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2011 Sportage Reviews

55K views 175 replies 25 participants last post by  conwelpic  
#1 ·
#2 · (Edited)
Thanks for the link. I am eagerly waiting to see one in the flesh, so to speak.:) Havn't got a clue if we will get same spec in Australia, Canada and the US get top spec, we don't at times.
 
#14 ·
I like the looks of that opening. But I have to ask a question here. Why are there 2 little lights on the bottom of the door? These would be of no help when loading. The only thing I can think of is that it's a safety thing for when the door is open in the dark. Not much of a light for that purpose though. Am I missing something here?
 
#8 ·
I posed this question to Kia Buzz a while back and just recently got this reply:

when will the 2.0 GDI turbo be available in the Sportage for US and Canada?

answer:

As for the 2.0 TGDI Sportage in Canada and US, you should begin to see them become available in January or February of 2011
 
#11 ·
A Rant from a 2 G owner

Bound to be a lot of hype of course about the 3G and the reviewers are bound too to highlight where it has improved on the outgoing model....but it seems to me that there are some backward steps too - less head room in the rear, less cargo space (arguably as the metrics may have changed) & less ground clearance. Nasty and noisey ride on 18 inch rims but then what do you expect with urban racing wheels!

Some comments about 'at last a sporty Sportage'are missing the point with the 2G that it is drivers who are 'sporty' not the vehicle...they are in to skiing, water sports and outdoor life and need an SUV to get them places and tow things or carry them on the roof bars.

So the 3G is not a SUV (SUV made-up of 3 simple nouns)...it's a 'crossover' ('n - the process of producing work or achieving success in a new field or style, especially in popular music' COD).

So there we have it. 2G = a utility vehicle with substance over style for sporty owners; 3G = a sporty vehicle with style over substance and a great sound system for urban posers.

Of course I haven't seen one yet so this is pure prejudice!
 
#16 ·
Bound to be a lot of hype of course about the 3G and the reviewers are bound too to highlight where it has improved on the outgoing model....but it seems to me that there are some backward steps too - less head room in the rear, less cargo space (arguably as the metrics may have changed) & less ground clearance. Nasty and noisey ride on 18 inch rims but then what do you expect with urban racing wheels!

Some comments about 'at last a sporty Sportage'are missing the point with the 2G that it is drivers who are 'sporty' not the vehicle...they are in to skiing, water sports and outdoor life and need an SUV to get them places and tow things or carry them on the roof bars.

So the 3G is not a SUV (SUV made-up of 3 simple nouns)...it's a 'crossover' ('n - the process of producing work or achieving success in a new field or style, especially in popular music' COD).

So there we have it. 2G = a utility vehicle with substance over style for sporty owners; 3G = a sporty vehicle with style over substance and a great sound system for urban posers.

Of course I haven't seen one yet so this is pure prejudice!
I would pretty much agree with all of this. I'm 47 and am looking to upgrade from my trusty and sporty (back in it's day) '02 Protege. That vehicle will be passed on to my oldest son as his first car when I finally acquire the Sportage.

I wanted something a little easier to get in and out of each morning. I wanted something affordable. And I wanted something that has a lot of the newer bells and whistles. I don't do any off road stuff at all, so I guess I'll just be another urban poser. I can live with that though. The way I look at it, this is my solution to an affordable mid-life crisis mobile. :lol:
 
#23 ·
I don't mean to belittle the fact you posted that link but there's nothing in that short and near pointless "first drive" article that hasn't already been said 100 times already. Yes, yes, 18" wheels and low profile tires make for not so smooth a ride, but the Sportage handles well in curves and bends. And there's not as much space inside as a Sorento. Big revelation there too. The shin splints they received from the floor mounted pedals is something new I guess.
 
#27 · (Edited)
First Drive Impressions

So enough with the pundits reports. I was finally able to get behind the wheel of a Mineral Grey Sportage EX-Luxury today and drive it, albeit for only a measly 15 minutes. So here are my "first drive" impressions as well as a couple of other tidbits I came to find out today.

Access into the Sportage was fairly easy for me. I'm 5'11". I might look into getting running boards (rails) to make it even easier though. The seat felt just right for my slightly larger than average posterior. There is good lateral and lumbar support. You feel lightly "wrapped" in the seat which is the way it should be. Since this was the Luxury model it had the push button ignition which worked like a charm. I so wish this feature were on the EX model. The door makes a good solid sound when closing, similar to the Sorento. The door latch opens smoothly too.

Take off was smooth and I made sure to find a long, steep hill to climb in order to test the power, engine noise and shifting. I'm happy to report that there was enough power (at least for me) in climbing, while I still had the A/C turned on. Shifts were silky smooth and at the right RPM. You can definitely hear the engine working though. It's not a whiny, high pitched noise, but you can tell it's not a V6 either. I'm used to this having driven a 2.0L the past 8 years though.

