Kia Sportage 2.0-Litre CRDi Car Review

Facts At A Glance
Car: Kia Sportage 2.0 CRDi diesel range
Prices: £15,995-£18,995 - on the road
Insurance Group: 9D
Emissions: 187-210g/km
Performance: 0-60mph (4WD) 112s / Max Speed 110mph
Fuel Consumption: (4WD) - (Urban) 31.7mpg / (extra urban) 45.6mpg / (combined) 39.8mpg
Safety: Twin front airbags, ABS
Dimensions: Length/Width/Heightmm 4325/1840/1730mm

KILLS BILLS

Our Rating: 6.9 / 10

Logic dictates that the smart money buys diesel these days but does buying a budget diesel 4x4 stack up? Andy Enright takes a look at Kia’s Sportage 2.0-litre diesel

As a schoolboy, there were few words I dreaded more than "Get your pen, pencil and ruler out for mathematics." Maths was a definite blind spot for me, largely due to a teacher who was utterly unenthusiastic and the fact that I spent two years sitting next to the class clown. Fortunately only a very basic level of arithmetical prowess is required to figure out whether the Kia Sportage 2.0-litre diesel makes a very wise buy.

Let’s look at the bottom line first. The diesel Sportage range starts at £16,195 for the 2WD XE version with the automatic gearbox while the better-equipped XS variant is priced from £17,695 in 2WD automatic form. If you want a four-wheel-drive model, you’ll need to tack another £200 onto those prices and settle for a manual gearbox. As a point of reference, the 2.0-litre petrol version of the Sportage costs £13,995 in XE trim with 2WD but that model has the manual gearbox, so buying diesel is going to be at a premium. Is it worth it?

That may well depend on how many miles per year you drive and how long you plan to keep the car. If, like many British motorists, you average around 12,000 miles a year and plan to keep your Sportage diesel for three years before trading it in against something else, the fuel consumption figures are interesting. A petrol Sportage XE will actually consume a similar amount of fuel to the diesel model. A small fuel saving for a bigger initial outlay may not seem particularly special, but think of it as a bonus. You see, when the time comes to sell the Sportage diesel, it’ll hold onto its value better than its petrol counterpart, and given that many owners will finance their buy with a guaranteed residual value at the end of their ownership period, the diesel version should work out the more cost effective buy. Cover more miles and the sums will swing increasingly in favour of the car that drinks from the black pump.

Maths exercise over, it’s now time to look at what you’re actually getting for your money. This is a modern common rail powerplant and emissions are pegged at a very respectable 187g/km for the four-wheel drive model, not so good 210bhp for the 2WD. With four cylinders displacing 1991cc, this Euro IV-compliant 16v engine now develops 138bhp at a fairly high 4,000rpm and 305 Nm of torque. It’s good for a top speed of 110mph in the four-wheel drive guise and will cover the sprint to 60mph in 12 seconds. The engine seems to lac

A combined fuel economy figure nudging 40mpg in the four-wheel drive model is respectable going for such a spacious vehicle and even around town the 4x4 Sportage will see over 30mpg. The diesel is moderately capable off road, although anything too arduous will betray its comparative lack of wheel articulation. Even over modest obstacles, the 4x4 Sportage is prone to lifting a wheel and the four-wheel drive system isn’t quite clever enough to realise when one wheel is six inches off the ground and divert drive to the other one. Instead, it uses a more rudimentary ‘torque on demand’ system that keeps the Sportage in front wheel drive up until that moment when the front wheels’ start slipping. It then transfers a percentage of drive to the rear wheels. Unfortunately it seems a little dull witted when performing this task, allowing the car to sit spinning its front wheels impotently for a few seconds before deciding to switch to all wheel drive.

The Sportage also adopts a few MPV-style practicality features. The rear seat cushion and the backrest are a case in point, adopting Kia’s ‘Fold and Dive’ system. Whilst it may sound like a tactic taught by Argentinean football coaches, it is in fact a method of creating a spacious, square-sided and completely flat cargo area. The front passenger seat backrest can also be folded flat to house extra long loads and at the back there’s even a flip-up rear window which means that items can be dropped into the luggage area without having to open the tailgate. Not that opening the tailgate is overly difficult. Unlike many compact 4x4s, the Sportage is big enough to keep the spare wheel in its proper place – under the luggage bay floor – instead of mounting it on the rear tailgate. This means that the tailgate is pleasantly light to open and doesn’t whistle at motorway speeds – a problem that afflicts cars with hatch mounted spares.

Inside, the seating was remodelled to give increased comfort and the indicator stalk is now where it