That seems to be the general exclamation from those who don't understand a couple of things. Namely, one, quite some time ago Kia ceased to be the purveyor of bargain-basement Korean chariots, while its products now compete with some of the best from Japan and Germany. And two, the halo model Sportage 1.6 T-GDI GT-Line AWD is, by all accounts, a machine to be conjured with.
But it's not the GT-Line I'm here to tell you about but rather the Sportage 2.4 GDI SX AWD, which is positioned halfway in the five-model Sportage line-up, and which I recently spent a week with.
Powering this sleek, fourth-generation Sportage, which is a little larger than the outgoing car, is 2.4 GDI (Gasoline Direct Injection) powerplant, making 135kW/237Nm of torque at 4 000rpm.
It's a velvety, punchy motor this, and the fact that it runs through a six-speed auto 'box helps make the driving experience, well, effortless in addition to wonderfully insulated. Something that's aided and abetted by the fact that in an SUV you hardly need worry about the potholes and other irregularities common to our disintegrating roads.
I sometimes think that readers who don't regularly pilot low-slung sports sedans and cars rolling on low-profile rubber, with accompanying granite-hard suspensions, realise just how stressful they are in daily use. Much of the driving experience is sullied and diluted by dodging obstacles - and if you do slam into a pothole, you can probably look at writing off not just an expensive tyre, but a pricey rim too. Again, I say that in the South African context the only vehicle worth having as a daily driver is an SUV or soft-roader like the Sportage - with the car here enjoying Dynamax on-demand all-wheel-drive. Buy a high-performance brum-brum-mobile by all means. They're fun. Just not in the cut-'n-thrust of daily driving and living.
As for kit, this Sportage is loaded. And standard gear includes a seven-inch touchscreen with integrated standard navigation, as well as a powered tailgate - the sort of things that competitors tend to charge handsomely for.
And speaking of which, this Sportage costs R557 995 - but that does include pretty much standard everything, bar a sunroof at R12 500. Also included is a five-year/unlimited km warranty, five-year/unlimited km roadside assistance, and a five-year/90 000km service plan.
So yes. The days of the Sportage being a cheap-ish alternative to the major players are gone - largely because it's right up there with the very best of the major players...
