News / 8 November 2023 / Michael Taylor

Kia Sportage updated for South Africa – New pricing and features

Kia has updated its popular Sportage SUV for the South African market, adding more safety items as standard across the line-up.

First launched in 2022, the Sportage has received numerous accolades across the industry, including the coveted South African Car of the Year Award for the midsize segment in June this year.

The range has been simplified with the dropping of the entry-level LX and EX petrol models, so the starting seat is now taken by the diesel LX with its price tag of R637,995.

Features

The big change with this update is the inclusion of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) as standard that was previously reserved for the range-topping GT-Line.

This means all customers can now make use of lane-follow assist, lane-keep assist, and forward-collision avoidance assist, in addition to other active and passive safety items like ABS, electronic brake-force distribution, electronic stability control, blind-spot monitoring, hill start and descent control, trailer stability assist, and six airbags.

The new standard features utilize the car’s camera and radar systems to ensure that it stays in its lane with automatic steering corrections when it veers out of the lane. In cases where the road lines are absent, faded, or otherwise unclear, the SUV will default to following the car in front of it at a safe distance with automatic emergency braking to step in if the front-runner stops or if a pedestrian, cyclist, or other object suddenly appears ahead.

“With the rapid advances in technology, we can now include a range of active safety systems to help drivers avoid collisions even better,” said Stephen Cross, the sales and marketing director of Kia South Africa.

Beyond these changes, you can still look forward to standard fittings across the Sportage series such as 17-inch alloy wheels, an artificial leather multifunction steering wheel, keyless entry and start, dual-zone climate control, a reverse camera, rear parking sensors, six speakers, cruise control, automatic LED headlights, rain-sensing wipers, a 4.0-inch multi-information driver’s display, and a 12.3-inch touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

On the mid-range EX, this is expanded to include larger 18-inch alloys, cloth/artificial leather upholstery, electric front seats, heated seats for both rows, a heated steering wheel, artificial leather cabin finishes, a wireless charger, and front parking sensors.

The top-spec GT-Line then rounds things off with a 12.0-inch digital driver display, artificial leather/suede seats, a panoramic sunroof, a hands-free electric tailgate, gearshift paddles, and 19-inch rims.

Engines

The Sportage is still available with a variety of turbocharged petrol and diesel mills, which depend on the selected trim level.

The petrol units produce 132kW and 265Nm, while the diesel version naturally leans more towards torque with its 100kW and 300Nm output.

Of course, the big advantage of the diesel block is its lower fuel consumption, which averages just 4.9l/100km in comparison to its counterpart’s 6.5l/100km.

On the other hand, the petrol plant does boast greater performance with a 0-100km/h time of 8.8 seconds and a top speed of 200km/h, while the diesel accelerates in 11.4 seconds with a speed cap of 180km/h.

What is the same across all variations is the gearbox, as a seven-speed automatic will be handling all shift actions, and the SUV is only available in front-wheel-drive guise.