This model has the 18" wheels. I made sure to drive over some bumps and low curbs. Feels fine to me. And I'll also mention that the rumors about the steering being tight/tough at low speeds is also unfounded IMO. I found the steering to be light and very comfortable at less than 5 mph. Much easier than our Honda Odyssey, that's for sure.

This model had the sunroof and like with all sunroofs I've experienced the headroom felt tighter when the cover was closed. I opened and closed the sunroof several times. I'm sure most are aware already, but the movement of the roof is UP first and then BACK. It's pretty smooth but not as smooth a motion as some others I've experienced. The stitching of the fabric on the sliding cover was puckered in a few spots.

I set the radio bass/treble/fader to their neutral (middle) positions and cranked up the volume. Distortion occurred about 2/3 up the range. About average I suppose, but maybe not so great considering the extra money for the sub woofer and 2 (?) extra speakers you get with the Luxury model.

This model also had the back-up camera as opposed to the back-up sensors. This feature is automatically activated by putting the vehicle in reverse. As soon as I put the shifter in R the camera was activated and I could see a very clear picture in about 1/3 of the rear view mirror. The picture has red/yellow/green lines (zones) to indicate how close you are to an object. Not sure how this would all look in the dark of night, but it was quite good on this sunny afternoon. The downside to this feature (at least for me) is that you don't get the Homelink garage door openers built into the mirror. That comes on the lesser EX model with the back-up sensors.

So in a nutshell, I was very pleased with how the Sportage performed during my brief test drive. I liked the comfort and the handling. The power felt good enough to me, but I'd like to take it out again with my family (4 total) in tow and then climb an even steeper hill, like the one leading up to our house.

Now for the 2 niggles I noticed today.

First off, the gas filler door is made of PLASTIC not metal like the rest of the body. WTF?? The door hinge and hook that closes over the latch are also plastic. The whole assembly looked and felt somewhat fragile to me. I'm sure it will be fine if you are the "careful" type (like I am) but still, why is KIA cheaping out on something like this.

Secondly, the divided storage compartment than resides below the cargo mat is made out of STYROFOAM!! Black painted Styrofoam. Again, WTF is up with that I have to ask. This piece should totally be made from thermoformed plastic or at the very least have some type of a plastic coating over top of the foam. It would be nothing to snap a divider wall straight off this piece of kit. I guess KIA figured people wouldn't use/access this feature very often and looked for a way to save a few more dollars. Quite disappointing IMO as I plan on storing an emergency kit, car wash supplies and bungee cords, etc. in that area. Again, one will just have to be extra careful when accessing it I suppose.

I will add that this dealer had a Black and Silver EX on the lot as well. The Manager said the orange and yellow colors would not be arriving any time soon. The Silver one was being sold as I was there. The Black was quite nice looking, but of course everything is very dark with that one. The look of the 17" wheels was fine IMO. They pretty much fill up the wheel wells. I think the 16's would look a bit tiny though. The fabric in the EX looks and feels durable. The white contrast stitching looks good too. Although I really would like leather, I could see myself "settling" for the fabric and still being happy. I hope it wears well and doesn't fade too much over time.

Well, that's about it for now. I'm looking forward to reading other people's reports as more vehicles become available for test drives. It looks like I'll be on the sidelines for a while yet as I will need to see an orange one in person before I decide anything. :p
 
#28 ·
First off, the gas filler door is made of PLASTIC not metal like the rest of the body. WTF?? The door hinge and hook that closes over the latch are also plastic. The whole assembly looked and felt somewhat fragile to me. I'm sure it will be fine if you are the "careful" type (like I am) but still, why is KIA cheaping out on something like this.
thanks, that's the kind of feed back members need. As regards the the gas filler door being made of plastic, the one on my Rondo is the same as well. I wondered like you initially but then I thought there is no danger of corrosion or rust forming which I've seen happen on these doors in the past. Not sure on the Sportage, but my outside mirror assembly casing is all plastic too.

As regards the styrofoam tray, you could be right about damage but I think it would take quite a wack to damage it, but at the same time it does make good cushioning and cut down the noise and also very light to lift out as its quite a large tray. The trays on my Rondo are all plastic compartments and I have had to line them to cut down noise and scratches - so maybe that might work better without having to do anything - just a thought.

Regards getting in, you are the same height as me and its only a fraction higher ground clearance than my Rondo (6.1" to 6.8") and it felt easy to enter, maybe the seat was in a higher position before you entered? I can't really see much use for running boards on this vehicle. My wife who is only 5'-3" has no complaints getting into the Rondo, she finds it much better than getting into our previous Oldsmobile.
 
#33 ·
Decent first drive review. They had a similar take on the engine noise, steering and suspension as my first drive. The BEST thing about that article for me was the picture gallery. I was REALLY looking forward to seeing some pictures of the orange color in natural light, both sunny and shady. In viewing those pics I believe my greatest concerns regarding this color have been realized. I do NOT like the look of the orange in the shade. It turns a muted orange/brown color. I don't like it. I felt the same way with the dark cherry on the Sorento. When the sun was hitting it straight on it looked awesome. As soon as you walked around to the shady side of the vehicle it started to look like a muted burgundy/brown color.

