Kia Sportage KOREA SHARPENS DYNAMICS The third generation of Kia's Sportage compact SUV established this model as a front-runner in its segment. This MK4 model aims to build on that showing and looks well equipped to do just that. Jonathan Crouch reports. Ten Second Review How did the Kia Sportage quietly develop from also-ran to front runner in the budget SUV stakes? By offering more of what people want, that's how. This fourth generation car now packs in more equipment, tidies the styling, sharpens the dynamics a tad but keeps the same value, practicality and great aftersales care. The motto here seems to be 'If it aint broke, give it a better stereo'. Background It's easy to believe for a moment that the market for compact SUVs hasn't changed all that much in the last ten years, but it's now radically different and the biggest beneficiary of these changes have been Kia, and more specifically its Sportage. Consider this. Ten years ago, you could pick up a brand new entry level Land Rover Freelander for under £16,000. Even as I'm typing this, I'm double checking to see if that's correct. It is. Nowadays the Freelander's Discovery Sport replacement would set you back over £30,000. That's a massive increase. Yet the Office of National Statistics tells us that the average annual wage over the same period rose by 37%. What it all means is that a huge amount of buyers are being priced out of the SUV market. That's something that Kia not only recognised, but also put itself in prime position to capitalise on with its impressive fourth generation Sportage. It now gets a smarter look inside and out, greater practicality and a range of technologies to improve comfort, convenience, connectivity and safety. If you're buying a small SUV or a Qashqai-like Crossover model in this segment, it's well worth a look. Driving Experience This fourth generation model carries over many of the mechanicals of its predecessor, but adds some new technology too. The petrol range is made up of a normally aspirated 1.6-litre GDI 132PS unit and a much pokier T-GDI turbo 177PS powerplant. Go for the T-GDI variant and you get the brand's latest seven-speed DCT dual-clutch automatic gearbox. Most Sportage buyers though, want a diesel. For buyers wanting to fuel from the black pump, the range starts with a 115PS 1.7-litre CRDi variant. Above that, there's a 2.0-litre CRDi option, offered with a choice of 136PS or 184PS power outputs. Whatever engine you decide upon, you should find that refinement levels have been much improved over the third generation model. Design and Build The front end of this MK4 model Sportage is the biggest change over the outgoing model, thanks to smarter headlamps that sit just above a bolder, lower, wider version of Kia's hallmark 'tiger-nose' grille. These lights are positioned higher, sweeping back along the outer edges of the sharply-detailed bonnet. The result is a more imposing appearance and a more stable-looking stance, retaining the same 1,855mm width as its predecessor. It's 40mm longer though. At the rear, this fourth generation Sportage features more horizontal forms and clearly defined feature lines, with smooth bodywork on the tailgate, emphasising the car's width and giving this compact SUV a more stable appearance. Market and Model Equipment levels have been boosted across the range, the key interior addition being Kia's AVN audio-visial navigation system, available with either 7.0 or 8.0-inch colour touchscreen layouts. Other up-market features you can specify include a rear-view parking camera with dynamic parking lines and a Smart Power Tailgate, which opens the tailgate automatically when the key is 'sensed' in close proximity to the tailgate. There are also Dynamic Bending Headlamps, which sweep the road ahead in line with the steering wheel for greater visibility and improved safety at night. And buyers will be offered a 'Smart Welcome' function, which turns on interior and door handle lamps and unfolds the door mirrors once the smart key fob is located within 1.3-1.7 metres of the door handle. Cost of Ownership Efficiency levels are much as before, not surprising given that the mainstream engines are little different from those supplied with the previous generation version of this car. This means that the best-performing Sportage from an economy and emissions perspective remains the front-wheel drive 1.7 CRDi diesel which manages around 55mpg on the combined cycle and around 135g/km of CO2. Like the rest of the Kia range, the Sportage is sold with the excellent seven-year or 100,000-mile warranty. It is fully transferable should the car be sold before the time or mileage limits have been reached. Fixed cost servicing also brings additional peace of mind via the Kia Care-3 and Care-3 Plus servicing package, offering retail customers inflation-proof servicing for the first three or five years. Summary Have the updates made to this fourth generation Kia Sportage been sufficient to keep buyers loyal? It's true that they could have been more far-reaching, especially beneath the bonnet but there's just enough here to keep existing customers loyal, we think. That's important as Kia is fortunate enough to have quite a few of these people in the UK, thanks to the impressive sales success achieved by the third generation version of this car. This MK4 model offers these folk a little more attitude and they'll like the much more up-market interior. Ultimately, it's a car you sit in and wonder just how a Honda CR-V or a Toyota RAV4 can be worth around £5,000 more. That says it all really. FACTS AT A GLANCE CAR: Kia Sportage PRICES: from £17,465 - £31,645 on the road INSURANCE GROUPS: 10-19 CO2 EMISSIONS: 119-179g/km PERFORMANCE: [2.0 CRDi 4x4 manual] 0-60mph 11.3s / Max Speed 112mph FUEL CONSUMPTION: [2.0 CRDi 4x4 manual] (Combined) 54.3 mpg STANDARD SAFETY FEATURES: Twin front side and curtain airbags, ESC, trailer stability, tyre pressure warning, ABS WILL IT FIT IN YOUR GARAGE?: Length/Width/Height 4480/1855/1635mm WHO TO SEE: