Kia confirms price and spec for fourth gen Sportage, available this Friday

Kia’s fourth generation Sportage will cost upwards of £17,995 OTR when it hits showrooms this week.

This represents a £530 increase to the mid-size SUV’s starting price but business contract hire rates could be as low as £150 a month (£180 for personal users).

Sportage leasing deals: business / personal

Changes

Compared to its predecessor, the new Sportage is 40mm longer at 4480mm, 5mm wider (1635mm), with the wheelbase extended by 30mm (2670mm). Width remains unchanged at 1855mm. These changes make it more aerodynamic with its co-efficient of drag (Cd) reduced from 0.35 to 0.33, while the longer wheelbase benefits rear legroom.

Sister car to Hyundai’s Tucson, it uses the same engines as before with diesel drivers able to choose from a front wheel drive 113bhp 1.7-litre unit, or an all-wheel drive 2.0 with either 134- or 182bhp. The front driven 1.6 petrol is available with 132- or 174bhp. These come mated to a six-speed manual transmission or a six- or seven-speed auto.

The smaller diesel offers the strongest running costs, promising 61.4mpg at 119g/km CO2, all the while clocking a 0-60mph sprint of 11.1 seconds and a 109mph top speed.

Ride, handling and refinement have all been improved, says Kia, while its new design - led by Kia’s Frankfurt studio with help from Namyang, Korea, and California - is described as ‘dynamic, strong, bold and progressive with a sense of power and agility from every angle’.

The biggest changes appear at the front-end with the headlamps detached from the grille and instead sweeping back along the outer edges of the newly sharpened bonnet and bolder wheel arches. The ‘tiger-nose’ grille from the second gen Soul and refreshed Cee’d makes an appearance too.

From the side, there’s a sportier, more raked profile with a tapering roofline, longer front overhangs (+20mm, now 910mm), and shorter rear overhangs (-10mm, now 900mm). Indicator and reversing lights have been separated and lowered.

Trims

Equipment is split over six grades: 1, 2, 3, 4, GT-Line and First Edition.

Entry level 1 models (£17,995 OTR) come on 16-inch alloy wheels, with electrically adjustable door mirrors, electric windows front and back, air con, DAB radio, Bluetooth, USB and AUX ports, leather-wrapped steering wheel and gear knob, black cloth upholstery, and cruise control with speed limiter. A host of tow-aiding features include Trailer Stability Assist, Hill-start Assist, and Downhill Brake Control.

Grade 2 (£20,500) ups the wheels to 17-inch alloys, and also throws in body-coloured exterior handles with chrome inserts, high-gloss paint on the front grille, 7-inch touch-screen navigation system with reversing camera, roof rails, privacy glass in the back, black premium cloth upholstery and powered lumbar adjustment for the driver's seat, electrically folding and heated door mirrors with LED indicators, reversing sensors, automatic lights and wipers, an auto-dimming rear-view mirror, dual-zone auto air-con, automatic windscreen de-fog system, a cooled glovebox, Lane-Keep Assist, automatic high-beam assist and speed limit information functions.

Bridging grades 2 and 3, GT-Line boasts sportier styling with 19-inch alloys, LED rear combination lamps, front parking sensors, heated front and outer rear seats, a 4.2-inch TFT instrument cluster and, with the DCT gearbox, paddle shifters. The exterior also gets ice-cube LED front foglights, a high-gloss black ‘blade mesh’ grille, dual exhausts, satin chrome belt-line mouldings and door sills and silver front and rear skid plates.

Grade 3 models (£24,750) get 19-inch alloys, a front wiper de-icer, black leather upholstery, a high-gloss black centre fascia, USB port for rear occupants, heated front and outer rear seats, a 4.2-inch LCD TFT colour information display to compliment the 8-inch sat nav screen and a JBL® premium sound system with sub-woofer, external amp and front centre speaker.

Grade 4 (£26,550) adds bi-xenon adaptive headlights with automatic levelling and washers, front parking sensors, a smart key entry system and engine start/stop button, stainless steel door scuff plates, a panoramic sunroof, LED rear combination lamps, 10-way power adjustable driver and eight-way adjustable front passenger ventilated seats, a heated steering wheel, Autonomous Emergency Braking and Blind Spot Detection with Rear Cross Traffic Alert.

Range-topping First Edition (£31,645) maxes out the luxury with a Smart Parking Assist system, powered tailgate, wireless mobile phone charger, white or black metallic paint, ‘First Edition' decals and stone grey two-tone leather upholstery.

‘Incredibly important’

Remarkably, the Sportage is Kia’s best-selling model in the UK, making up 29% of all Kias sold here. It’s a similar case in Europe too (27.5%) with Sportage’s European sales exceeding 97,000 in 2014.

“In Europe, the Sportage is Kia’s flagship car,” said Michael Cole, Kia Motors Europe’s Chief Operating Officer.

“It has helped drive our sustained growth and success across Europe in recent years. It’s an incredibly important car for us, particularly as more customers are turning to SUVs and competition in the rapidly growing compact segment is now fiercer than ever.”

Sportage pricelist: