotely resembles an SUV is booming, with sales up 10.9 per cent on last year.

And the compact segment of that class is almost double that with a 18.6 per cent increase and the likelihood of more than 90,000 sales by the end of the year.

So it’s no wonder Kia has been concentrating on plugging the holes in its SUV line-up.

Explore the 2007 Kia Sportage range

• Kia Sportage EX 2007 review
• Kia Sportage 2007 review
• Kia Sportage LX 2007 review

That's why Kia has released diesel and V6 petrol variants of their mid-sized Sorento, and they’ve followed that up this week with the launch of two new variants of the compact Sportage – a two-wheel drive four-cylinder petrol and a turbodiesel.

The pair will flank the V6 petrol Sportage that has been in the market here since 2005, but has notched up sales of about 1000 a year since it arrived.

Kia Australia’s director of sales and marketing, Bill Gillespie, says the company is being conservative about sales forecasts for the two new Sportages, but believes 160 diesels will leave the showroom by the end of the year, and about 500 in 2008.

The manual-only CRDi has the V6’s electronic 4WD mated to a common-rail direct-injection engine with variable geometry turbocharger, which adjusts boost to give more torque at low revs and more power as the revs climb. The $32,490 price equips you with single CD audio that can play MP3 discs, airconditioning, cloth trim with leather on the steering wheel and shifter, power windows and mirrors, 16-inch alloy wheels with full-size spare, rear cargo cover, cruise control, twin front airbags and anti-skid brakes. It also includes ESP as standard, and a $3000 premium gets you the Limited pack that adds side and curtain airbags, leather upholstery and sunroof.

The front-biased 4WD system automatically engages when sensors detect a loss of traction to the front wheels, sending up to 50 per cent of the torque to the rear. But the system can also be locked into 4WD via a dash button, with the torque sent to the back then gradually decreasing after your speed hits 30km/h until at 40km/h you’re back in front-wheel mode.

Like the V6, the newcomer can handle a braked towing capacity of 1500kgs.

The appearance of the Sportage is largely unchanged, except that some of the V6 and diesel paint choices offer colour-matched bumpers and side sills, and there has been a minor brush-up in the cabins.

Despite being classed as a compact, the SUV offers plenty of room except for longer-legged rear seat passengers. Cargo space is fine for a couple of large suitcases even without any of the seats being folded, but with all except the driver’s down you can increase the capacity from 667 litres to a hungry 1886. There’s the extra utility of the passenger seat having a hard 'table’ back when you fold it, so there’s no worry about a long object piercing the upholstery.

The Sportage hasn’t been crash-tested here, but Kia expects it to achieve the same five-star rating it was awarded in American tests, although those were down on a model with standard side curtain airbags.

On the road

The 2.0-litre diesel fared much better all round. With 103kW at 4000rpm and 304Nm on offer between 1800-2500rpm, it took a more workmanlike approach to hills.

The engine has a top speed of 176km/h, and with a completely unscientific timing method, we estimated it takes more than 12 seconds to get up to 100km/h, but the payoff is in a fuel figure of 7.1L/100km.

The compliant suspension was excellent over rougher roads and even smoothed over some very threatening potholes, while the all-wheel drive system helped in heading the SUV where you pointed it.

A bit of mock rally assault on a twisting bush track and a short stint through soft deep sand proved no problem, as long as we kept the revs up in the diesel’s torque comfort zone to feed the turbo.

But while the 195mm ground clearance and the undercarriage geometry, a breakover angle of 18.8 degrees and approach and departure of 10 more, were useful off the bitumen, venturing too far into the wild would probably be asking for trouble.

And the 4WD system’s electronic sensors became confused for the occasional second, seemingly shutting off when it couldn’t quite work out what was happening underneath the wheels.

But that was under the most challenging stretch of wet ruts and potholes we threw at the Sportage, and while most of them are unlikely to see that sort of action, the combination of capable engine, reasonable equipment and affordable price makes it a decent proposition.