Used Kia Sportage Review (2010-2016) MK3
Independent review by Peter Hayward from Driving Force
4-minute read
Overview
- Top levels of reliability
- Comfortable ride
- Plenty of space
- May feel outdated
- Not the best to drive
- Engines can be noisy
What's the Kia Sportage like?
The Kia Sportage mid-sized SUV is a real favourite with UK car buyers and has become the company’s bestseller, both in the UK and a number of other countries.
The model launched in 2010 raised the bar for other similar cars and comes with very generous equipment as standard.
The Sportage is a family-sized 5-door SUV with plenty of space for a family of four or five.
There’s a good range of engines but despite there being two petrols on offer, most on the market are diesels.
Engines
All 1.6-litre petrol and 1.7-litre diesel models are front-wheel drive and are named 1 to 4, while the 2.0-litre models are all four-wheel drive and are named KX-1 to 4.
The petrols are a 1.6-litre with 133bhp and a 2.0-litre with 161bhp. The 1.6-litre sprints to 60mph from rest in 10.7 seconds and has an official economy figure of 44mpg, while the 2.0-litre cuts the benchmark 60mph time to 10.3 seconds and is rated at 37mpg.
The diesels are a 1.7-litre CRDi with 114bhp and a 2.0-litre CRDi with either 134bhp or 181bhp. The 1.7 gets to 60mph in 11.9 seconds and is rated at 55mpg, while the lower powered 2.0-litre cuts the sprint to 10.9 seconds and is rated at 49mpg.
The 181bhp diesel is only available in the top KX-4 trim and is rated at 46mpg. It does 0 to 60mph in 9.5 seconds.
Petrol and diesel engines come with a 6-speed manual gearbox, and both petrol and diesel 2.0-litre powertrains were also available with a 6-speed automatic.
Two-wheel-drive (2WD) models are front-wheel drive and save a lot of weight to help improve economy. So if you don’t need all-wheel traction, the best buy is the 1.7-litre.
Driving Experience
The third generation Sportage sold very well, so there should be plenty to choose from. In common with most crossovers, it has a decent compromise between a comfortable ride and decent road-holding.
There's a fair amount of roll in the corners, but it grips well and feels assured, even though the steering doesn’t give much feedback.
Comfort is good, smoothing out most poor surfaces with ease. There’s not much side support in the seats, but few owners are going to be throwing these around.
The seats are very comfortable and, of course, the high driving position gives a marvellous view all round.
Peter Hayward
Road and wind noise are well subdued and, while the diesel engines are noisy on start up, the 1.7-litre in particular is much quieter once warm.
Equipment and Technology
High levels of equipment come with every model and include air conditioning, electric windows all round, rain-sensing wipers, remote locking, cruise control, and Bluetooth.
All models also have an alarm, traction control, heated electric mirrors, and audio remote controls.
The mid-range ‘3’ adds an electric sunroof, parking sensors, and heated leather seats with lumbar adjustment.
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Find your Kia Sportage your way with CarStore
The Kia Sportage is a mid-sized SUV that's ideal for family life thanks to its interior space and comfortable ride. As the best-selling Kia model of its time, the third generation Sportage is super reliable and good value for money, making for an attractive proposition on the used market.
