Kia Sportage Review 2025 | Is this the best family SUV you can buy?

What is the Kia Sportage?

The Sportage is Kia's best-selling car in the UK, Europe and globally. Here, it accounts for around 40% of all Kia new car registrations, so it's no surprise that it's a regular fixture in the UK's list of top-selling models.

The latest version was launched in 2022 and updated in 2025. It is based on the same underpinnings as the Hyundai Tucson, but the execution is different enough that choosing between them is not as simple as opting for whichever is cheapest. That's not to mention the seemingly endless number of other rivals the Sportage is up against, from more traditional competitors such as the Toyota RAV4 and Ford Kuga, to newer models from China that include the MG HS and BYD Seal U.

Given the level of competition and its desire to defend the Sportage's position as the UK's best-selling SUV, it's no surprise Kia saw fit to give it a midlife refresh. Post-facelift, the Sportage is available with petrol, hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains, and across three well specified trim levels: Pure, GT-Line and GT-Line S.

In this Kia Sportage review, we'll cover how practical it is, what it's like to drive, the technology and equipment, and its projected running costs to see how it fares in what is a crowded market for family SUVs.

How practical is it?

Anybody coming from a previous generation Sportage will find more luggage space and more room for passengers in this latest model. Boot capacity varies slightly depending on what powertrain you go for, ranging from 591 litres in the front-wheel-drive petrol model with a manual gearbox to 587 litres in all-wheel drive HEV (hybrid). In all cases, there’s an adjustable height boot floor, a flat loading lip and a useful square shape to the load bay with only minor intrusions from the rear wheel arches. All models come with 40:20:40 split-fold rear seats, which leave a flat floor when folded.

Do note that if you're looking at a used Sportage with a diesel engine and all-wheel drive the boot space is reduced to 526 litres.

Rear-seat passengers get plenty of legroom and have the option of adjusting the angle of their backrests. Unlike the Skoda Karoq or Honda CR-V, however, you can’t slide the rear seats forwards to create more boot space. Top-spec GT-Line S models come with a panoramic sunroof - while this steals some headroom from the rear of the car, anybody up to six-foot tall will still feel perfectly comfortable.

Those in the front seats will find generous storage almost everywhere they look. The centre console has a lidded tray for phone and keys, along with two cupholders and an additional tray for odds and ends. There's also a large storage box under the armrest, the glovebox is a good size and, although slim, the doorbins have just enough room for a water bottle.

Quality, fit and finish are impressive by class standards (that is, mostly very good if not as tactile as models from the premium German brands such as BMW and Audi), and there’s enough variety in the materials to maintain interest.

What's it like to drive?

Gone are the days when you bought a Kia simply because it was good value. The Sportage is yet further proof that Kia’s cars are also genuinely good to drive.

On the ride and handling front, the Sportage strikes a sensible balance between comfort and engagement. Regardless of wheel size, the Sportage offers a comfortable ride both at low speeds around town, and when travelling faster on country roads or motorways. Grip is plentiful whether you opt for front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive, and the Sportage turns into corners keenly. There’s meaty weight to the steering that makes this generation of Sportage feel much more substantial to drive than any of its predecessors. Don’t expect much feel through the rim of the wheel, but that aside the Sportage does a neat job of blending SUV solidity with useful agility. Quick direction changes are handled with minimum fuss, and even when driven quickly the Sportage never feels ragged or on edge.

Add in high levels of refinement and the result is an extremely well-rounded family SUV, not to mention a great long distance cruiser with well controlled levels of wind and road noise. A Seat Ateca or Ford Kuga is going to be slightly more fun to drive, but the Sportage certainly doesn't disgrace itself.

The driving position and visibility are good. Kia has added an extra small window at the leading edge of the front doors to minimise intrusion from the A-pillar, which helps when it comes to seeing out of junctions. At the rear of the car, the sloping roofline results in a chunky C-pillar that does restrict visibility. Kia’s way around this is to fit technology such as blind spot cameras on higher spec models, as well as a good reversing camera and front and rear parking sensors on all trims.

