2022 Kia Sportage SX review

Medium SUVs are where it's at for family buyers in Australia in 2022. There's no doubting the popularity of this size and style of vehicle in a country that was once dominated by medium and large sedans.

Now, the medium SUV is king, and as such there's a vast array of options to choose from. Kia's new Sportage is competitive – so competitive, in fact, that it's the reigning Drive Car of the Year. As regular readers will know, though, that crown is awarded to the range as a whole.

Here, we take a look at the Sportage SX petrol with FWD to find out whether it's close to the equal of the SX diesel AWD, which we've targeted as our pick of that range. The petrol four-cylinder doesn't have the outright punch of the diesel engine, but the SX is still packed with safety and value. Time to find out how it stacks up.

Starting from $37,000 before on-road costs with an automatic, our test SX has only metallic paint as an option, which adds $520 for an indicative drive-away price in NSW of $41,705 at the time of testing. Key competitors include segment favourite the RAV4, Mazda CX-5, Hyundai Tucson and Haval H6. Honda is there with the CR-V, as is Mitsubishi with the Outlander, and Subaru with the Forester. This is a tough segment by any measure.

Sitting one step above the base S grade, the SX feels anything but cheap despite the sharp price. Standard equipment is extensive, and the cabin design and ergonomics are excellent. The Sportage is the very embodiment of the theory that if the base vehicle is good, the models further up the chain will only get better.

Classy styling, which is sharp from any angle, is key to the mass market appeal of the new Sportage, and it's clear people think it's a good-looking SUV. 18-inch alloy wheels are standard, along with dual-zone climate control, a six-speaker audio system, adaptive cruise control (auto only), LED headlights, leather trim for the steering wheel and shifter, and auto-folding exterior rear-view mirrors. Keep in mind that the only standard colour is white, so you will pay for any other colour in the range.

Kia's seven-year warranty is key in a market where the average buyer among us tends to keep their car for that period. Value is key, too, and there's a lot to be said for including plenty of standard kit from the base model up to ensure buyers feel they are getting every last drop out of their dollar.

It's inside the cabin where the new Sportage most impresses, even in SX trim that isn't at the top of the pricing tree.

You could argue the case for leather trim at this price point, but the cloth that Kia has chosen is high quality, durable and comfortable. Throughout the cabin, there are soft-touch surfaces just about everywhere you want them, and classy design elements that ensure the cabin feels more premium than the segment demands.

The seats are comfortable, too, even on longer drives, which is key for the family buyer. If this is your main family car, you'll be comfortable with plenty of room no matter how long the drive.

There are two cupholders up front, bottle holders in the door, a properly sized console bin, and space to store your smartphone such that it won't be flying all over the cabin. It's positioned so that it's out of the way as well. Bonus.

Into the second row and there's room for adults, let alone the kids, with air vents to keep passengers cool. Strangely, there are not USB charging ports in the second row, which I reckon is an omission.

Thanks to a relatively flat floor, there's plenty of foot room even in the middle seat, and there's more than enough head, knee and shoulder room in the second row as well.

The boot – which houses a full-size spare – is expansive, with 543L extending out to a whopping 1829L if you fold the second row down. In short, this is the handy sort of space you need for weekends away or the weekend sports run with a boot full of footballs or netballs.

The Kia Sportage SX come with standard Apple CarPlay and Android Auto; however, both are via a wired connection. In the cheaper Sportage S, wireless connectivity is available.

To be fair, though, the cabled connection was faultless for us on test. I prefer not to heat my phone up with wireless charging, so in that sense the tethered connection works for me. I still find that a lot of wireless smartphone connections tend to have glitches as well.

While the base model gets an 8.0-inch screen, which does feel a bit small in the current climate, the step up to SX brings with it a 12.3-inch infotainment touchscreen. You also get proprietary satellite navigation, the aforementioned smartphone connection and digital radio. The touchscreen is clear, although you will be cleaning fingerprints off it fairly regularly, and it is prompt to respond to commands.

The six-speaker stereo system is a decent one, with quality sound even at speed with the windows down.

Ahead of the driver, there's a digital display for speed and revs, and a relatively basic 4.2-inch screen between them.

I really like the way Kia has opted to clean the control surface up with a configurable bar that you can switch between air-con controls and system controls. It might not be the first thing that springs to your mind, but once you suss it out, it's a clever execution.

