Kia Sportage Review & Prices

The Kia Sportage is a staple example of the family SUV breed. It’s been around for a while and the latest version is sensible with a striking design, a well-made interior and a choice of petrol or hybrid engines. It isn’t all that comfortable, though, and those engines aren’t particularly efficient.

That isn’t enough to totally dull the Sportage’s shine, though, even in the massively crowded medium-sized SUV game. From the cheap but brilliant Citroen C5 Aircross and the not-brilliant but well-equipped BYD Seal U to the stylish Omoda 7 and the posh Volkswagen Tiguan, there are loads of alternatives to consider.

It’s the wacky styling and dependable warranty of the Kia that help the Sportage to stand out from the crowd, so it’s a bit like a spaghetti bolognese from the pop-up joint up the road. Yes, it looks a bit more exciting than your typical spag-bol, but it’s still a safe choice at the end of the day. It’s hard to go wrong.

As a result, the Sportage is a solid choice for families after a sensible set of wheels, but who would like to turn heads on the school run - or stand out a little in the Tesco car park.

One of the Kia’s key attributes is its spacious interior, because it’ll swallow up four six-footers (or two parents and three angsty teenagers) with ease. The boot is pretty generous, too, larger than a lot of similarly-sized SUVs such as the Jaecoo 7 and Nissan Qashqai, though the Chery Tiggo 8 and Skoda Kodiaq are larger still.

There’s a decent amount of interior storage, with enough odds and ends to contain a family’s worth of tat. The door bins aren’t huge, but the flip-out cup holders are handy.

Shame the interior isn’t quite as interesting to behold as the outside, because while it’s sensibly laid-out and full of premium materials in easy-to-reach places, it’s just a bit bland. At least the inclusion of physical climate control switches and the crisp, bright infotainment and driver displays are easy to understand.

Still, given the Sportage’s big, aggressive grille and upright headlights, surprisingly curvaceous flanks and funky wheel options…Kia could have been a bit more adventurous with the cabin.

You can choose from a petrol, self-charging or plug-in hybrid engine in your Sportage. The entry-level models can be had with a manual gearbox, but the automatic is easier to live with. The hybrids are pretty smooth, but a BYD Seal U is more efficient and better at driving on EV power alone.

The Seal U isn’t as good to drive, though. Around town the Sportage is easy to manoeuvre, even in manual guise with a light gearchange, but it is a bit bumpier and bouncier over broken roads than a Volkswagen Tiguan or Citroen C5 Aircross. It settles down nicely on the motorway, but ignore the name - this is far from a sports car on a twisty road. Take it easy and it makes for a quiet country lane companion, though.

Verdict

The Kia Sportage may have had plenty of capable alternatives pop up over the years, but it’s still a well-made, easy-to-drive and spacious choice of family car. It’s neither as comfortable as a Peugeot 3008 nor as rugged as a Dacia Duster, but it’s a very solid all-rounder.

If you’re looking for a good value, practical family car with a really long warranty, it’s tough to argue against the Kia Sportage. Check out the latest Kia Sportage deals and Sportage lease deals available through Carwow to see how much you could save. You can also browse used Sportages as well as other used Kias. When it’s time to sell your current car, Carwow can help, too.

Kia Sportage: size, practicality and storage

Dimensions (length, width, height): 4,540mm x 1,865mm x 1,645mm
Number of seats: five
ISOFIX points: two (outermost rear seats)
Boot space seats up: 587 litres (PHEV), 591 litres
Boot space seats down: 1,776 litres (PHEV), 1,780 litres
Towing capacity: 1,650kg

The Kia Sportage starts at just under £31,000, which gets you the entry-level ‘Pure’ trim level and the petrol engine with a manual gearbox. Mid-spec GT-Line models have a choice of manual and automatic, while top-spec GT-Line S cars are auto-only. It’s the same trim levels with the hybrid engine, just a bit more expensive, and with the option of all-wheel drive at the top of the range for about £44,000. That makes it competitively priced, with most alternatives starting in the region of £30,000.

Pure models get all the basics such as the twin-screen setup inside, air conditioning, front and rear parking sensors, and LED headlights. GT-Line adds heated front seats and steering wheel, 18-inch alloy wheels and leather and suede upholstery. GT-Line S brings lots of luxury, such as a Harman Kardon sound system, panoramic glass roof, 360-degree parking cameras and ventilated seats.

Space in the front seats

The front seats have plenty of adjustment for drivers of all sizes and the steering column has loads of reach and rake movement, so you’ll be able to get comfortable.

Space in the back seats

There’s good space in the back of the Sportage, and in the six-footer-behind-a-six-footer test, those in the back will have plenty of air between their knees and the back of the front seat. Headroom is good too, even with the optional glass roof, but space for your feet is tight, as the runners for the front seats intrude onto the rear floor.

The back seat is plenty wide enough to get three people in, but again, foot space is compromised by the chunky transmission hump.

ISOFIX points

You get two ISOFIX points for child seats in the back seats, but the anchor points are buried deep. That makes it slightly harder to slot the seats in than with some similar models, even if the actual space once the seat is in is excellent.

Boot space

At up to 591 litres, the Sportage’s boot is basically huge, and you only lose a few litres to make space for the batteries in the hybrid version. Folding the seats down allows for up to 1,780 litres of space.

Compared with alternatives, the Sportage is on the high side of average. It comfortably beats the Jaecoo 7 (500 litres) and Nissan Qashqai (504 litres) for capacity, though if you need maximum space, the Omoda 9 offers 660 litres while the Chery Tiggo 8 has 700 litres with its third row of seats folded flat.

