Kia Sportage gets subtle makeover

UPDATED: 11/06/2014KIA’S facelifted Sportage compact SUV has arrived in local showrooms, offering powertrain improvements and extra standard gear, but it comes with a range-wide price hike.

The updated Sportage – revealed at the Geneva motor show earlier this year – features some subtle styling tweaks including a new grille at the front, new LED tail-light clusters, restyled alloy wheel covers and a shark-fin antenna on the roof.

In the cabin, Kia has added more soft-touch materials to the dash and upper door panels and a power driver’s seat on some variants, while a new ‘Supervision’ instrument cluster has been introduced with a 4.2-inch screen.

Kicking the range off is the petrol-powered two-wheel drive Si matched with a six-speed manual gearbox - replacing the five-speed unit from the outgoing model - from $25,990 excluding on-road costs, a $500 increase over the model it replaces.

Opting for the $2200 six-speed automatic transmission – which itself is $200 more expensive in the updated Sportage – will bring the price of the Si to $28,190, an increase of $700. All variants, with the exception of the Si, come standard with a six-speed auto.

Kia has added a new Si Premium variant from $29,990, which acts as the flagship for the two-wheel drive range.

Further up the petrol range is the all-wheel drive SLi from $34,790, with a $1300 price boost, while the AWD Platinum from $38,390 is up by $1900, marking the biggest increase over the previous model.

The most affordable diesel in the range is the AWD SLi CRD from $37,790 (up $800) and the AWD Platinum CRD tops the Sportage range from $41,390 (up $1400).

The 135kW/392Nm 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine is carried over from the previous model, but the company has replaced the 2.0-litre petrol unit with a new 2.0-litre four-cylinder GDi petrol engine.

The new-gen unit has the same 122kW power output as the outgoing model, but features a slight torque boost from 197Nm to 205Nm.

Fuel economy in the oil burner remains at 7.2 litres per 100 kilometres on the combined cycle, but the mechanical tweaks to the GDi petrol unit has improved fuel consumption by 0.5L to 8.2L/100km in the 2WD manual and by 0.2L to 8.4L/100km in the AWD matched with an auto.

Kia has improved noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) levels via a number of measures, including the use of a soundproof windscreen with an interlayer to reduce wind noise. Other NVH changes include a bush-mounted front sub-frame, an intermediate shaft has been added to the drivetrain, while a new transmission mounting bracket has improved rigidity.

Standard gear across the Sportage range includes cruise control, tinted glass, cornering lamps, keyless entry, rain-sensing wipers and Bluetooth connectivity with phone and audio streaming.

New standard equipment in the base Si compared with the previous model includes trailer stability control with the auto, a new console storage compartment, rear parking sensors and new 16-inch alloy wheels.

The newest addition to the range, the Si Premium, adds automatic headlights, roof rails, a reversing camera, leather/cloth seats, LED daytime running lights and 17-inch alloys.

Further up the range, the SLi gains dual-zone climate control, a seven-speaker Infinity sound system with a sub-woofer, front parking sensors with a display on the dash, a 4.2-inch Supervision cluster, sat-nav and an ECO drive setting in diesel guise.

Push-button start, a smart key, leather seats, heated front and rear seats, power driver’s seat, HID headlights with washers and 18-inch alloy wheels are all reserved for the range-topping Platinum variants.

Safety wise, the Sportage gets six airbags, hill-start assist and a downhill brake control, electronic brakeforce distribution, ESC and ABS.

Kia has enjoyed a recent sales boost for the Sportage, with 2686 examples of the stylish compact SUV finding homes in Australia in the first five months of 2014, a 37.7 per cent leap over the 1951 it sold in the same period last year.

2014 Kia Sportage pricing*

Si GDi 2WD	$25,990
Si GDi 2WD (a)	$28,190
Si Premium GDi 2WD (a)	$29,990
SLi GDi 4WD (a)	$34,790
SLi CRD 4WD (a)	$37,790
Platinum GDi 4WD (a)	$38,390
Platinum CRD 4WD (a)	$41,390

*Excludes on-road costs.