Some may love it while others might hate it, though on whichever side of the aesthetics fence one may sit, the looks of the Kia Sportage surely offer some talking points. Here in 2.0 CRDi diesel guise with the same GT Line trim as the petrol variant that came before it, Kia’s C-segment crossover goes up against the likes of the Mazda CX-5 and Honda CR-V.
At RM155,356 on the road without insurance, the diesel Sportage is slightly cheaper than its rivals from Mazda (RM175,179 for the 2.2D AWD GLS) and Honda (RM167,700 for the 1.5L Turbo Premium 2WD), though it also does without the active driver assistance the other two have, i-Activsense and Honda Sensing respectively.
As our man Matthew Tong discovers in the video, the diesel powerplant which offers 185 PS and 400 Nm of torque is smooth, effortless, and ultimately the choice of Sportage powertrain to go for, especially in contrast with the petrol version’s outputs of 155 PS and 192 Nm of torque. Kia’s claimed combined fuel consumption is 6.5 litres per 100 km.
Plenty of kit on offer here, with the exterior adorned with xenon headlamps, LED DRLs, “ice cube” fog lamps, LED tail lamps and 19-inch wheels with 245/45 tyres. Inside, it gets a 4.2-inch TFT colour multi-info display, a seven-inch centre touchscreen, auto-dimming rear view mirror, reverse camera, dual-zone auto air con, leather seats and electric front seats with electric lumbar for the driver.
On the safety front, the Euro NCAP five-star rated Sportage GT Line diesel gets six airbags and ESC as standard, front and rear parking sensors, cruise control, electronic parking brake with auto hold an a tyre pressure monitoring system. Other equipment includes keyless entry with push-button start, paddle shifters and a three-way Drive Mode Select with a choice of Eco, Normal and Sport.
Rear passengers get a set of rear air-con vents, and when more cargo space is required, its 466-litre boot can be expanded for greater capacity courtesy of its 60:40 split-folding rear seats; exterior colours include Cherry Black, Mercury Blue, Fiery Red, Snow White Pearl and Mineral Silver. For full, detailed specifications of the Kia Sportage 2.0L AWD GT CRDi and to compare against its rivals, head on to CarBase.my.
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kia & hyundai used to surpass japanese in terms of safety features offered (for models sold in m’sia). they used to have ESC + 6 airbags as standard, while japanese still not offering ESC with 2 airbags only. but now, honda & mazda comes with better safety features (i-activsense and honda sensing). i was looking forward to buy the grand carnival when it launched, only to be disappointed with the lack of features offered by nazakia. no AEB at all (even bluetooth also don’t have, seriously?). i was so excited when i check the US spec of carnival, but when launched locally, naza omit too many features, sigh.. own a kia rio for now, but i’ll only buy another kia once naza gave generous spec like before.
Boyue 1.8T 200hp cheaper & gooder prices.
Halal? Jakim preacher says chinese very unhygienic. ComtaMinated with shit, urine, eat pigs and drink alcohol.
Hahahahah…
Amazing how far the Koreans have come. Just started 10 yrs before Proton and now, they can sell 8 million cars globally.
Proton can only sell 60,000 cars locally and that also 80% ordered by the Government departments.
What’s the use. Got $$$ also cannot buy. When it arrived by end of 2018, it’s already an old model. Will U buy an old model Boyue??
Wondering how much sales of SpotTet@>rm155k…? SimeDarby pls fast launch Hyundai Kona 1.5T CKD EEV Incentives @rm80k.
Other than Honda Malaysia, Naza Kia gotta be the most progressive car assembler here. Kudos to Naza!
Kia cars are made in malaysia?
proton rebadge
I-Say-Man. Comparing a 2.0 diesel Turbo with a 2.0 N/A engine is like comparing a Musang King with a D-24 in Durian lingo. The Torque of the Diesel of 400Nm v 192Nm said it all.
In short, if U want to buy a Sportage, buy the Diesel but those who do not like Korean, U can always go the Japanese way ie CX5, CRV or even the Pug 3008.
Sometime too many choices make the decisions a bit difficult. Hey, what is life if U don’t have choices Right!? Happy shopping & Cheers….
I am fan of kia since forte came out infact Im owning one the cerato. But the only thing that I cannot digest with this sportage is the design of the headlamp which long wind at the side. Its really.. look at any angle also feel like.. umm… ummm…
Just wait for 60days and then u can buy this nice sportage at 10% discount
its already available with discount . last month i saw it in 1 utama , 145k OTR. interior materials are cheap and below par quality compare to crv and cx5. but one good thing is it comes with 4wd which some of its competitors lack (crv, tiguan, all cx5 bar the top spec diesel).
the front is super ugly.
Told ya dun look at mirror alredi
If you have tasted the Diesel version. You will not buy the petrol car unless budget is a problem for you.
I tested thie Kia carnival just now, my comment is the 3rd row small seat and basic model without the push start feature as compared to Estima.
Hideous car… but still, in this past year I’ve only ever seen 2 people with bad taste that were driving these on the road..
2 is enuff to poke each eye out. What has been seen cannot be unseen.
“Having said that”, its ugly and therefore should be priced below 100k
Too expensive… VW Tiguan a whole lot better….to all makes
There is no denying that aestheticly, this is one fugly mofo.
We all known previous gen Sportage is a handsome looking car and obviously a worldwide sales success.
Perhaps someone in the inside hated it so much they wanted to sabo their own success?? I dunno know.. its basically a suicide.
I bet all kia distributors n dealers worldwide must be screaming w t f when they seen this latest sportage. Perhaps even now…
So… there is no fence one may sit or sides to choose, the looks of the Kia Sportage is just ugly.
this engine produces the same amount of power and higher torque than the 2 liter bmw diesel. the engine noise is about the same even with the 5 series diesel. why would you even compare this with cx5 engine? cx5 2.2 liter and yet produces less power. honda sensing is just a gimmick.. there is not other selling point for the crv. would you actually bet your life with the sensor? if i have one the first thing i would do is to disabled it. even the high tech tesla got it wrong
Mick chan is it? great review !