2017 Kia Sportage Road Test and Review

The 2017 Kia Sportage serves as a reminder that good things can come from humble beginnings. One of the longest-running nameplates in the Korean automaker's portfolio, the Sportage has transitioned from outsider status amongst compact crossover buyers more enamored of vehicles like the Toyota RAV4 and the Honda CR-V to a legitimate threat to these established players in areas such as power, comfort, and reliability. Leading this push for Kia has been a focus on originality and excitement in design, two rare concepts in a world where one small SUV often looks very much like the next.

While the Kia Sportage might not have displaced its Japanese rivals - nor the juggernaut Ford Escape - on the sales charts, it has certainly carved out a profitable niche for itself amongst family buyers who genuinely care about being able to pick their ride out from the mass of metal crowded into the mall parking lot. After spending a day behind the wheel of the redesigned 2017 Kia Sportage in the mountains of British Columbia, however, it became clear to me that this hauler's appeal goes more than just skin deep.

The 2017 Kia Sportage might be just a little bit longer than the model it replaces, but you'd be hard-pressed to figure that out without lining them up side-by-side. Kia has disguised much of the Sportage's 40mm of additional length by fussing with its front and rear overhangs, reducing one while extending the other in a bid for balance. Cognizant of the need to keep the crossover firmly in the compact segment, the Sportage finds itself considerably shorter overall than several of its key competitors and also no wider than it was the year before.

Instead, the Kia SUV's road presence has been enhanced by sending its sheet metal to the gym. Where once the Sportage deftly tucked its headlights into the leading edge of the front fenders, they now perch more prominently at the top, resting above an enlarged grille that maintains a link between the crossover and other recently-retouched members of the Kia family. Beefier fender swells front and rear are complemented by a unique quad-cluster fog light design that shares space with air ducts carved out of the front fascia. It's an intriguing, eye-catching design that continues Kia's trend of imbuing its affordable products with a premium look.

The 2017 Sportage's cabin is a familiar one if you've spent any time behind the wheel of a recent Kia automobile, which means switchgear is logically organized, plastics are tastefully soft (in entry-level models), and for higher end leather-trimmed interiors there's an appreciable upgrade in fit and finish throughout. The new Sportage has a few other improvements up its sleeve, such as a center stack that's been canted towards the driver, an optional and pleasing dark brown color palette, and a bigger sunroof that runs from the front to the rear of the vehicle.

Second row riders will also be happy with the amount of room they've been given to stretch out. Although only a bit bigger than it was for the 2016 model year, the Sportage's back seat now offers more recline, allowing for better use of the space allotted. In the storage department, the Kia Sportage is not only capable of swallowing its cargo cover in an under-floor compartment when not in use, but it also offers a "dual floor" design that can be raised and lowered so as to add 10 percent more volume for hauling your gear. With the rear seats folded flat and the floor dropped, you're looking at a boost of almost 6 cubic feet of extra cargo room versus the old Sportage, a figure which is more easily accessible thanks to the reduced lift-over height of the rear bumper.

There are no real surprises to be found under the hood of the 2017 Kia Sportage, especially at the entry level where the same 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine offered by the previous-generation crossover continues to pull duty. Capable of producing 181 horsepower and 175 lb-ft of torque, the relatively modest mass of the Sportage poses no real challenge to the unit unless you are attempting a highway pass uphill - in which case the vehicle's six-speed automatic transmission resolutely refuses to downshift out of the motor's carefully-delineated power band. The end result is performance that's on par with similar four-cylinder engines from Toyota, Honda, and Nissan, and certainly within the expectations of budget-oriented family buyers.

Step up to the 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that's also offered with the Sportage, however, and you'll enter a realm of straight-line speed that few crossovers at its price point can match. As with the new Optima sedan, the Kia Sportage's turbo mill has been tuned to favor a low-end torque delivery over outright horsepower, which explains its official rating of 237 ponies and 260 lb-ft of twist. Featuring the same six-speed automatic, the 2.0-liter will outpace any rival in its class save the similarly-gifted Ford Escape EcoBoost. Just as important, the motor gives the Sportage a mechanical point of differentiation over its Hyundai Tucson platform-mate, which restricts the size of its available turbocharged engine to a more modest 1.6 liters.

Kia predicts that the majority of its buyers will opt for the vehicle's available all-wheel drive system, which offers active torque management on both dry and slippery pavement. Capable of sending as much as 100 percent of engine output to either axle should wheel spin be detected, in normal operation the 2017 Kia Sportage directs 95 percent to the front wheels in a bid to improve efficiency. Torque transfer also occurs when cornering so as to improve stability and fight both understeer and oversteer, although this happens so transparently that I was unable to detect the crossover's machinations even when I fed it a series of abrupt steering inputs at speed.

