Not to say that Kia hasn’t been serious about the Sportage in the past, but this time around seems different. With heavy consumer input, Kia looks to shake up the current crossover segment with the new Sportage — and use it to slap some automakers across the face with a boldly styled crossover that aims to not just be another crossover. And no they didn’t pay me to say that.
Kia says they reached out directly to buyers to see what they wanted from the Sportage. Many wanted more features and tech. To mix it up a bit though, I want get some enthusiasts’ input on it. What do you guys want to know about a class of vehicles that many of us don’t like or do our best to avoid/acknowledge their existence?
Kia is on a path to clean energy and sustainability so there are both gas and hybrid/EV engine options. If you opt for the dino juice, you have one engine choice: a 2.5-liter 187 horsepower I4. There’s no more turbocharged gas engine option on the higher trims. More power will come with efficiency. It’s even in the name: Sportage Turbo Hybrid. Hybrid models get a 1.6-liter turbocharged I4 paired to a 44 kW motor. Total combined output is 227 hp. A plug-in hybrid with even more power is coming later.
The interior of the 2023 Sportage has been completely redesigned and is focused around that hot everyone-is-doing industry feature: big-ass screens. Upper trims of the Sportage get dual 12.3-inch screens that form one long 24.6-inch screen that reaches halfway across the dash. All the other usual tech is there like driver assistance systems, wireless charging, etc. The big news is the addition of off-road focused X-Pro trims (that are unfortunately not available for Hybrid models).
That’s all I can really say about the Sportage for now. Drop down in the comments and me know down below what you’d like to know about it!