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ORLANDO, FL – Surely customers must have scratched their heads after driving the old Sportage cross/utility vehicle, wondering where Kia hid the “sport.”
And, while the new-generation Sportage, on sale last year, is leaps and bounds ahead of its predecessor, it still lacks the performance attributes implied by the first five letters of its name.
Now, thanks to the addition of Hyundai-Kia’s 2.0L direct-injected turbocharged 4-cyl., the Sportage finally lives up to its name – but not without a hitch.
The 2.0T engine, available in the Hyundai Sonata/Kia Optima midsize sedans, is standard in the ’11 Sportage SX. The SX trim level is used across most of the Kia lineup, but in some cases, as with the larger Sorento CUV, signifies only appearance changes, such as a different wheel design or an upgraded interior.
The 2.0T, making 256 hp and 264 lb.-ft. (358 Nm) of torque, is a great addition to the line, a big improvement over the 2.4L I-4 Ward’s tested last year in the Sportage EX.
That engine, while churning out a respectable 176 hp and 168 lb.-ft. (228 Nm) of torque, is loud and raucous, especially at lower speeds, and suffers from a tractor-like exhaust note.
A much more pleasing guttural growl emanates from the 2.0T-equipped Sportage SX driven here, and that comes only under hard acceleration with the otherwise quiet engine.
Kia supplied only front-wheel-drive Sportage SXs for testing. The heavier all-wheel-drive EX model Ward’s tested last year proved sluggish when accelerating at highway speeds, but the 2.0T likely will solve that problem, though we won’t know for sure until we can get behind the wheel.
