Kia Sportage VS Ford EcoSport
Kia Sportage
Likes
- Great fuel efficiency
- Comfortable and easy to drive
- Interesting design
Dislikes
- Pricey compared to petrol SX
- Capped price servicing costs can be high
- Blank panels for missing features in the cabin
Ford EcoSport
Likes
Dislikes
Summary
Kia Sportage
So, I accidentally climbed into the wrong Kia Sportage in the supermarket car park on Thursday. That’s never happened to me before. You know, actually opening the door of a completely random car and getting into it and putting my seat belt on.
But that’s how much the regular petrol version of the Sportage looks like this new hybrid version.
The owners had parked next to me in their Sportage, which was also silver, while I was in the supermarket. There are lots of questions: Why hadn’t they locked their doors? Why didn’t I notice their Sportage had big roof racks and a giant dent in the side of it? And, why am I telling you this?
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As intriguing as those questions are, we’re not here to answer them right now because this investigation is centred on Kia’s first hybrid version of its Sportage.
Yep, finally after what seems like way too long Kia has a rival to Toyota’s RAV4 hybrid mid-sized SUV.
The Sportage Hybrid on test is the SX grade which sits lower in the range but still costs quite a lot, we think.
So, the questions we’re answering today are ones like, is the Sportage SX Hybrid worth the expensive price compared to its petrol twin?
I’ve even worked out how far you’d have to drive and how long you’d probably have to own the hybrid before you break even on the extra money you’ve spent.
And there are other questions, like how fuel efficient is it? And even others like how safe is it and how practical is it? Oh, and what it’s like to drive? That’s important, too.
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 1.6L |
| Fuel Type | — |
| Fuel Efficiency | 4.9L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Ford EcoSport
Baby SUVs are currently the flavour of the month - indeed the decade, it seems - and one of the easiest ways for a car company to create a player in this burgeoning segment is to take the skeleton of its smallest hatch and remould it in an SUV style.
This is exactly what Ford has done with the EcoSport, taking the foundations from the company's smallest car, its Fiesta hatch. How has the translation worked for Ford's smallest SUV?
| Safety rating | |
|---|---|
| Engine Type | 1.5L |
| Fuel Type | — |
| Fuel Efficiency | 6.5L/100km |
| Seating | 5 seats |
Verdict
Kia Sportage8/10
Okay, this is pretty easy. That SX Hybrid is excellent - it’s fuel efficient, it drives really nicely, it’s practical, but it’s not great value when you consider it’s more than $8000 pricier than the SX petrol. If you want good value, get the GT-Line hybrid. It comes with more features for not that much more money compared to the petrol version.
Oh, and if you’re reading this in three years time and thinking about buying a second-hand Sportage SX Hybrid, then do it.
Ford EcoSport6/10
The EcoSport is less adventure vehicle and more a vehicle for those for whom adventure comes in smaller, easy to access doses. It’s small, easy to park and easy to drive, but it’s certainly well behind the rest of the class when it comes to a complete package.
It’s not a particularly nice thing to drive, for example, thanks to underdone suspension and poorly modulated brakes, and the quicker that tailgate spare is consigned to history, the better.
Does the Ford EcoSport rate a spot on your shopping list? Let us know!
Design
Kia Sportage
The Sportage Hybrid SX is almost identical in looks to the petrol Sportage, which is why I mistook somebody else's car for mine. There’s a small badge on the tailgate of the hybrid which says HEV for Hybrid Electric Vehicle, but that’s really the only giveaway.
The Sportage is a more interesting looking SUV compared to less avant-garde rivals like the RAV4. I love the arrow LED running lights, the wide, mesh grille, and the tail-lights.
The cabin is also differently good looking and premium, apart from the blank panels on the centre console - the ones that remind you didn’t get the Sportage with heated seats…
Still, even with the blank panels it’s a premium-looking cabin with the 12.3-inch screen and black materials. It would have been nice if the synthetic leather seats were standard on this SX Hybrid instead of the cloth.
