Kia has unveiled the limited edition Sportage JBL Black Edition in the UK. It’s unclear exactly how many units of this will be made, but the kit list sure looks good. The car too, of course.
To start, the SUV is only available in Phantom Black, and gets a new front grille design with gloss black mesh inserts, new front and rear skid plates, dark tinted Kia emblems, 17-inch gloss black alloy wheels with darkened Kia wheel caps, black door handles (usually chrome), and the black Sportage script on the tailgate. The roof rails and fog lamp surrounds are also blacked out.
As the name implies, the exclusive Sportage gets an eight-speaker JBL premium audio sound system with subwoofer, external amplifier and front centre speaker as standard. Each purchase also comes with a complimentary JBL Flip 5 waterproof Bluetooth speaker, but this can only be claimed after setting up a MyKia account.
Extras include an all-black leather upholstery with leather-trimmed steering wheel, gearshift and door armrests, an eight-inch touchscreen head unit with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus heated front and outer rear seats and heated steering wheel.
Customers have two powertrain options to choose from, starting with the 1.6 litre T-GDi four-cylinder petrol engine that produces 176 PS and 265 Nm of torque. A six-speed manual transmission is standard, but this can be upgraded to a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission for a small fee. The 0-96 km/h sprint is done in 8.6 seconds for the DCT (8.9 seconds for the manual), and top speed for both is 205 km/h.
There is also a 1.6 litre CRDi Smartstream oil burner available. It’s a mild-hybrid EcoDynamics+ engine that develops 135 PS and 320 Nm of torque. Again, a six-speed manual is standard, though there’s also a seven-speed DCT cost option. The manual variant will do the 0-96 km/h sprint in 10.8 seconds, while the DCT variant gets there in 11.4 seconds. All four variants are front-wheel driven.
For safety, the Sportage JBL Black Edition comes equipped with 360-degree around view monitor, lane keeping assist system, high beam assist, speed limit information function, driver attention warning, trailer stability assist, hill-start assist control, and forward collision-avoidance assist with pedestrian detection.
Other features include six airbags, two Isofix child seat anchoring points for the outer rear seats, front and rear parking sensors, panoramic sunroof, bi-LED headlights, as well as keyless entry with push-start button.
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This Ckd SUV surely a better buy then 158K hyundai Elantra.