Putting the sport in "Sportage"

QUEENSTOWN, NEW ZEALAND – “It’s a watershed car,” says Kia Australia’s president and CEO, MK Kim, as if drawing an imaginary line in the sand of Kia’s history with the tone of his statement. “This is the face of the new generation for Kia. A new era,” he continues, while sharing a steak dinner with the press in the Botswana Butchery restaurant in downtown Queenstown. It is a task as tough as the rib eye I’ve been wrestling with for the best part of half an hour, but they couldn’t have left it in more talented hands than that of lead designer, Massimo Fracella, the same man who gave us the latest Sorento.

Massimo, under the design direction of celebrity designer, Peter Schreyer, has done an incredible job of making affordable look desirable. From the high waist line and broad shoulders, to the aggressively inverted angle on the C pillar, to those stunning headlamps with LED daytime running lamps, and a rear end that would make Beyonce file a patent claim, this has got to be the best-looking CUV in its segment today. Which is just as well, because Kia’s entire future is hinged on it.

That may sound quite shallow, but Kia has made no secret about the fact that the company is driven by design. A big risk, sure, but if you think about it, with the engineering, R&D, manufacturing and other oily bits being pretty much all taken care of by their parent company, Hyundai, all the fundamentals are shared. There are really only a couple of areas where they can pull away and create a gap: marketing and design.

So back in 2006, they pulled the coup of the decade with the announcement of Peter Shreyer as head of design. Shreyer and his team have come up with the now famous “tiger nose” and developed the Cadenza, Optima, Sorento, Forte sedan and Koup, the Soul and now this all-new Sportage. There was a rumor floating around that Shreyer also looks over all of Hyundai’s designs, but when the question was posed to Massimo during pre-dinner drinks, the suggestion seemed as ridiculous as North Korea sharing secrets with South Korea simply because they’re both Koreans. You got the impression that they would sooner share designs with Toyota than the building next door.

The Sportage got its cue from, well, the Kue, which was featured in the Detroit motor show back in ’07 where it won the prestigious “Eyes on design award” Since then, it was given a couple of extra doors and tapered to make it more practical. Many key lines, however, have remained, and the result is a longer, lower and wider CUV that commands more respect than this class is entitled to. It may share the same bone structure as the Tucson, but Massimo has simplified many of the Hyundai’s complex lines and given it a more purposeful and striking face.

The driving position is exceptional, giving you a commanding view and good visibility – despite one journalist’s incessant rant about how the smaller green house and the higher belt line made it impossible to see clearly. There’s plenty of support in the seats, and the double moonroof is doing wonders to make the cabin feel much larger than it really is.

I’m nestled quite snuggly behind the thick rimmed, four-spoke steering wheel and “three-cylinder” instrument cluster with clear and precise graphics that is fast becoming another Kia trademark feature and poke the gently illuminated Start/Stop button on the dash to fire up the engine. It’s very quiet for a diesel, but then again, this is the new breed of “R” family diesel engines from Kia that pumps out a healthy 181 horsepower from 2 measly liters.

We take off from our flag-off point in the Sofitel Queenstown and quickly find ourselves on the famous New Zealand B roads. These are single lane black tops that hug the Alps and stitch the lush country side together with ribbons of asphalt that are not as fiercely patrolled as their Australian neighbors’.

The temptation proves too great, and with a quick jab of the throttle, the convoy is now running at almost twice the posted limit. Power is immediate and easily modulated thanks to the return of the floor-hinged accelerator pedal, plus with the extra 24mm of fore-aft sliding movement for the driver’s seat, taller drivers like myself have no trouble finding the proper distance. There’s no explosion from the turbo, but you never seem to run out of a steady supply of torque that (while not enough to fling your cellphone into the back seat) still gives you enough confidence to dispatch a slow caravan or an 18-wheeler with relative ease.

Steering is nicely weighted and feels slightly better than the Tucson, but just like almost all EPS systems, when pushed, it has trouble keeping up with frequent changes of direction and loses most of its feel.

There really is very little to not like in this car, and more than enough goodies to keep you entertained. The six speed automatic gearbox, for example, does wonders for fuel economy, smoothness and comfort and is something normally seen in SUV’s costing twice as much. The Dynamax all-wheel drive system is unobtrusive, and only kicks in only when you need it, saving you even more precious fuel. There’s a roll over sensor, a hill climb and descent feature and a quieter interior that is well put together, and although still predominantly plastic, still feels good and several generations away from the last Sportage.

Although the final specs have yet to be released by Columbian Motors they have confirmed with us that they will bring in the 2.0-liter gas, and the 2.0-liter diesel variants. The diesel will most likely arrive fully loaded with most – if not all – of the features on our Australian/New Zealand spec Platinum edition test unit, which included dual-zone air conditioning with full, automatic climate control and cooling glove box. A six in-dash CD player with external amplifier and sub-woofer which can also connect seamlessly to an MP3, USB and iPod. A tailgate mounted reverse camera, welcome home escort lights, keyless entry with Start/Stop button, LED Daytime Running Lights and a double moonroof that is already seen on the high end Tucson.

It’s been a long, hard road full of sacrifices and disappointments for the humble old Sportage, but Kia is finally starting to reap those rewards. Every successful company has its fair share of growing pains, but after paying their dues and learning from past mistakes, Kia is finally growing up instead of growing old.