Ford EcoSport
Looking at the front end of the four-door, five-seat EcoSport, it's obvious that Ford has developed a company-wide look for its SUV family, with the large prominent chrome grille mimicking that in the company's other SUVs, including the Escape and the Everest.
For a small car, the EcoSport is quite slab-sided with narrow windows, a prominent roof and squared off rear, and an overly long front-centre look. Along with a squared-off, bluff bonnet line and the EcoSPort’s tall suspension, it gives the EcoSport the faux SUV look that Ford is gunning for.
On the inside the car is dominated by a deep dashboard that's lined with a hard, dimpled plastic. This theme continues throughout the car, across the tops of the door cards and into the rear as well. The colour scheme verges on sombre, with a low-key grey, silver, and black theme challenged only by a cream coloured head lining.
Practicality
Kia Sportage
The Sportage is a mid-sized SUV - it’s not as big as a Kia Sorento, but it is larger than a Kia Seltos.
There’s plenty of room up front with storage in the centre console, cupholders and door pockets.
The second row has directional air vents and great legroom and headroom even for me at 189cm tall. My nine-year old son reckons the window sill is too high to see out of.
He’s out of his booster seat now but he’s a tall kid and doesn’t have this visibility issue very often as we move from test car to test car.
The boot is also big at 586 litres (VDA) behind the second row. It’ll fit the three-piece CarsGuide luggage set with room to spare.
Ford EcoSport
The EcoSport is marketed as a five seat, five door small SUV, or compact SUV, but really the rear compartment particularly, is designed best for two occupants.
ISOFIX points are located in the rear but there are no provisions for charging or for ventilation, while in the front the sheer lack of dimension of the EcoSport means the driver and passenger are seated quite close together.
In terms of storage there are a handful of very small oddment bins scattered on the centre console, along with two cupholders line astern. All four doors can take small bottles and there are another two cupholders in a rear pull-down armrest.
Probably the most distinctive - and probably most annoying - feature of the EcoSport is its rear tailgate. Instead of a traditional top hinged style, the EcoSport uses a side opening door with a single strut, with a full size spare wheel mounted to the rear of it.
Finding the switch to open the door itself is hard enough, especially if you've never done it before, and the door itself is surprisingly heavy. As well, if you park the EcoSport in the wrong place you simply won't be able to open the door to access the boot area fully.
It's an anachronistic design in a world where practicality rules, and this will make or break a buying decision for a lot of people. Thankfully, Ford has responded, and will offer the EcoSport without a rear door-mounted spare wheel from the middle of 2018.
The cargo area itself has 743 litres of space with the seats up and 1178 litres with them down - isn't too bad in terms of floor space, although it does narrow up quite significantly when you get to the seat backs.
Ford, though, has added a split-level floor that's designed to provide a flat loading surface when the two rear seats are tumbled forward. Oh, and you have to lift the seat bases up and away before you drop those seat backs, too.
Passenger accommodations are okay at best. The fitment of a sunroof to the top spec Titanium model doesn't do the car any favours, particularly in the rear, thanks to the deeper roof lining needed for a sunroof. If there is a taller driver up front, then you’ll need to find a very small rear passenger as legroom all but disappears, while fitting three across the rear really isn't an option for even a moderate journey.
ISOFIX seat points are provided for two baby seats, while the driving position itself is more than adequate with fair visibility. Something to note though, the porthole provided at the base of the A pillar to give the driver a slightly better view really does nothing at all thanks to the thickness of that pillar.
The steep windscreen, a long dash, and slightly bulbous bonnet also means that front visibility, particularly when parking, is quite difficult and it's very hard to get a sense of where the front of the car actually is.
Ford's SYNC 3 system does provide an excellent interface for all operations with phones, media, and satellite navigation, though as mentioned the buttons on the steering wheel are quite numerous and very small, so a little bit of tactility is needed to operate them.
Other than that, the rest of the main controls are pretty straightforward with a traditional automatic gear shift and manual handbrake.
