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Being a very competitive segment, the compact crossover SUV market has been filling up with many new entrants which offer all the essentials needed for a comfortable and capable family mover. Even though the 2022 Kia Sportage feels a bit long in the tooth and its all-new 2023 replacement will be offered in the coming months, it still ticks all the boxes, making it one of the best-selling offerings out there.
Both the naturally aspirated and turbocharged motors are pretty peppy, and the car scores highly in terms of ride and handling as well. The cabin is very spacious, and the Sportage also comes loaded with many features as standard. It scores highly in both the NHTSA and IIHS crash tests, too. Competing with the likes of the Volkswagen Tiguan, Hyundai Tucson, and Honda CR-V, here are 10 things you need to know before getting the 2022 Kia Sportage.
10 Punchy Powertrain
The 2.4-liter naturally aspirated direct-injection inline-4 motor producing 181 hp and 175 lb-ft of torque comes with the lower LX, Nightfall, and EX trims of the 2022 Kia Sportage. However, the top-of-the-line SX Turbo trim comes with a 2-liter turbocharged inline-4 motor putting out a respectable 237 hp and 260 lb-ft of torque. Both the motors comes mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission and can be had in either FWD or AWD drivetrains.
If you are a sedate driver and don't need quick overtakes on the freeways, the base 2.4-liter motor is probably sufficient. Being a naturally aspirated motor, we found the low-end to be pretty decent and the car was also supremely refined. Even while driving at the highway speeds, the motor felt at home, even though the acceleration wasn't anything to write home about. However, the 2-liter turbocharged motor's acceleration was impressive for the segment, and the car did the 0-60 mph in 7.4 seconds and the quarter-mile run in 15.7 seconds.
9 Well Appointed Cabin
Being part of the fourth generation that's been in continuous production for more than five years, the 2022 Kia Sportage still retains the well-put-together cabin that could shame most of the newer offerings from many reputed brands out there. The cabin comes filled with soft-touch leather and plastics that don't feel bargain-basement, both of which are a high requirement for a compact family SUV.
The leather upholstery is standard with the higher trims, and the steering also comes wrapped in premium leather. Overall, we found everything to be pretty perfect when it comes to the fitment. There weren't any sharp edges anywhere in the cabin, and everything felt pretty solid even after hard driving. All of these point to a cabin that is built to last.
8 Sorted Ride Quality
The pliant ride quality has always been in the DNA of all the model years of the Kia Sportage and this 2022 iteration is no different. Coming with strut front suspension and multi-link rear setup with coil springs and anti-roll bars, the Kia Sportage felt superb to travel around, irrespective of the road condition.
Drive the car slowly, and you would be quite surprised with how well the suspension absorbs everything thrown at it, even the biggest of the potholes. The ride never gets unsettling, even when driven at a faster pace on the highways. The vertical movement is very minimal, and so is the body roll. Even with the 19" alloy wheels, the 245 section and high profile tires contribute to the ride quality.
7 Sure-Footed Handling
Take the 2022 Kia Sportage around a tight corner, and the car behaves more like a low-slung sedan rather than an SUV. The chassis is well-engineered, and it manages to communicate very well while driving hard. The suspension does a wonderful job too since it is tuned to the neutral position, not too stiff nor too soft.
When driven around the winding roads, the car manages to hide the body roll pretty well, and that does uplift the driving experience quite a bit. The steering weighs up pretty well at higher speeds and offers a decent feel and feedback too. Even though the understeer is present at the limits, the AWD drivetrain makes sure that the car doesn't lose traction when cornering hard.
6 Fuel Efficiency Is Disappointing
If you opt for the base 2.4-liter naturally aspirated motor mated to the FWD drivetrain, the 2022 Kia Sportage managed to give out 23 mpg in the city and 30 mpg on the highway. However, opt for the AWD drivetrain, which is an optional extra, and the car could do 22 mpg in the city and 26 mpg on the highway.
However, in comparison to the fuel efficiency offered by the Kia Sportage, both the Honda CR-V and the Volkswagen Tiguan managed to do better. If you opt for the turbocharged 2-liter motor, the fuel efficiency drops even further to 20 mpg and 28 mpg for the FWD model and 19 mpg and 24 mpg for the AWD model.
5 Comes Loaded With Safety Tech
The 2022 Kia Sportage comes with all the safety and driver-assistance features like forward-collision warning, automated emergency braking, lane departure warning, lane-keeping assist, and many more as standard. The blind-spot monitoring system and rear cross-traffic alert system can be had if you opt for the necessary packages.
The build quality also turned out to be excellent, with the entire body constructed in high-tensile steel and aluminum. All of these helped the car to get an overall crash safety rating of 5-stars in the NHTSA crash test and was considered as the 2022 top safety pick of the compact SUV segment by the IIHS.
4 Infotainment Is Polished
The 8" touchscreen infotainment system comes with no changes to this 2022 iteration as well, and it doesn't have any major complaints in terms of user interface and display quality. However, some of the rivals do offer a bigger infotainment system, which makes the cabin more futuristic.
In terms of features on offer, all the necessary connectivity and entertainment features like Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, SiriusXM radio, Bluetooth, audio streaming, and many more are standard across all the trims. The wireless charging and built-in navigation are offered as optional extras too.
3 Exterior Design Is Youthful
The 2022 Kia Sportage comes with no major design changes from the older model years, and that makes the car feel pretty dated. The all-new generation of the Kia Sportage is going to be launched in the forthcoming months, which gets a more ravishing exterior and interior, making this 2022 iteration pretty spartan to look at.
The front end gets the quintessential Kia grille with chrome surrounds, honeycomb grille, stylish headlights, and LED DRLs. The side profile looks bland with subtle character lines and chrome accents. However, the 19" alloy wheel design does stand out. The rear-end looks the best of the lot, with a striking LED taillight, silver skid plate, and dual exhaust system.
2 Interior Looks Ordinary
Even though the cabin turned out to be one of the best in terms of quality and fit and finish, the same cannot be told about the design language. In comparison to the more striking design language of the upcoming 2023 model, this 2022 iteration doesn't come out as a striking proposition. The squared-out dashboard and a bland-looking instrument cluster look very dated.
The small touchscreen infotainment system and the old-school center console look a bit old-school, too, especially when compared to the Mitsubishi Outlander and the Hyundai Tucson. However, the aluminum pedals, leather upholstery with contrastive stitching, and chrome and silver accents do help a bit in hiding the blandness.
1 Brakes Are Decent
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Coming with the same 4-wheel disc brake setup with 12" front rotors and 11.9" rear rotors, the 2022 Kia Sportage turned out to be pretty fine in terms of braking performance. All the other braking features, like ventilated front rotors, brake assist, hill descent control, hill hold control, etc are standard across the four trim configurations.
The brakes have a strong initial bite and the progression is top-notch too. The front-end dive is minimal, and the car doesn't get very twitchy under hard braking. The 6-speed automatic transmission does aggressive downshifts to shed the speed. With a 70-0 mph braking distance of 170 feet, the car is similar to its rivals in terms of high-speed braking performance.