On the petrol model, you can adjust the height of the boot floor to take away a slight load lip, and very sensibly there’s space under the boot to store the rear luggage blind when you’re not using it. All models also get a 12-volt socket, hooks, tie-down points and handles that release and fold the backs of the rear seats. Those fold down in a 40:20:40 formation, so you can still have two people in the back and carry a long, narrow load.

Interior storage and accessories

Practicality up front in the Sportage is pretty good. The door pockets are a little slim - but can still fit big bottles - and there are plenty of spots in the centre console to keep your phone as well as the contents of your pockets such as keys and wallets.

The cupholders on automatic models are Kia’s clever folding versions which revolve out of the way, giving you the choice between drinks or a larger space to fling stuff, and feature a grippy base which helps you twist the caps off of drinks one-handed.

There are some very nice touches though — you get reclining rear seatbacks, and as well as storage pockets and little bag hooks on the back of the front seats. There are also USB-C sockets built into the front seats which are nice and high up and easier to access than ones that are mounted down low on the centre console.

The rear door bins are fine too, and the rear windows go all the way down. There’s an integrated coat hanger in the back of the front seat headrest which is also a nice touch.

High-quality screens, but top-spec models don’t live up to the price tag in material quality

The design of the Sportage’s cabin is really nice, with some interesting touches such as the arrow-head air vent just in front of the front seat passenger. All models get a big, bright, 12.3-inch infotainment display, while most trims also get a 12.3-inch digital instrument screen to go with it.

Kia is actually matching, even besting, some premium-brand models with this infotainment setup, as it looks expensive and it’s easy to use. Helpfully, there’s a second touch-sensitive panel below the big screen which, at the touch of a button, changes from heating and air conditioning controls to shortcuts for the navigation and media selection. If that sounds over-complicated, it’s not — it’s actually really easy to use and the whole setup is so much better than what you’d find in an equivalent Volkswagen.

Quality levels are good, and while you will find a few cheaper plastics down low on the door cards, up top everything’s made of lovely soft-touch materials. It doesn’t feel quite as posh as the likes of the Omoda 9 or BMW X1, especially with the cheaper-feeling plastics in the back, though both of those sit on the high side of the Kia’s price range.

Perhaps more importantly for a family car, the overall build is rock-solid, and we couldn’t even make the centre console wobble around in spite of really, really trying to. The circular gear selector is a nice touch for automatic and hybrid models, while the steering wheel buttons are actual proper buttons, and not the fiddly touch-sensitive ones you'll find on some Volkswagen models. This all ought to stand the test of time.

The Kia Sportage is a sensible all-rounder across all road conditions, but the suspension is a bit firm around town

The Sportage is easy to drive around town. Most versions come with an automatic gearbox, and those are the ones we’d aim for - the manual is very light but it’s also quite difficult to modulate the clutch. The hybrids shuffle power between petrol and electric pretty seamlessly, though the BYD Seal U is quieter and spends more time on electric power.

Meanwhile, the steering is light and accurate, and the brakes feel progressive, which isn’t always the case with hybrid cars. You do feel bumps at lower speeds in the Sportage more than you do in some alternatives, though. It has firmer suspension than the super-soft Citroen C5 Aircross.

Parking is easy - all models get a rear-view camera with an optional 360-degree setup, and there are handy little blindspot cameras that display in the instrument cluster on higher trims when you signal too.

All versions of the Sportage get enough power to make motorway journeys pretty easy. Put your foot down in one of the hybrids and while you do pick up speed quite neatly, you do get a big helping of engine noise at the same time. It quietens down nicely at cruising speed, and wind and road noise are kept well at bay. The firm suspension isn’t so much of an issue here either - you’ll only really notice motorway expansion joints.

It may have sport in its name, but the Sportage isn’t very capable on a twisty road. That said, it still has good grip and that firm suspension means that it doesn’t roll too much in corners. There’s no sense of feedback through the steering wheel though, which doesn’t encourage spirited driving.

Kia has an enviable reputation for both reliability and customer service, and with the brand’s lengthy seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty coming as standard, we don’t expect that many owners will encounter problems.

That said, it ranked 25th out of 30 manufacturers in the 2026 Driver Power ownership survey. This is a disappointing position, and perhaps not as high its reputation would suggest it should finish.

Kia Sportage Euro NCAP result: five stars (2022)

Adult occupants: 87%
Child occupants: 86%
Vulnerable road users: 66%
Safety assist: 72%

Kia has loaded the Sportage up with electronic driver aids. As standard, you get forward collision avoidance assistance with pedestrian and cyclist detection, an intelligent speed limiter, lane-following steering, trailer stability assistance if you’re towing, and a tyre pressure monitor.

You can optionally add to that, including the clever little blind spot cameras, and the parking collision avoidance system (which automatically brakes if you’re about to back into something), as well as the remote parking assistant. There’s also a switchable driving mode for four-wheel drive models, which changes the settings for mud, snow, or sand but few Sportage owners are ever likely to really need or use that.

The Sportage has been tested by Euro NCAP for safety, and it scored a full five stars, including an 87% rating for adult occupant protection, and an 86% score for child occupant protection.

The Sportage has a fairly broad engine lineup that opens with a petrol and a manual transmission. This makes 140hp and is offered with an automatic gearbox on higher trims, achieving up to 40mpg on official tests.

If you’re going to be mostly town driving then the hybrid makes more sense. You’ll see around 50mpg from the 235hp self-charging hybrid in mixed mileage, or closer to 40mpg on a long run. This figure drops a little further if you opt for the four-wheel drive model.

A plug-in hybrid should join the range soon, and that will be the pick of the bunch for company car drivers, because of the favourable benefit-in-kind rates.