The multimedia system is operated via a small screen that sits proud on the dash, while all instruments in the EcoSport are reasonably well labelled. The majority of buttons are clustered around the steering wheel and can be hard to discern their function given their lack of size.
The top-spec Titanium offers a black leatherette style interior treatment, which is reasonably well presented… but the sheer volume of harder plastics does let the side down.
There are two USB ports up front but none in the rear, and the 12v points are very well hidden.
Price and features
Kia Sportage
Let’s get straight to the price because this could be a deal breaker if you’re on a budget and the only reason you’re thinking of buying the hybrid is to save lots of money on your petrol bills.
The Sportage SX Hybrid lists for $45,950. That’s $8400 more than the list price of the same car with a petrol engine.
When I say “same car”, I mean the same SX grade, in front-wheel drive, like the hybrid. The petrol engine in the hybrid is better in every way than the engine in the petrol SX, and that’s probably part of the reason why you’re paying so much more.
Toyota’s pricing on the RAV4 appears more reasonable with hybrid versions costing about $2000 more than the petrol versions of the grade they’re based on.
Do you get more features than the petrol SX? Nope. Same equipment, but there's plenty of it.
Coming standard on the SX Hybrid are 18-inch alloys wheels, LED headlights, and LED running lights. The silver roof rails are standard, too.
Inside the SX Hybrid the seats are cloth and the 12.3-inch media display is standard. So is sat nav, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and there’s dual-zone climate control.
That’s not bad if this car was $35K like the petrol version but the hybrid SX is more than $45K and you’re not getting proximity unlocking or push-button start, nor power-adjustable driver’s seat nor power tailgate.
Really, you could buy the SX+ petrol variant for $42 grand and get all of those things, plus a Harman Kardon sound system and synthetic leather seats.
Sure, petrol is expensive these days and a hybrid uses far less, so you’ll make the money back, right? Well, if that’s the reason you’re buying the Sportage Hybrid SX brand new, then don’t. I’ve worked out how far you’d have to drive the hybrid to save $8400 in fuel below.
The only hybrid grade offered is the GT-Line, which is the top of the range and the most expensive Sportage at $55,420. But that’s only $5500 more than the petrol GT-Line and therefore better value in comparison to the SX Hybrid and its petrol twin.
Ford EcoSport
The EcoSport Titanium we tested costs $28,990 before on-road costs, and it’ll be cross-shopped with cars like Hyundai’s Kona Elite FWD ($28,500) and Honda’s HR-V VTi-S ($27,990), as well as the category-leading Mitsubishi ASX LS FWD at $28,500.
Its specs include keyless entry and smart key, start button, an 8.0-inch colour multimedia screen which uses Ford’s Sync3 system, single-zone climate control air-conditioning, automatic headlights, rain-sensing wipers, sunroof, leather seats, HID projector headlights and LED daytime running lights, 17-inch alloy wheels and roof rails.
Under the bonnet
Kia Sportage
Normally we cover the design and practicality before we get under the bonnet but you’re on a fact-finding mission and I’m your guide, your guide to cars. That would be a good website name.
Okay, the Sportage SX Hybrid has a 1.6-litre turbo-petrol sporty and fuel-efficient engine making 132kW and 265Nm. There’s also an electric motor producing 44kW and 264Nm. Their combined output is 169kW/350Nm.
The hybrid variants are front-wheel drive only and have a six-speed automatic transmission.
It’s a great engine, smooth transmission and the way the motor interacts is almost seamless.
This isn’t a plug-in hybrid, either. The batteries recharge automatically through regenerative braking. Really, for Australia, this type of hybrid is the way to go, offering superb range and no anxiety about charging.
Ford EcoSport
The Titanium offers up Ford’s clever 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine, which combines with a six-speed automatic gearbox. It makes a fighty 92kW and 150Nm, which is pretty cool for such a tiny motor – but ultimate performance is blunted by a 1368kg kerb weight.
Efficiency
Kia Sportage
Kia says that after a combination of open and urban roads the Sportage SX Hybrid will use 4.9L/100km. The petrol SX with the 2.0-litre engine and front-wheel drive uses 8.1L/100km.
