How does the new Kia Sportage SUV compare?

The new Kia Sportage announced this year, is a compact crossover SUV available as a 1.6 petrol or 1.7 diesel with 2WD or 2.0 petrol or diesel, manual or automatic. Prices range from £16,645 to £26,170.

Here’s a summary of car comparisons reviews from carbuyersinfo.

Other compact SUV UK models include the BMW X1, Ford Kuga, Honda CR-V, Hyundai ix35, Mitsubishi ASX, Skoda Yeti, Toyota RAV4, VW Tiguan. They’re all about the same size and most – not the CRV or RAV4 – have 2WD options.

These compact SUVs differ in maximum load space which is an indicator of versatility. In this respect the Kia Sportage is similar to the X1, Kuga and ix35. The Sportage has more load space than the ASX  but less than the RAV4 and Tiguan. The Yeti is easily the class leader for load space.

In most cases there’s no significant difference in diesel fuel consumption and CO2s. The Sportage does better than the CRV and Tiguan but not as well as the Yeti. There’s an obvious difference between different size petrol engines.

The X1, Tiguan and Yeti have the option of higher performance models.

Safety wise the newer models are 5-star EuroNCAP. Some of the older models are 4. They all have ESP across the range bar the Yeti which has it optional on some models. That’s a disappointment because the Yeti has the lowest entry price and could have included ESP and charged accordingly.

Kia is known as a value brand and although it has a low entry price with 2WD and a 1.6 petrol engine, its top-end price is within 10% of BMW’s highest price. Kia appear to be competing  with equipment levels rather than price.

So in summary, they’re all about the same size with similar space, similar economy, emissions, performance, safety with the exception of those mentioned. There’s a huge variation in prices so it’s a good idea to set a budget to avoid being walked up the model ranges.

Regards
Ralph
carbuyersinfo Car Comparisons - Differences & Similarities Revealed

Why Use Car Comparison Sites?

You can find a comparison site for almost anything online. People make comparisons because they’re useful. Usually we look for examples, explanations or evidence to support ideas. With comparisons you can see both similarities and differences.

Car comparison sites can be used to compare performance, size, economy, safety and car insurance groups. Comfort and style are a matter of personal taste.

I’ve found producing car comparisons very surprising. In a lot of cases there are not the differences you’d imagine when you compare cars of the same size with the same type of engine.

The most popular comparisons seem to be for car dimensions comparisons, car size comparisons. And no wonder. Cars seem to just keep growing in size.

From the original 3.5m Mini, we had super minis, now they’re super-sized at 4m. There are now 3 different size small cars.

Medium small cars like the Focus grew to the size of what were medium size cars. When you look at the size of an Astra, you wonder how big the 2011 Focus will be.

Some medium size cars have grown into large cars – like the Mondeo and Insignia. They’re the size of an E-Class.

While cars are growing the space to park them is not. Most 1960/70 garages are too small for the modern car. Kerb side parking lengths have not increased. Side by side parking has not grown wider despite a lot of cars now being 2m wide including wing mirrors. And cars over 4.3m in length seem to overhang the space for them. I’ve even come across several cases where the width of the cars track is wider than the driveway. That’s a real problem where fences and different levels have to be considered.

So it’s a good idea to use car comparison sites to avoid getting caught out.

Regards
Ralph