2022 Kia Sportage review

In my 2022 Kia Sportage review, I see whether the Hyundai Tucson rival is still one of the best family SUVs your hard-earned pennies can buy.

It occurred to me as I was cruising around pretty parts of Slough (yes, there are some) in the 2022 Kia Sportage that maybe I have been pronouncing ‘Sportage’ wrong. Why is it not said like the end of dosage? When was this universally decided?

On a more useful note, I was also pondering whether the new Kia Sportage can remain competitive in the family SUV arena. Sure, it looks better – that Peugeot front-end inspiration and all. Who does not lay awake at night thinking about tastefully discreet exterior LED lighting? But what else is new?

2022 Kia Sportage: Interior improvements

Much of the 2022 Kia Sportage’s DNA is shared with its Hyundai Tucson sibling, a car my parents replaced with a BMW estate because it was “practical but tragically boring”. However, one of the biggest changes is that swanky interior.

As seen in the new EV6 electric car and, later in 2022, the E-Niro, it includes two 12.3-inch touchscreens. One in the centre and another behind a compact steering wheel, with a row of touch sensitive buttons that can swap between climate and infotainment control.

Besides making the 2022 Kia Sportage feel more like a sleek piece of family-ferrying machine, the quality is good too. The numerous buttons all spin, compress and move nicely while the seats proved comfortable throughout the day. A sporty flat bottomed steering wheel is another positive addition.

You can even have wireless phone charging on the front armrest. However the real stars are the USB charging ports on the back of the front seats that will prove invaluable as you try to keep your passengers (young and old) busy.

Unfortunately, I cannot provide feedback on the entry-level Grade 2 and GT-Line. At the event we had some six-speed manual Grade 3s and fancy top of the range GT Line S hybrids, not that I noticed much difference on the surface.

2022 Kia Sportage: Good to drive?

Not that anyone buying a family Kia SUV, except perhaps one with a Lamborghini badge, cares much about handling dynamics. But then not being bored to death is a plus and the new Kia Sportage does at least provide a level of driving satisfaction.

The small steering wheel is comfortable and sporty, encouraging you to use it more vigorously. As you do, there is some body roll but nothing ungainly or unpredictable.

It would be nice if there was more feedback from the wheels, but does that matter here? Not really. There is enough grip and predictable handling to keep everyone on the road.

What is important is the ride quality and, for the most part, the 2022 Kia Sportage rolls about the place in comfortable fashion. Not much external noise makes its way into the cabin, except for the engine if you decide to test out the 0-62mph claims.

Some bad road surfaces caused it to bounce continuously, but then that is preferable to a harsh ride. Especially when ice cream and sugary drinks are involved. Overall, the Sportage does a good job of smoothing over bad roads.

As for the transmission, the six-speed manual in the Grade 3 moves between gears in a way that does the job and nothing more. The six-speed automatic in the hybrid suits the practicality and pace of the new Sportage better. With that said, in its HEV ‘full hybrid’ flavour it can get a bit clunky when going from fuel-saving coasting to brisk acceleration.

2022 Kia Sportage: Performance & efficiency

Go for the priciest HEV full hybrid, available in front-wheel or all-wheel drive for those who need extra traction, and underneath the bonnet lives a 1.6-litre T-GDi petrol mated to a 44.2kW electric motor 1.49kWh battery.

The HEV can let you drive along on electric power alone and the Sportage tries to as much as possible. Overall power is 226bhp and 350Nm of torque – a lot for a family SUV. Without much effort I achieved around 40mpg on a mix of road types.

The MHEV, meanwhile, gets the ‘M’ from mild hybridisation. Here, you only get a 48-volt boost of performance, however it will not run on electric alone. Over the same route I managed 42.9mpg.

Coming in April 2022 onwards, there will also be the Sportage Plug-in Hybrid. Here you will get a larger capacity 13.8kWh battery and the same 1.6-litre, allowing you to rely a lot more heavily on electric power. Assuming you remember to charge it.

The MHEV diesel and petrol variants use a seven-speed DCT transmission, while the HEV and PHEV use a six-speed auto.

2022 Kia Sportage: Practicality

Because of the hybrid powertrain, you do lose boot space compared with the Tuscon (587 litres at best versus 620) although other competitors are worse off. Fold the 40:20:40 split-folding rear seats down and total capacity increases to 1,780 litres or 1,776 for the hybrid.

Underneath the boot floor are some compartments, providing you somewhere to stick your bits and bobs that you may want hidden out of sight.

Appendage room, meanwhile, was enough to let me sit behind my 6ft front seat position and stretch my legs. I could sit upright too, as my head did not brush the ceiling either despite a fancy sunroof for making gloomy days more palatable.

Visibility has been improved too. Swapping lanes was easy peasy and I even survived a perilous moment of tight reverse parking as I tucked the Sportage up for the night.

What about towing? The max braked trailer weight you can tow is 1,650kg and the towball maximum is 100kg.

2022 Kia Sportage: Specs & options

While the Grade 2 Kia Sportage is cheapest (where is Grade 1?), it is slightly worse on CO2 emissions as it lacks any form of hybridisation. You also forgo the lovely 12.3-inch touchscreen and touch control interfaces.

Grade 3 is where things start to get luxurious in the cabin and it is probably the best value overall. Although I did miss the camera display as you indicate to show you clearance from the kerbside and what is behind you.

Grade 4 and GT Line S add the peace-encouraging rear USB ports, wireless smartphone charging and a rich and powerful, lovely sounding Harman Kardon sound system as standard.

Lower models lurk just shy of the £30,000 mark, slightly above the Tucson. If you want the biggest Sportage dosage, it will cost you £40,245 for the GT-Line S HEV AT AWD I drove first.

Truth be told, the £30,945 1.6 T-GDi ‘3’ MT FWD I tested after did not feel £10,000 less expensive in the slightest. Especially as it includes Android Auto and Apple CarPlay with Voice Control.

2022 Kia Sportage: The verdict

It is fair to say that Kia has come on leaps and bounds in recent years to the point where I found myself looking at the interior of a £100,000 hybrid BMW and preferring the look of what you get in the EV6 and Sportage. A big compliment, if you ask me.

Those internal and external tweaks turn what was about as desirable as a tape measure into a rather trendy proposition. One backed with a seven-year warranty, assuming Kia keeps its side of the bargain.

The fact there has been significant effort to make it more efficient and better equipped to handle modern-day family life, while still remaining affordable, only makes the 2022 Sportage easier to recommend.

Yes, an estate would be more practical than an SUV and at around £40,000 I personally would be inclined to consider the all-electric EV6. Or its updated e-Niro arriving later in 2022.

But for those who like sitting higher above the road and may actually use all-wheel drive, the new Sportage (however you pronounce it) is a solid choice.