QL Sportage

Kia’s fourth-generation QL Sportage landed in early 2016 bringing a bold new face and big changes under the skin.

Where the third-gen Sportage had a sleek, appealing design, the latest version had a busy front end that did not appeal to everyone.

But Kia placed a big emphasis on lifting the quality and comfort levels of the cabin, and brought it into line with high quality interiors of its Sorento and Carnival stable-mates.

The Sportage was made available in Si, SLi and Platinum specs, with a choice of a somewhat underwhelming 2.0-litre four-cylinder petrol (Si and SLi), a 2.4-litre petrol (Platinum) or the pick of the bunch, the 2.0-litre turbo-diesel (all grades).

The diesel and the 2.4L petrol were all-wheel drive, and all variants were paired with a six-speed automatic transmission.

Fuel economy was better in the fourth-gen version, with 7.9 litres per 100km on the combined cycle in the 2.0L petrol, 6.8L/100km for the diesel and 8.5L/100km in 2.4-litre petrol guise.

Kia Motors Australia’s local ride and handling program tailored the suspension to Australian conditions making for a far better ride quality, while noise, vibration and harshness issues were successfully addressed.