So guys I went to see Sportage over the weekend and thought to give a short review...
For the reference this was the first time i saw Sportage in person and my first response was āWoWā...
I saw both AWD (Black) and FWD (White)
- Exterior:
First of all the Size and stance... The size is considerably big... Much bigger than Vezel/Vitara and smaller than Prado/Fortuner so it falls somewhere in between. The moment you see the car you immediately notice the bold and sportier front with those beautiful bi-beam projector headlamps and 4 button DRLs. And KIA has been advertising the āTiger Noseā Grill well... its a beautiful piano finish grill. Although i would have liked if the fog lights had been the 4xLED ones but they are simple halogens with nice piano black housing. The side stance is quite elegant and appealing.
On the rear the lights are again LED and lights up in linear fashion unlike the pre-FL. The indicators are in lower part of bumper. One new thing is that it has a rear fog-light too. Its on the right and reverse light is on left ( this is standard in UK as far as i know)
Alloys n tyres: The 18ā Diamond cut alloys are beautiful and goes well with the Crossover. Tyres are Korean, Kumho Crugen Premium KL33 (checked it online and they are all-weather SUV tyres with good reviews, although I would have liked them to be Kumho Crugen HP91 whose rating is at top). Profile is 225/55/18
Ground Clearance: Well this has been the point of discussion on the forum a lot. So guys there is no way its clearance is equal to Grandeās clearance. I even asked the salesgirl that either you guys have calculated it wrong or the Grandeās clearance is not 172. Its surely seems more than 6.77 inches. I donāt know I might be wrong but still it was higher... FORGOT to measure it though.
The black glass-roof with black sharkfin antenna looks really Premium and I would give KIA full marks for putting them in both trims.
The new thing is that there are welcome lights in front door handles (would look nice at night)
Fit and Finish: Well to be honest I have seen almost all the locally built cars and I realised half way thru the evaluation that its a locally built unit and I must say KIA has set high standards for themselves. The fit and finish is superb. The panels and lights were well set in. Although there might be few micro points where I would have liked it to be better. For instance the quality of plastic of rear licence plate lights was average and a few rubber points under the hood felt abit cheap.
Paint quality: As the car was in the Showroom so all was bling bling but the exterior finish was smooth but little orange peel feel was there.
AWD has both front and back parking sensors while FWD has only at rear. Door opening and closing was solid. And the automatic/powered tailgate is real nice feature. (Not there in FWD). Also the speed of driver and passenger side powered window is super fast
- Interior:
So now comes the interior, once you sit in the driving seat immediately you feel that seats are comfortable (like Vitara but are bigger so more comfy, Vezel seats are average then comes the Grande and the worst is my Civic X).
Steering & Centre cluster: real nice leather stitched with piano black accent and superb finish steering controls ( quality was impressive)
Cluster was beautiful with the centre screen and the menu has alot of options which are not mentioned in the brochure (they felt new indeed since here in Pakistan we arenāt used to these).
Headunit: The headunit has greyscale kindov display which to be honest looked much better than local chinese crap we see in our cars. Although the quality of bezel could have been better. Dual zone climate control does work actually 
The physical buttons are handy, one thing I didnāt like was the silver ring on the knobs, as if they were not good solid finish and was abit of a turnoff in otherwise a superbly laid out dash.
Auto dimming rear view mirror: Its seriously a mandatory item, we have it in our Vitara and believe me its an absolute necessity and extremely useful item (especially in Pakistan where high-beam is the standard beamš¤Ŗ)
Trim & Seats: Once again here I would really appreciate KIA and would abuse local makers... Leather seats means only the seats... FWD has all the door panels and the centre console in leather and ONLY the seats were fabric ( literally i gave a pure punjabi gaali to Civic X, although mine is UG but standard fabric is worst shit ever). The leather on the AWD variant was āactual leatherā and not a crappy leatherette type stuff we have in local cars, also the centre portion was breathable so again nice touch. Although i feel that leather was abit āthinā and may show wear signs early ( may be a concern for re-sale minded people 
).
The fabric on FWD was seriously good, nicely stitched seats with good quality foam feel was there ( again i think i was having local cars in mind whose fabric are horrible especially civic X, Vitara has part leather and part suede so they are better, Vezel is always used so canāt say)
The material was kindov mixed with the slight feel of polyester, the sales lady said that its special coz it doesnāt allow liquids to get absorbed. It felt an acceptable claim after looking and feeling the fabric, will see in future. Also one more thing, FWD although has manual driving seat but it has a powered lumbar support ( cool right 
).
Interior lights: Both driver and passenger have LED reading lights. The vanity mirror has halogen light
Rear Seats & Legroom: I am 5-11 and once i pushed the driver seat to the maximum backwards and got back to sit in rear i still had 1-2 inches infront of my knee. By the way once driving seat was full back i had a difficulty in reaching the accelerator paddle. Oh yess, the accelerator paddle is the floor one... (Reborn era ki yaad a gayi)
.
Rear seats are reclining and the do recline considerably. 3 adults would fit easy in rear unlike Vezel/Vitara which has cramped up rear seats.
Boot space: you can easily put 3 big suit cases, the separating cover can be removed and interestingly put under the cover which has a special housing for it.
The tailgate on AWD auto close is real nice ( FWD owners might be able to get it aftermarket ).
Under the Hood: It has a 2.0 ltr NA with 154bhp. Everything well laid out and battery and other wires and grips covered. Nothing much i can say.
Colors: Well I always say that color is pure personal choice but i think White would suite best especially due to the black glass roof and they have put piano black accents here and there which really complements the white.
Red should also be good with black contrast
I liked the black too but it lacked the finesse which was there coz of the black roof and accents contrast on white.
Drive - Well that can be commented upon later
Pros:
Good sized compact SUV/CUV/Crossover
Shape and design (mini Porsche)
Excellent build quality
Apple car play and android auto
18ā Alloys
Glass-roof
Cons:
Will have to prove the reliability
No navigation in headunit (although I never use it in my civic/vitara and always rely on google maps)
Missing paddle shifters
Final Verdict:
It is a real good addition to the local market. To all those who are questioning the price must go and check the vehicle themselves. When sedan is hitting 4 mil plus so their price is quite justifiable.
Unfortunately the currency situation has put things in a sour state.
Those who want to spend on Vezel, Vitara, old Prados, Hilux, Revo, Dmax should visit and see Sportage. May not be a true off-roader but it can be an excellent city vehicle as well as it can take you to northern areas as-well.
It CANNOT be compared to Vezel/Vitara at all coz its bigger and superior to them in all aspects.
Those who have a budget of 5 million +/-must put this one on top of their list.
Additional finding:
KIA Grand Carnival - Its simply a sofa on wheels with luxury written all over it. Full of features and solid presence.
I donāt knw why but it should sell even at 6.5 mil coz of so many reasons. Fortuner at 8.5 mil and Old Prados also hitting 10 mil mark KGC must be in consideration for anyone who wants a luxury and power combo.
