First Look
It’s not like that a crossover SUV has to be apathetic and insipid, but still it looks like America’s highways and streets are going towards dullsville, because of the immense increase in sales of the crossovers. But finally, in response to this dullsville march, Kia motors have stepped forward to offer the much needed adrenaline boost with its all new 2011 Kia Sportage. a small crossover with sharp styling and lively handling.
You easily could have pointed at previous years Kia Sportage with no small bit of sarcasm as a major instance of boring design. Having a boring design, and underpowered the Kia Sportage doesn’t have a lot to offer apart from its high value and low price. But the 2011 Kia Sportage is Korean auto makers charge right from back of the pack to challenge these standard brands positioned at the top of the food chain. The immense appeal of 2011 Kia Sportage comes from its sleek-looking interior and chiseled lines; and all that we can say about the vehicle is that it definitely is one of the best-looking small crossovers designed for this model year.
What’s New for 2010 Kia Sportage?
The 2011 Kia Sportage is a completely revamped vehicle for the calendar year 2011.
Body Styling and Features
The compact crossover SUV 2011 Kia Sportage has a capacity of five passengers, and will be available in three trim levels initially: base, EX and LX. A turbocharged SX model will also be launched in the second half of the year.
The standard equipments for the base Kia Sportage includes 16-inch cast-aluminum wheels, complete power accessories, air-conditioning, a audio and phone control mounted tilt steering wheel, Bluetooth, cloth upholstery, a six-speaker MP3/CD player having auxiliary/USB input jacks and satellite radio.
Step up to the Sportage LX, and you’ll get turn signals included into the external mirrors, keyless entry and colored rear windows. Exclusive and optional for the LX trim are the seventeen-inch wheels.
The Kia Sportage EX comes loaded with 18-inch wheels, Foglights, LED daytime running lights, a back spoiler, chrome external accents, dual-zone automatic climate control, roof rails, a power driver seat, a leather-wrapped steering wheel which also telescopes and a chilled glovebox. You can get some of these features as optional on the LX trim.
The LX and EX models also gets a voice-controlled navigation system having a back-up camera and an upgraded audio system. There also is an optional Premium package available only on EX models, which adds leather upholstery, a freshened driver seat, heated front seats, keyless entry/ignition, rear parking sensors, panoramic sunroof, a cargo cover and an auto-dimming rearview mirror.
Under The Hood
The 2011 Kia Sportage’s base, LX and EX trims are powered by the same 2.4 liter inline-4 engine with the capability of generating maximum of 176 hp and 168 pound-feet of maximum torque. The base model is the only model mated with a six-speed manual transmission, while the other two trims are powered by a six-speed automatic transmission as their standard transmission. The LX and EX consumers are also allowed to pick between all-wheel and front wheel drive. A turbo-charged 2.0 liter engine will also be available in the SX trim, later that year.
The engine here is capable of delivering estimated fuel economy of 22 mpg for city drive while 31 mpg for highways, which comes combined to 25 mpg.
Safety Equipments
The 2011 Kia Sportage gets unabridged side curtain airbags, frontage side airbags, antilock disc brakes having brake assist, active front headrests, stability control and traction control, in addition to hill start and hill descent control. The safety test scores for the vehicle were also pretty descent.
Verdict
The 2011 Kia Sportage comes with several enhancements over the previous generation Kia crossover SUV, and all these enhancements puts it in league of some of the best SUVs in class.
