Kia Sportage 1.6 T-GDi: review

Fourth-gen Sportage moves the game forward – but how well does it suit a turbocharged petrol engine?
Kia Sportage 1.6 T-GDi on the road
John Calne28 March 2016

Kia has long since worked out how to make its cars appeal to people.

They’ve gone from being just plain cheap to being good looking, well equipped and good value for money, and the results have been there for all to see.

Kia has gone from being just plain cheap to being good looking, well equipped and good value for money

Results like the new Sportage. This is the fourth vehicle to carry the name; each has been better than the last, and this one keeps that up.

You only need to sit in it to see that. It’s well put together, trimmed out in quality materials and impressively roomy – for all its passengers and their luggage too.

The car on test here is in GT-Line trim, which packs in a good range of equipment. We’re talking sat-nav with a 7” touch interface, that kind of thing.

We’re talking sat-nav with a 7” touch interface, that kind of thing

But our tester also featured something a bit less easy to come to terms with, in the shape of a turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol engine.

This bangs out 174bhp and gets you up to speed in 9.2 seconds. But it’ll only do that if you rev it to 5500rpm, which isn’t a very SUV-like thing.

Even then, it doesn’t feel that fast. Boot it hard and it does pick up, but whether with the standard six-speed manual or the £1300 seven-speed auto it’s not a very sporty sport-ute.

It’s well put together, trimmed out in quality materials and impressively roomy

It does have four-wheel drive, which is good. This means plenty of grip, and it has the steering to match, but body control is definitely that of a tall vehicle. There’s enough about it to make for a pleasant and quite peppy drive, but if you’d sooner be in a hot hatch then, well, you’d sooner be in a hot hatch.

Of course, the Sportage gives you many things a hatch, hot or otherwise, never will. It’s just that with this particular engine, we expect the rest of the range to do it more convincingly.

Kia Sportage 1.6 T-GDi

On sale: Now

Price: £24,350

Engine: 4 cyls in line, 1591cc, turbocharged, petrol

Power: 174bhp at 5500rpm

Torque: 195Ib ft at 1500-4500rpm

Kerb weight: 1733kg

Gearbox: 6-spd manual

0-60mph: 9.2s

Top speed: 126mph

Economy: 37.2mpg (combined)

CO2/tax band: 177g/km, 30%

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