Kia Sportage – sensible shoes

THERE was once a time when the car nobody dreamed about but everyone ended up buying was a Ford – usually a Mondeo, Focus or Fiesta.

But times and motor company fortunes change, to the point that currently one of the most familiar sights on British roads is a car that has been the UK’s top-selling mid-size SUV and second best seller of any kind for the past two years – the Kia Sportage.

And that’s understandable because the Sportage is spacious, well equipped, sensibly priced and backed up by a transferable seven-year warranty.

The line-up kicks off with our tested model, the 1.6-litre Pure turbo petrol version with six-speed manual transmission and front-wheel drive, at £31,395.

It’s a smart piece of kit with sufficient visual presence to avoid disappearing into crowded family-SUV anonymity and with standard equipment that’s closer to premium economy than standard basic.

Step inside and the cabin is modern, roomy and with enough space for four adults – five at a squeeze – and the boot provides a useful 591 litres of stowage, expanding to 1,780 litres with the rear seats folded.

Everything feels hi-tech and practical, the horizontal curving display dominating the dash like a widescreen TV and the likes of 17-inch alloys, LED headlights and daytime running lights, auto air con, sat nav, rain-sensing wipers and parking sensors included as standard. There’s also electric lumbar adjustment for the driver’s seat.

Safety systems are also comprehensive, with Kia’s Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist set-up covering city driving, pedestrians, cyclists and junction turning, alongside lane-keeping and lane-following assistance, multiple airbags and a Thatcham Category 2 alarm and immobiliser.

Out on the open road the 1.6 T-GDi engine produces 147bhp and 250Nm of torque, which is adequate rather than exciting. The manual gearbox is perfectly conventional and the 0-62mph acceleration time of 9.7 seconds tells its own story.

There is nothing inherently wrong with the engine – it’s smooth enough and perfectly capable of moving the Sportage around the suburbs and along motorways.

But in a car of this size, 147bhp can leave you wishing for a little more wallop, especially when overtaking or climbing hills with passengers aboard.

Then there’s the economy of an average 39.8mpg – hardly disastrous, but neither is it particularly impressive by modern family-SUV standards, while the 162g/km CO2 figure is a reminder that this conventional petrol model is increasingly fighting a battle against electrified alternatives.

Kia includes more sophisticated hybrid powertrains in the range, so the Pure petrol feels a bit like the entry ticket rather than the definitive Sportage experience.

That said, many buyers prefer a straightforward petrol SUV without the additional complexity or expense of hybrid tech, so in lots of cases this entry grade offering makes good sense.

The steering is light, visibility adequate and the Sportage feels reassuringly easy to drive, even if the oversized gearknob is a hindrance rather than a help, and the ride quality is generally comfortable.

The current line-up starts with Pure at £31,395, followed by GT-Line at £33,895, Storm at £34,395 and GT-Line S at £40,795.

That tab makes the Pure look attractive, but the £2,500 jump to GT-Line is definitely worth considering given that it adds 18-inch alloys, privacy glass, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel and more upmarket upholstery, among other gear.

The bottom line is that the Kia Sportage 1.6 T-GDi Pure may be a competent, comfortable and impressively well-equipped family SUV, but it is difficult to escape the feeling that the entry-level petrol model is something of a compromise.