Wow! This is a COOL little SUV

My new wife and I had a dilemma. We had a plan to wait a year and build up some cash before retiring her old, flaky little Nissan Altima. Unfortunately, when she broke down on a 5-lane tollway road in rush hour traffic on a Friday afternoon...that was it.

With a weekend to basically decide what car we wanted, I did mad research with the seed planted in my mind from my brother's experience with his Kia. He's had very good luck with his Sedona and Kia's warranty is outstanding. In fact, it was a huge factor in our choices of competitors which consisted of the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Ford Escape, and Mitsubishi Outlander. Mitsubishi had the same 10 year warranty, so we tested that along side the Sportage and there was really no comparison at all.

At first I had my eye on a Sorento. I went to Kia to test drive it and thought it was pretty good, but while I was there, I saw the new 2005 Sportage. For those unaware, the Sportage is what put Kia on the map, but also the cause of much grief. They were not very reliable despite their sporty look. Kia scrapped it a few years back and have since come forth with a new 2005 model that shares nothing but the name with the old model.

Having had our Sportage now for 3 months and 6,000 miles, I have an updated and more thorough feel for this great SUV. Breaking it down:

V6 Engine
I didn't test drive the base LX model with it's 4 cylinder engine, but I can attest that the V6 engine upgraded LX and EX model is a great balance of power and economy. You can really feel the V6 kick in when you put your foot down. It's no where near the feel of my old 98 V6 mustang, but it picks up nicely. Power is quite responsive when giving it some gas. Using the Sportmatic transmission to downshift (see below) brings the full 173 HP up and passing in traffic is not difficult at all. I don't have a comparison to the bigger V6 engine SUVs except the Sorento, but for the slimmer and quite a bit less heavy Sportage, I think the smaller V6 is adequate.

Transmission
We purchased the 4 speed Automatic, which also comes with the aforementioned Sportmatic feature that gives an interesting feeling of a manual system. It can be used on the highway to shift down for more power and it's really pretty cool to use that on the fly, and very smoothly at that. I can't comment on the 4WD since we didn't spring for that.

Driving and Handling
This is where the Sportage was an instant hit with my wife and I. She wasn't partial to the "oversized" feeling of driving an SUV. I was used to driving a sports car. We weren't disappointed with the sporty feel and tight handling. I take very sharp corners in my mustang and I felt so in control in the Sportage. There is a balance in the design that feels smooth. My wife felt safer in the lower profile than in the Sorento or the Misubishi Outlander. Braking in the Sportage was really well done. Not at all jerky, or quick but gentle. The Outlander had really sudden braking.

Interior
Love the interior. The seats are comfortable, although we lacked electronic controls or heated seats. There is lumbar support with a knob, at least. Everything fit very well in the console and the adjustable armrest with two separate compartments is handy. All the controls were easy enough to find and get used to, some with a little assistance from the manual. A little bit more innovation on the MP3 player would have been nice since they had to use fewer buttons for multiple features. One other hit I have to gripe about is the noisy sunroof...more on that in my cons below. It was alleviated by the superior mechanics as Kia. We also found the space inside to be very roomy. Again, we both came from little sedan and sport cars, but we took 2 nieces and 1 nephew swimming with their gear easily fitting in the back. The rear hatch and window opens easily, plus the flooring that hides a small storage system for cables, first aid kits, etc...plus the spare, is great! Lastly, we were really impressed at the foldable back seats. I understand this is not necessarily missing on other SUVs, but the competing Outlander didn't fold away quite as "fully" so the entire back cargo and folded back seats were seemless.

Gas Mileage
This day and age, this is a big factor. We are consistently getting 20.3 to 20.8 miles to the gallon after 6,000 miles and one oil change (next one due). My wife drives about 60 miles every day and mostly in stop and go traffic, so this is really very good for an SUV. She needs to get more gas about every 320 miles (17 gallon tank). On out of town trips, 360-380 miles is very easily achieved. That's really doing better than my 7 year old mustang and her old 4 cylinder Altima. Not a bad trade off for more power and a roomy SUV combined.

Features
We didn't necessarily need the sunroof, but we sprung for it anyway since we wanted remote keyless entry and the MP3 player. A changer and GPS system option would be a huge plus. Also, I was disappointed that remote keyless entry wasn't a standard option on all models. I suppose having an off market installation isn't too expensive, but this is an easy feature that I felt should be standard. It's a VERY great thing that all the safety features (6 air bags, Anti lock breaks, etc) are standard.

cons
The main gripe I'd have to give for the Sportage is the attention to detail that I felt was a little lacking in the design that I feel would have kept the incessant rattle coming from the sunroof (or the bracket system for it). We took it in for a couple of recalls it had (not uncommon) and the first attempt Kia service had didn't help at all. The second time (and we were treated extremely well for having to take it back for the same thing) they put sound dampering material and new sunroof parts all in the roof. I've not heard one squeak from the roof, although I think I've heard something from the steering wheel on bumps. To be fair, my wife hardly hears these and my ears are very sensitive. The only reason I don't dock the Sportage too much for this is because I have faith in their service department. They treated us so well both times, especially the second visit.

So, there you have it. We're really pleased with the Sportage and feel it was what we needed to give us future thinking for a bigger family, plus convenience, economy, and fun for the present.