It's hard to fault the Sportage's safety credentials, with a full five-star safety rating from ANCAP. Loaded with a full suite of active and passive safety, the Sportage stands tall as a high-quality option for families who prioritise safety.

That's true of the Sportage across the range, too, with even the most affordable well catered to, including a front centre airbag.

Autonomous emergency braking (AEB) is standard incorporating car, pedestrian, cyclist and junction detection, along with blind-spot collision avoidance, rear cross-traffic alert and assist, lane-keep assist, active cruise control with intelligent speed limit assist, driver attention alert, and safe exit assist.

Rear parking sensors also feature, along with a quality rear-view camera that has moving guides, high-beam assist, and dusk-sensing headlights. As tested, the SX grade also gets automatic wipers.

You need to step up to GT-Line to get even more safety, with the SX not featuring blind-spot-view monitors, surround-view monitor and park collision avoidance assist. The Sportage range is also fitted with two ISOFIX points and three top tether anchors in the rear.

Kias come with a seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, and you go into Sportage ownership knowing what servicing will cost across that seven-year period, too, thanks to the capped-price servicing scheme.

Over three years, scheduled servicing adds up to $1280, and over five years it costs $2395. Roadside assistance is included for seven years as well. Sharper-priced servicing is available if you buy a RAV4 or CR-V, so the Kia isn't at the head of the class in that sense.

The Sportage SX petrol will cost $1108.50 per annum to insure based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.

Against Kia's claim of 7.7L/100km, we used an indicated 8.2L/100km during our week of testing, which is par for the (non-hybrid) medium SUV course. The diesel SX is more frugal, but it costs more to buy and more to service than the SX petrol we're testing here, so you'd have to weigh up your priorities. The SX petrol will run on regular 91RON fuel.

There's a bit to unpack with the flavour you prefer when it comes to your medium SUV. Do you prefer manual? Regular automatic? DCT? And that's before you get to petrol or diesel.

While Kia's 1.6-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol and dual-clutch auto combination of higher grade models positions itself as the obvious performance variant, on paper, I like the SX's pairing of a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated engine and regular automatic transmission.

Generating 115kW and 192Nm, it's no heavy hitter by any means, but do you really need that in this segment? And without all-wheel drive to mete out the drive, less might be more in that sense too.

First up, the engine does feel a little underdone. But (and it's a reasonable but) that's only really evident when you nail the throttle and try to push the Sportage harder. Around town, at city speeds, we didn't find anything to gripe about. Secondly, the six-speed torque converter automatic is excellent, smooth, and well behaved under all driving conditions.

That point about smoothness is one worth reiterating too. The Sportage's engine doesn't strain and sound like it's working itself into a lather at any time, and everything about the driving experience from behind the wheel is smooth.

I suspect if you tackled a freeway hill with four adults and their luggage on board, you'd feel the engine working away beneath the bonnet. Not day-to-day, though.

For mine, around town on our rubbish road surfaces, the ride is key to SUV ownership, and the SX on its 18-inch wheels is excellent. Chubbier tyres with more sidewall, smaller-diameter rims, and suspension that can handle irregular surfaces make for a comfortable drive any time you're in the cabin. It's another feather in the SX's relaxed cap, and dealing with potholes and sharp traffic islands effortlessly is a key requirement for city buyers.

We see it in the comments, a minority who criticise a vehicle in this segment if it doesn't illustrate sharpness and outright precision in driving dynamics. And you could mount a case that for those of you who feel that way, the GT-Line will be sharper and more direct, especially at the front axle. However, I like the way the SX rides around town, and I'm more than happy to sacrifice outright handling capability for comfort and insulation every day.

More than one of us in the Sydney garage noted the steering, which was meaty enough at speed yet easy to manipulate at low speed when parking, but the 11.4m turning circle is a broad one, so keep that in mind. The SX is not the Sportage you buy if you regularly want to hook into corners, but it can do that, and it's decent fun when you do too.

As we discovered with our review of the SX grade and diesel engine, SX indeed is the sweet spot in the Kia Sportage range.

Those of you wanting more punch than the petrol engine offers will look to the diesel, but the price jump is a decent one. Around town, and for the family buyer, the petrol SX is capable of doing exactly what you need.

If you're long-distance touring or towing heavy trailers, opt for the diesel engine to access that extra punch. For the majority of buyers, though, the SX petrol matches the right level of day-to-day capability with a generous amount of standard equipment.