Kia Sportage Diesel

More rounded, more modern and a little more stylish; the 2016 Kia Sportage Diesel SUV has stepped up again.  And with competition coming from the Nissan Qashqai, Mazda CX-5 and Honda CR-V, the latest Kia Sportage makes a compelling challenge.  The Kia Sportage is a compact SUV that offers excellent service as a family wagon with some light off-road potential.  In diesel form, the Sportage is a powerful, and surprisingly refined machine.  It handles well and returns useful fuel economy figures.

On the outside, the styling has modern curves and rounded edges, meaning that the design team has changed tack from the edgy lines of the preceding model.  The new Kia Sportage Diesel looks fresh and appealing – particularly the batman-like grille that is finished in chrome alongside the deeply set “ice cube “driving lights.  Headlight shaping has changed to mould with the rounder face, while the rear end of Kia’s compact SUV is a nice tidy finish.  Twin exhaust tips and a roof spoiler are available.  Overall, the finish of the Kia Sportage Diesel SUV exterior is excellent, and the vehicle feels nice and solid.

Kia Sportage Diesel Interior

On the inside, Kia has provided some softer materials and trim, along with the myriad of excellent technology to inform and entertain.  Upping the quality of the Sportage interior starts with the softer dashboard surface.  The touch-screen entertainment system features the screen in the centre of the dash and the technology is simple to use.  There is still plenty of plastic in the dash design; however, the fit-and-finish is of a high standard.  Behind the steering wheel, the driver should find it easy to get comfortable, with the Sportage Diesel offering plenty of flexibility in seat and steering wheel adjustment.

One of the nice features of the new Kia Sportage is that the ride and seat comfort is very good.  Back seat passengers will enjoy class-leading room and comfort, and with the Sportage you can rest assured that three tall adults can sit in comparative comfort.  Luggage space has not been axed in the search for interior legroom.  A healthy standard 466 litres grows to 1455 litres of space when the rear seats are placed flat.

Boasting 400 Nm of torque from a 2.0-litre turbo-diesel engine, the Kia Sportage Diesel pulls very cleanly from any engine speed.  While powerful, the Sportage Diesel is not super quick, but that isn’t the reason for purchasing a comfortable and refined SUV.  There is plenty of punch to get passed slower traffic swiftly, and the six-speed auto flicks between gears smoothly and efficiently.  Fuel economy is a star feature of the new Kia Sportage Diesel, and you should be able to get around 7 litres/100 km on average – with figures dropping below this in the right conditions.  All three models of the Kia Sportage Diesel SUV boast the Active AWD system that switches between 2WD and 4WD as the needs arise.  The result is a handy fishing or boating SUV that is happy getting its shoes muddy from time-to-time.  The part-time AWD has a locking mode for when the terrain gets a little shaggier.  Let loose on a favourite twisty piece of road, and the Sportage Diesel rides with accuracy and good body control.

The new Kia Sportage Diesel SUV comes with a decent selection of safety equipment, so you’ll find six airbags, stability control, trailer stability assist, downhill brake assist and hill-start assist standard features for all models.  The SLi and Platinum models gain lane-keep assist, automatic high-beam and speed limiter information.  The Kia Sportage Platinum boasts blind spot detection, autonomous city braking and rear cross traffic alert.  And, probably where it counts the most these days, the 2016 Kia Sportage has achieved the maximum five-star rating in Euro NCAP crash tests.

Features on-board the compact SUV include air-conditioning, electric windows, DAB radio, Bluetooth with voice recognition, cruise control, cornering lamps and a leather steering wheel.  You’ll find the SLi and Platinum models with satellite navigation, reversing sensors, climate control and automatic lights and wipers.  Platinum models of the Kia Sportage Diesel will also get the very nice leather upholstery, heated seats, and an upgraded stereo, front parking sensors, keyless entry, an optional panoramic sunroof, powered and ventilated front seats, and a heated steering wheel.  Some of the sporty styling accessories include some very nice 19-inch wheels, a gloss black grille, twin exhausts and “ice cube” fog lamps.

Definitely a hot contender for the most popular and affordable stylish compact SUV, the Kia Sportage Diesel strongly makes a good case for itself amongst the potential SUV-buying population.  Reliability scores are proving pretty good overall.

The Kia Sportage Diesel model series includes the:

• Sportage Si
• Sportage SLi
• Sportage Platinum

For any more information on the Kia Sportage Diesel or, for that matter, any other new car, contact one of our friendly consultants on 1300 303 181.  If you’d like some fleet discount pricing (yes even for private buyers!), we can submit vehicle quote requests out to our national network of Kia dealers and come back with pricing within 24 hours. Private Fleet – car buying made easy!