I'll still have to see one in person, but I'm pretty sure those pictures are an accurate depiction of what I'll see. It looks like I'll be in line for a Mineral Silver or Sand Track (I'm going to continue using the US color names because I think the Canadian ones are dumb) with black leather. Too bad as I really wanted to like the Techno Orange. I can say that both the Mineral Silver and Black Cherry (different looking color than the Sorento dark cherry) that my dealer had on the lot looked very sharp.
 
#34 ·
I posted this in the Canadian thread, however I guess it's more appropriate to post it here.

I took the new Sportage out today for a test drive. It was a fully loaded black/black EX Luxury with Nav.

Overall, I was very impressed with it. Exterior looks were fantastic, even more so than in pictures. For me, it's easily the most visually appealing compact SUV/CUV on the market today.

The interior was well executed with fit and finish being average, or even above average for this segment. I found the leather seats to be extremely comfortable. I never bothered to test the stereo or Nav system so I can't comment on that. The interior was very quiet at highway speeds. I did find however, that wind noise was a little above average with the sunroof open. No biggie though.

Handling on the Sportage was fantastic, definitely above average. The engine was pretty quiet as well and I didn't find it harsh or thrashy at all. Shifts were very smooth, whether they were in manual mode or not. The one thing that did disappoint a little was acceleration. It wasn't bad at all, but I guess I was expecting a little more ooomph during WOT. I wasn't expecting accleration like my S2000 or Infiniti G35, but I was still expecting a little more. Overall though, it wouldn't make me not purchase the vehicle.

There is an extremely good chance that this will be my next vehicle this fall.

Pics will follow soon.
 
#39 · (Edited)
<snip> I took the new Sportage out today for a test drive. It was a fully loaded black/black EX Luxury with Nav. <snip>
The nice thing about the black is that the wheel well moldings and other black trim pieces blend in. I had occasion this evening to visit another KIA dealer in my area. We were having the wife's Odyssey serviced nearby and after I dropped her off to pick it up I headed on over to Applewood Kia in Surrey, BC. I was hoping to see an orange one in person and I was pleasantly surprised to see a fully loaded one sitting on the sidewalk outside the showroom entrance. I chatted up the salesman for over 2 hours until the sun started to set. Unfortunately, as I mentioned in my earlier post today, my concern about the orange color becoming too dark in the shade/night is valid. In the sun, the orange is an awesome looking color. It's bright and you can see the nice metallic in the paint. When you move to the shaded spots it becomes almost a chocolaty orange or deep copper color, almost like the copper on the Murano. I asked a woman and her daughter what they thought of the color and they said it was ugly. When I asked them to view it from the sunny side she said it was much better. She admitted to not really being a fan of orange in general though. If I lived in a predominantly sunny climate like CA or FL it would be a no brainer. However, living Vancouver where most of the year it's cloudy and rainy I think I will be disappointed with the orange in the long term. In fact even someone at the dealership had written "brown" as the color for this model on their inventory tote board.

This dealer had seven 2011 Sportages on the lot, and more in their storage. They had some LX models which you can easily spot from a distance because the wheels and tires look quite small. What KIA calls the Dark Cherry is essentially a black with a red metallic fleck that is only visible in direct sunlight. It is not anywhere near as evident as the Dark Cherry on the Sorento and that one is hard enough to spot except in bright sunlight imo. What KIA calls the Sand Track is very close to the Titanium Gray on the Sorento. It looks quite good and is now probably my top choice, with the Dark Cherry being right up there (although I wanted to switch up from the black vehicle I currently own). No red, blue or yellow ones today. The salesman said he'd call me when a red one came in. Although I'm not a fan of red, I'm curious to see what it looks like on the Sportage.

The other thing worth noting is that NONE of the ones they had on the lot had the daytime LED running lights. My salesman didn't know anything about them, but another salesman said they should be arriving with the next batch or two. When we went to the Sportage Micro Site to check, you can see that the LED's are listed as standard equipment on the EX and EX-Luxury. So I'll be waiting until at least those show up on the lot.

I re-examined the gas filler door and cargo tray today as well. After overcoming my shock from yesterday I think the fact that these items are plastic and Styrofoam shouldn't be that big of a deal. The Styrofoam is pretty solid upon second review.

I guess it's pretty much wait and see time again. Wait until some more colors and the LED lights show up. Wait until all the different packages/options are announced. Wait until KIA releases their financing promos (might be 3 months out for that). And finally, wait until there's a clearer picture of when (and how much $$) the 2.0L Turbo and UVO system will arrive. I'm not buying anything until all those questions have an answer. In the meantime, I look forward to hearing from others who might take the plunge though.
 
#43 ·
going off past info generally all colours are available across the full range in Canada, but then again we don't get interior colour choices like in the US. I guess we'll know for sure when Kia Canada gets their site changed over to the new model, which should be shortly now its at the dealers.
They should make the Sportage more flexible like the Sorento, maybe if they start building it in the US?