In our own fuel test we recorded 6.9L/100km which was mostly urban with a couple of motorway trips during the week.
Getting back to our earlier question regarding the money you’ll save in fuel. I’ve worked it out using actual maths.
So, using Kia’s official fuel economy of 4.9L/00km, that’s 3.2L/100km less than the 2.0-litre petrol SX and if fuel is $2 per litre you’re saving $6.40 for every 100km you drive in comparison.
Now, $6.40 goes into $8400 (the extra you’ve paid for the hybrid) 1312.5 times. Multiply that by 100 to get the number of kilometres you’ll need to travel. So, that’s 131,250km you’ll need to go to save the $8400 in fuel.
Most Aussies do 10,000 kays a years on average. That means you’re looking at over 13 years. Tell you what, the person who buys it second hand will get the best deal because they really will save money on fuel.
It’s true the Sportage Hybrid is fuel efficient and I’ve scored it very well for that, but if it was me I’d be looking to buy one second hand so I wasn’t getting hit hard with the new car hybrid price premium.
Ford EcoSport
Rated at 6.7 litres per 100km, the EcoSport Titanium consumed a dash-indicated 7.9L/100km over a shortened 120km test loop. It can run on 91RON, and it has a 52-litre fuel tank.
Driving
Kia Sportage
The Sportage SX Hybrid is better to drive than the petrol SX with the 2.0-litre naturally aspirated engine. It starts silently thanks to the electric motor and will coast away serenely until you need to move faster and come to a hill where you need the power of the engine.
The brake pedal feel is better than I’ve experienced in many hybrid cars and the transition from engine to motor is almost seamless.
The ride is comfortable, there’s no jiggle over potholes and handling isn’t bad for this type of family SUV.
The only negative point to report is that because the hybrid Sportage is front-wheel drive, there can be a loss of traction if you accelerate hard from a standstill on a wet road or while climbing a steep hill.
If you’ve never driven a hybrid before, you’ll be absolutely fine - the only thing you'll need to get used to is turning the key and not detecting any engine noise.
Ford EcoSport
Unfortunately the EcoSport doesn't really come together that well. Developed in a relative hurry off the basis of an ageing Fiesta platform, the car just doesn't really gel, particularly when driving around town.
The brakes, in particular, have a very strange modulation feel, in that the first small part of pedal travel does very little to stop the car, before the brakes bite very hard. It makes the car awkward to drive smoothly, which is an annoyance in stop/start traffic.
The three-cylinder one-litre engine is a surprise package. It's smooth, linear, and although it’s raucous when pushed, settles down into quiet operation very quickly. Steering is okay, but it doesn't provide much in the way of feedback to the driver. Of course, this is not a sports car, but this is also a car that will make a regular driver wonder why it doesn't feel as nice as it should for a new car.
The EcoSport's ride is soft and comfortable, thought it quickly falls apart when pushed even moderately hard. It's a level of ride that's designed to add comfort for occupants… and really little more.
The front suspension, in particular, crashes and bangs over even moderately sharp impacts and overall it really feels like a narrow, tall vehicle it is. The centre of gravity does feel quite high and the slab sides do leave it susceptible to even moderately stiff side draughts.
Safety
Kia Sportage
In terms of safety the Sportage was awarded the maximum five-star ANCAP rating in 2022. The SX Hybrid has pretty much the same safety tech as the GT-Line. So there’s AEB, lane keeping assistance and a rear cross-traffic alert. There are also front and rear parking sensors
For child seats there are two ISOFIX points and three top tether anchor mounts across the second row.
Disappointingly Kia has swapped the full-sized spare alloy wheel you’d get in the petrol and diesel variants for a space saver spare in the hybrid.
Ford EcoSport
The Titanium is the best equipped of all the EcoSport range, with It also offers a rear-view camera with front and rear sensors, digital speedo, blind-spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert. It doesn’t, however, offer AEB in any model, and this generation of car won’t ever have it.
Regardless, it still carries a maximum five-star safety rating from ANCAP.