Many South Africans still prefer oil-burning engines over petrol ones, and the popular Kia Sportage has finally been released with a 1.6-litre turbodiesel engine. We spent a week in one to find out if it's as frugal and energetic as Kia claims it to be.
Interior, comfort, and convenience
The 5th-generation Kia Sportage which was launched last year (Read 2022 Kia Sportage, driven in Cape Town) is proving to be a much-desired car, but now that there are diesel models available (an absolute scarcity these days), will even more local buyers flock to showrooms?
Styling
In regard to the Sportage’s styling, it’s no different from its petrol-powered siblings as the trim lines are identical. It has the same bold front grille and sharp lines that give it that aggressive and sporty ‘crouching tiger’ appearance. The sleek headlights wrap around the sides of the vehicle, creating a slick futuristic look, with a sloping roofline and sculpted body that give it a sense of assertiveness and agility.
Our test model, in EX trim, sports a glossy black grille (with integrated front parking assist sensors), while the wheels are 18-inch alloys, which are ideal for the road surfaces where the Sportage will spend most of its time – tar, and dirt.
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Interior, comfort, and convenience features
The Sportage’s interior is cosy but spacious, minimalistic and upmarket, but user-friendly too. The highlight in the cabin is the massive, curved glass panel that accommodates the large touchscreen in the centre and the digital instrument binnacle in front of the driver. These screens are also rather large and thanks to the strip of touch-enabled digital controls below, you don’t have to delve into multiple menus on the touchscreen to get where you need to be. Toggling between the air-conditioning controls and the infotainment is done with the touch of a button.
Our EX model (see above) was fitted with cloth seats with side leather inserts, which may not be as easy to clean as full leather but at least prevents your behind from burning if your car was standing in the hot sun all day. In EX trim, there are a variety of almost bonus features that you wouldn’t really expect from a mid-range variant, such as electric adjustability for the driver’s seat, heated front seats, a heated steering wheel, heated rear seats (there are buttons for this in the rear doors) and two USB-C charging ports in the front backrests for use by rear passengers. And speaking of hot days, I was today years old when I realised I could remotely start the Sportage just by pressing a button on the side of the key fob, which will also allow you to cool the car before you get in to go somewhere.
Space
The Sportage has plenty of space in front, but the rear bench also has a good amount of room for three adult passengers, although the central passenger would probably have to be a bit smaller in width. (Here’s the Sportage in EX trim below).
The boot is a spacious 591 litres (extendable to 1780 litres with the rear bench folded flat) and has a rubber mat that covers the boot floor, which came in handy when I bought about 10 plants at the local church bazaar. All the soil that was spilled could just be shaken out by removing the mat and I didn’t need to break out the clumsy vacuum cleaner to get rid of all the sand. The boot’s height is quite decent so all my shrubs fit rather nicely, standing up! There is also a high-quality tonneau cover to render valuables invisible to eyes with bad intentions. And if you need more space, you just press a button to fold down the rear seats.
Needless to say, the Sportage passes my Carpool test with flying colours, as three kids, their suitcases and their sports equipment all fit on board with room to spare in the cargo area. Should you need to travel with a stroller or a wheelchair, the low loading lip ensures doesn’t require that you lift it too high.
The Drive, Performance & Fuel Economy
The 1.6-litre diesel power plant (100 kW and 320 Nm) feels meatier than its petrol counterpart and its marriage to the 7-speed dual-clutch auto’ box is a match made in heaven. But it’s the fuel consumption that impresses the most. Kia offers four different driving modes in the Sportage: Eco, Normal, Sport and Smart. I had it in all four modes to test out consumption on each and there wasn’t a huge difference between the different modes. Driving on the open road at a leisurely pace from Strand to Hermanus yielded around 5.2 to 6.2 litres per 100 km, and at the speed limit in Sport mode it went up to about 7.8. In heavy traffic, 8.2 litres per 100 km was the maximum. This means that the diesel Sportage will be a great tower (braked capacity is 1650 kg and 750 kg unbraked), if you need something that has a bit of lead in its pencil but won’t obliterate your bank balance at the fuel pumps.
With its quiet cabin, pliant suspension (the Sportage has a MacPherson strut type suspension at the front and a four-link type set-up at the rear), and light steering, the Sportage is always comfortable and effortless to drive, and to park.
Safety
The Sportage is specified with all the important safety stuff such as ABS, EBA, hill-start assist, traction/stability control, hill-descent control, a full-sized spare wheel, six airbags, a blind spot monitor, cruise control, child locks, rear privacy glass, rain-sensing windscreen wipers, ISOfix, light-sensing LED headlamps, front LED fog lamps, park distance control in the front and rear, and a rearview camera with a large display in the touchscreen. The previous-generation Sportage was awarded 5 stars for safety by EuroNCAP.
The top-spec GT-Line Plus model is equipped with semi-self-driving tech such as adaptive cruise control and everything that goes along with that.
Pricing and line-up
Kia Sportage 1.6 T-GDi LX: R 567 995
Kia Sportage 1.6 CRDi LX: R 597 995
Kia Sportage 1.6 T-GDi EX: R 621 995
Kia Sportage 1.6 CRDi EX: R 651 995 (tested)
Kia Sportage 1.6 T-GDi GT-Line: R 677 995
Kia Sportage 1.6 T-GDi GT-Line Plus: R 705 995
Kia Sportage 1.6 CRDi GT-Line Plus: R 735 995
Kia Sportage 1.6 T-GDi GT-Line S: R 7
Competitors
Diesel models in this segment are becoming more scarce by the day, and there’s very little that really competes with the oil-burning Sportage, which retails for R651 995 in mid-tier EX trim. You could perhaps cast your sights on the Hyundai Grand Creta in the segment below with its third row of seats and its 1.5-litre diesel engine, however. Read my road-trip review on this Hyundai Grand Creta here. The diesel Hyundai Tucson is a 2.0-litre and it’s priced at a rather steep R700 000, but it’s also a brilliant vehicle. Mazda still has a 2.2-litre diesel CX-5 available (although it’s getting a bit long in the tooth), and Volkswagen offers their new Tiguan 2.0TDi if you prefer the Germans over the Koreans. The new entry-level Toyota Fortuner 2.4 GD-6 manual (R653 500) also falls in the same price bracket.
As for petrol competitors, there are many! An impressive Japanese rival is the new Nissan X-Trail 2.5 Visia (R649 900), while Stellantis’ Peugeot 3008 1.6T Allure (R664 900) is worth considering, but don’t forget cars like the Mazda CX-5 2.0, Subaru Forester 2.5i and Volkswagen Tiguan Allspace 1.4TSi 110kW (R648 100) either.
Verdict
The diesel Sportage has every ingredient to make it successful, and those who couldn’t wait and bought petrol models may be contemplating a trade-in as we speak! Who doesn’t love a car that allows you to drive over a *1000 kilometres (of mixed driving) on one full tank?
*Disclaimer: Please note that driving styles/driving speeds/road surfaces differ and this number is not set in stone. Actual fuel usage may vary depending on driving conditions and other factors beyond our control. AutoTrader shall not be liable for any damages arising from reliance upon this information.
Keyword: Kia Sportage 1.6 CRDi EX (2023) Review