Kia Sportage SX Turbo 2.0L FWD 2017

Wednesday, May 11, 2016

Instrumented Test

Every once in a while, a mainstream automaker turns out an unexpected sleeper, an under-the-radar vehicle with the power to dispatch flashier rides pulling away from a stoplight. Sleepers come in many forms, but few offer better cover than compact crossovers. The 2006–2012 Toyota RAV4 with the optional 268-hp V-6 engine was a good example, as were the stick-shift, turbocharged Subaru Forester XT and Kia’s previous-generation Sportage SX with its 260-hp turbo four-cylinder. Toyota’s fire-breathing RAV4 was extinguished in 2012 and the Forester is now stuck with a CVT, but Kia’s hot turbocharged SX trim level is back and in form following the Sportage’s redesign for 2017, and for the first time we’ve tested it without the optional all-wheel drive.

Quickie Kia

Secretly quick cars are fun, but the outgoing Sportage SX had its share of shortcomings outside of its rowdy engine. The suspension was downright harsh, the interior simply was there, and it returned middling fuel economy. For the latest SX, the sportiest Sportage in the lineup, Kia retained the hot-rod-in-disguise aspect while improving nearly everything else. The crossover’s turbocharged four-cylinder engine pushes 240 horsepower and 260 lb-ft (that’s a 59-hp and 85 lb-ft bump over the base model’s naturally aspirated 2.4-liter four) shot our front-drive SX to 60 mph in 6.7 seconds and on to an electronically governed 135 mph. Those numbers best everything in the compact-crossover melee excepting the Subaru Forester 2.0XT, which comes only in all-wheel-drive form.

In an effort to improve the carryover turbo engine’s fuel efficiency and smooth the lumpy power delivery, Kia stripped it of 20 horsepower and 9 lb-ft of torque, to mixed effect. The engine still issues its might with a strong surge at about 3000 rpm, but even indulging ourselves with the accelerator pedal we saw 21 mpg in mixed driving, which is also the EPA city mileage rating. Something near 30 mpg seems achievable on the highway. The true vice is one shared among all high-output, front-drive vehicles: torque steer and a penchant for spinning the front tires under hard acceleration. We’d splurge for the optional ($1500) all-wheel-drive system, even though it piles on an extra 119 pounds and adds 0.2 second to the zero-to-60-mph time. We like power—see our affection for the old SX, which we put through a 40,000-mile long-term test—but 240 ponies are a lot to shove through the same two wheels that also handle steering duties.
Drive the Kia like a workaday compact crossover, rather than a tiny Porsche Cayenne, and the turbo engine makes a better case for itself by yanking around the SX with relaxed aplomb. It never feels wanting for passing power, and the chassis is buttoned-down and stable. Critically, compared with the old SX, which came standard with a “sport suspension,” Kia tuned this new SX model’s chassis to be more compliant, like that of the regular Sportage, without sacrificing body control. The brakes are reassuring and returned stops from 70 mph in 173 feet, good for this class. Outside of some flutter from the big 19-inch wheels when passing over closely spaced groupings of road imperfections and an utter lack of feel from the steering, the SX chassis performs well while riding quietly and smoothly even at highway speeds.

Kia Can-Do

While the Sportage’s fun quotient survived the redesign, its previously austere, if functional, interior was shown the door. The new cabin is well executed, to the point that it garnered from our staff several flattering comparisons to those of Audi vehicles. The design is restrained and the dashboard and door panels feature classy soft-touch materials and quality plastics. We especially like the nice-to-hold steering wheel and the center stack’s slight cant toward the driver. Rear-seat passengers have plenty of legroom, although their seat cushions are positioned a tad low, and they have ready access to a 12-volt power plug and a USB slot. The cargo hold is large and basically rectangular; the rear seats can fold completely flat using release buttons next to the outboard headrests. Those seats lack release handles readily accessible from the cargo bay, but the load floor back there can be fitted to one of two heights; when in the lower position, there’s a built-in ramp to provide a smooth transition to the folded seatbacks.

Similar attention to detail is evident in Kia’s infotainment interface. As in other recent Kia products, nearly every touchscreen function can also be manipulated via well-located hard buttons. Three strips of controls sit beneath the center display, one with shortcuts to radio, media, phone, navigation, and setup menus (plus seek and track-selection buttons); another with climate controls; and a third with switches for the cooled and heated front seats and heated steering wheel. Flanking the top row? Honest-to-goodness volume and tuning knobs. Knobs on either side of the climate controls set temperature for the left- and right-hand climate zones. It’s telling how varied (and often weird) secondary control layouts have become in 2016 that we feel the need to call out this sort of basic ergonomic effort.
The front-end design (headlights stacked atop a grille, stacked atop an intake, stacked atop a skidplate) may not suit everyone’s taste, but in SX trim, especially, with its big wheels and chrome trim, the Sportage manages to look more expensive than it is. Kia has come a long way since the days when its products were carried solely by their long warranties and value-packed MSRPs.
This particular Kia is actually priced on the higher end of the compact-crossover segment, at $33,395, but it feels worth the cost. The turbo’s power corrupts the driver as easily as it vanquishes the front tires, the rest of the package is as well turned out as you could ask for in this segment, and standard equipment is generous. Dual-zone automatic climate control, leather upholstery, a Harman/Kardon sound system, an 8.0-inch touchscreen with navigation, heated and ventilated power front seats, a heated steering wheel, blind-spot monitoring, automatic emergency braking, LED fog lights, LED taillights, LED running lights, a (huge) panoramic sunroof, a power liftgate, and the all-important Android Auto smartphone integration (but not yet Apple CarPlay) are included. The SX trim level is so all-in that Kia lists no options except for all-wheel drive. As we said, we’d check that box, but with that option or without, the Sportage SX remains stealthy quick, while also having improved as an everyday crossover.