Kia Sportage finally goes on sale in the brand’s domestic market with 3 engine choices and 3 transmission options
Kia Sportage was recently unveiled in its sixth-gen iteration. But it is only now that it goes on sale in the South Korean carmaker’s domestic market. The brand has introduced the 6th-gen Sportage in numerous trim levels. Also, a Gravity Edition is on offer in the South Korean market. To understand how different is the top-spec trim from the entry-level variant, read on.
Starting with the front-end, the top-spec trim gets full-LED lighting, which isn’t the case with the lower trims. They come with conventional halogen bulbs for the turn indicators. Similarly, the rear-end of the Sportage features LED tail lamps, but only in the top-spec trim. The lesser ones, on the other hand, get a conventional halogen setup.
On the inside, the range-topping trim of the 2022 Kia Sorento comes with a big wide housing for screens that do the job of the instrument console and infotainment unit. They measure 12-inch on the range-topping avatar of the SUV. However, the lesser trims come with either a smaller 8-inch touchscreen display or a 2-din stereo.
A similar fashion has been followed for the AC controls. The more expensive variants of the lineup come with a digital display for the climate control unit, while the lesser-spec’d trims gets manual controls without any display unit. For the powertrain options, there’s a tastefully long list of options.
One can choose to go with either a 1.6L 4-cylinder turbocharged motor that develops 180 PS of peak power and 264 Nm of max torque or a 2.0L turbocharged oil burner that dishes out 185 PS against 416 Nm. A hybrid powertrain is also a part of the package. It uses the same 1.6L turbo-petrol motor, which now comes coupled to an electric motor. The hybrid setup boasts of a 60 PS increment in peak power.
While the hybrid powertrain is only available in a front-wheel-drive layout, other engine options come with the choice of an all-wheel-drive layout as well. The hybrid iteration of the Sportage delivers a mileage of 39 mpg with its 6-speed AT. The turbo-petrol motor comes mated to a 7-speed DCT and delivers 29 mpg, whereas the oil burner with its 8-speed auto offers 34 mpg.