ON FRONT PAG E N O R T H E AST V I C TO R I A , A L P S A N D H I G H CO U N T RY
JANUARY 29 - FEBRUARY 4 | 2016
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KIA SPORTAGE: Has bold new styling, is an excellent family wagon.
Bold look for new KIA Sportage
AN all-new Kia Sportage has arrived in Australia, the fourth generation of the midsize SUV that has been a sales success here since launched 20 years ago. It comes as no surprise that the latest Sportage features a bold new style, something we have come to expect from the two big Korean car makers. However, it was penned in Kia’s European design studio in Frankfurt, Germany, not in South Korea, though there was also input from the company’s Korean and Californian design studios. Sportage has Kia’s hallmark ‘tiger-nose’ grille which gives it a bold look that works beautifully with the tall bonnet.
By EWAN KENNEDY The roof slopes neatly towards the rear, but not to the extent of spoiling rear headroom. The headlamps sweep well back along the outer edges of the bonnet. ‘Ice-cube’ LED foglights are becoming an interesting feature of Kia models, and are a feature of the topline sportage. Sportage is sold in three trim levels: Si, SLi and Platinum GT-Line, and with a choice of petrol and diesel engines. Price starts at a pretty reasonable $28,990 for the 2.0-litre petrol Sportage Si and tops out at $45,990 for the Platinum turbo-diesel.
New Sportage has a longer wheelbase and is 40 mm longer overall (at 4480 mm), but retains the same height. Longer front overhangs and shorter rear overhangs are there to help produce a PRUH UDNHG SUR² OH Passenger room is increased, with headroom and legroom both improved. ,Q WKH UHDU WKH Âł RRU LV PP ORZHU (without any loss of ground clearance). Combining that with a higher rear seat KLS SRLQW PHDQ WKHUHÂŹV VLJQL² FDQWO\ better comfort. As a six-footer I can sit ‘behind’ myself with room to move. I also appreciated the good under-thigh support back there.
Cargo space is virtually the same, being up by just a single litre, to 466 litres, but the lowering of the boot lip makes it easier to load. The Sportage’s reclining rear seats have seven steps to let you juggle with passenger comfort and luggage space. Sportage Si has a 3.5-inch mono display in the centre of the dashboard. The SLi and Platinum have a 4.2-inch colour TFT supervision cluster. All models get a 7-inch touchscreen infotainment screen featuring reversing camera display with dynamic parking lines, while satellite navigation is standard for SLi and Platinum.
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