On the drivetrain front, the full hybrid model is popular with UK buyers. It’s a good system, with a seamless switch between EV running and petrol power, and a smooth-shifting automatic gearbox. When cold the petrol engine sounds a little gruff, but it quietens down once warmed through and for the vast majority of the time is a distant companion as far as noise levels go.

Performance from the 235bhp hybrid powertrain is easily strong enough for a family SUV. Expect 0-60mph in around 8 seconds, as well as enough pull through the automatic gearbox's six ratios to make overtaking easy. Selecting ‘Sport’ rather than ‘Eco’ via a button on the steering wheel adds enough extra urgency to the throttle response to be worth using when the road twists and turns and you’re in the mood for some fun.

We've also driven the entry-level 1.6-litre turbocharged petrol engine, which can get the Sportage from 0-62mph in 9.7 seconds. With 147bhp, the engine is gutsy enough in the low- to mid-range, although does sound strained when revved hard. However, with the Sportage not being a performance car, that's not a huge problem. Cars with Kia's six-speed manual gearbox are a little easy to stall on account of the clutch's vague biting point. The seven-speed auto is smooth and responsive - it'd be our pick, although it's disappointing it's not available with the entry-level Pure specification.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

As of the 2025 facelift, all versions of the Sportage come with a 12.3-inch central infotainment screen as standard. This is paired with a 4.2-inch colour trip computer on Pure and GT-Line models, while GT-Line S upgrades the trip computer to a full 12.3-inch digital dial display. (Opt for a pre-facelift Sportage and the 2 specification comes with a smaller 8-inch touchscreen.)

Both the dials and infotainment feature sharp graphics and logical menu structures, and are generally really easy to use. All models come with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which is wireless on post-facelift cars. While there are no permanent physical shortcut buttons, there is a panel beneath the screen that you can switch between heating and audio controls, meaning that not everything is housed in the screen itself.

Other tech highlights include automatic LED lights, automatic wipers, power folding door mirrors, and a range of active safety systems that includes lane keeping assist, forward collision avoidance with pedestrian and cyclist detection, and intelligent speed limit assist.

In short, while some rivals might undercut the Sportage on price, the Kia still offers good value when it comes to standard equipment and technology.

Kia Sportage running costs

The self-charging hybrid Sportage with front-wheel drive will average between 40-45mpg in normal driving that includes town, motorway and country roads, which is a perfectly respectable figure for this size and type of vehicle. Over the same route the standard 1.6-litre petrol Sportage with a manual gearbox returned between 35-40mpg. The difference isn't night and day, then, but remember that the hybrid model is also more powerful, which makes the fact it uses less fuel even more impressive.

For maximum economy you'll either want a plug-in hybrid Sportage with its EV-only range of about 40 miles, or one of the now-discontinued diesel models, from which you can expect 45-50mpg on a long motorway run.

Residual values for the Sportage tend to be quite strong, so it's perhaps surprising that Kia's monthly PCP prices (which are calculated based on predicted depreciation) aren't always as tempting as some rivals might offer. Also note that while the Sportage range kicks off from around £31,000, there are a few versions that tip the £40,000 threshold that would push their owner into paying the 'luxury car tax' premium rate of vehicle excise duty, which would add hundreds of pounds to annual running costs until the car is six years old.

Kia Sportage reliability

The fifth-generation Kia Sportage has a good reputation for reliability. It finished 10th of the 33 cars in the family SUV class of the 2025 What Car? Reliability Survey, while Kia as a brand came 11th out of the 31 brands included in the 2024 version of the same survey.

If faults do occur with your Sportage, you’ll have the reassurance of Kia’s seven-year, 100,000-mile warranty to fall back on. This remains one of the best new car warranties available today.