The Sportage isn't intended to canter over hill and dale unencumbered by roads, but should drivers choose to leave the asphalt, it's possible to lock the crossover's torque split at 50/50 with the push of a button. Kia had prepared a hilly gravel trail for us to sample the capabilities of the all-wheel drive system, and the proficiency with which the vehicle dispatched the mud-slicked ruts and occasional puddle served as an accurate simulation of the limits to which Sportage owners will likely test the forward progress of the vehicle. There's also a hill stop assist and hill descent control feature bundled into the crossover, and while they worked as advertised, it's hard to envision them getting much use while commuting.

The 2017 Kia Sportage doesn't smash any efficiency records, but it does come with a number of features that together reduce its overall fuel consumption. Common to all Sportage models is a retuned version of the six-speed automatic transmission mentioned earlier, along with a selectable Eco drive mode that doesn't just get you into high gear more quickly but also actively manages the engine to burn fuel at a reduced rate. The vehicle's aerodynamics have been improved, and electronic cam management is now a feature on both naturally-aspirated and turbocharged engines, which further contributes to lowering the Sportage's thirst in a wider variety of driving situations. All-told, the Kia crossover's base engine is rated at 23 mpg in city driving and 30 mpg on the highway (front-wheel drive models), while the turbo checks in at 21 mpg around town and 26 mpg during highway cruising.

In addition to its Eco mode, the 2017 Kia Sportage also offers Normal and Sport driving options. When Sport is engaged, the crossover's steering gets heavier, throttle response sharpens, and lower gears are held longer, with the effects most noticeable in the turbocharged model (paddle shifters are available on SX editions if you feel like getting even more involved). Overall, I found myself more impressed with how confident the Sportage's handling felt even on the lowliest of models, an improvement in road-holding that can be attributed not just to an improved front and rear suspension setup but also the decision to build the Kia using significantly more high strength steel than in years past. The automaker claims that the Sportage is just under 40 percent stiffer than the vehicle it replaces, an attribute that I think most buyers will appreciate when it comes to its quiet and controlled ride rather than when driving it in a more spirited manner.

Kia has elected to avoid any large price increases for the 2017 Sportage while at the same time stuffing a respectable amount of extra gear into the picture at almost every level. The base Sportage LX (MSRP $22,900) now offers larger 17-inch alloy wheels, a quieter cabin, extra chrome, a rearview camera, and a five-inch LCD infotainment screen, while the Sportage EX (MSRP $25,500) introduces Android Auto mobile phone integration, a larger seven-inch infotainment feature, 18-inch rims, and LED taillights, none of which it offered the year before. The Kia Sportage SX Turbo (MSRP $32,500) is notable for its higher quotient of active safety gear (more on that later), as well as its new 19-inch rims, LED fog lights, paddle shifters, and sporty flat-bottom steering wheel.

These fresh features are on top of available equipment that includes a navigation system, wireless phone charging capability, heated seats front and rear, front cooled buckets, a power liftgate, directional HID headlights, a heated steering wheel, and of course, a leather interior. Most of this equipment is available to the EX model via various packages, while the SX sees it as standard.

The previous-generation Kia Sportage was available with a blind spot monitoring system, but given that expectations for active safety equipment are so high amongst the families shopping for compact crossovers, it's only natural that the 2017 model would seriously step up its game. The new Sportage adds a blind spot detection feature (optional at the EX level, standard on SX Turbo) while treating the SX Turbo to standard equipment such as a forward collision warning system with automated braking, along with a lane departure warning system (all of which can be added to the EX as a package). The latter keeps its pavement-watching camera inside the windshield - as with Subaru's EyeSight design - which better protects it from being blocked and disabled by road grime, snow, and salt. There's an extra push for Kia to move forward with such an aggressive safety strategy: this type of gear is now a requirement from the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety should an automaker want to snag its coveted Top Safety Pick+ rating.

Pros:
•    Attractive, stand-out styling
•    Comfortable interior
•    High-powered turbocharged engine option
•    Available all-wheel drive
•    Improved cargo management
•    Excellent warranty

Cons:
•    Not as large inside as Toyota RAV4 or Ford Escape
•    Fuel efficiency is good, but not class-leading
•    Turbo engine forces all-wheel drive
•    New active safety features not available outside of top-tier SX model