2019 Kia Sportage Diesel

By Alex Forrest

One may view mid-life updates to cars as a way for manufacturers to get a second bite of the media cherry without releasing a new model.

Fair point. But when there's an all-new gearbox with two extra gears, and some critical new safety gear and a fully revised suspension added, some of the cynicism falls away. Especially when those addition also say to the other manufacturers: "Look, this is now what you have to do to compete."

The resulting rivalry between manufacturers is good for consumers, especially in this market segment. 

The latest iteration of the Kia Sportage brings with it autonomous emergency breaking (AEB) as standard, along with lane keep assist. Kia's move to make AEB standard kit across the Sportage range follows Mazda's move to standardise it in the CX-5, and Subaru putting AEB in all their Foresters. 

The Sportage also gets lane keeping assist, blind spot detection, and even intelligent parking assist. Less than 10 years ago, cars that could steer into a parking spot were as futuristic as self-tying sneakers.

Now you can get it on a Korean SUV that starts at $33,700. Mind you, that's $1,000 more than it was previously. 

We tested the Sportage diesel, because it now comes with that new eight-speed auto, which Kia also makes in-house, rather than buying it from a third party. All petrol versions of the Sportage come with a six-speed auto.

The 2.0-litre turbo diesel engine is the same as it was prior to the update, making 136kW and 400Nm. 

However, now there are the eight different ratios to help keep the diesel operating within its relatively narrow peak torque range of 1750-2750rpm, progress is smoother and more efficient. 

The suspension and steering steering systems have been further revised, with changes to make the ride more compliant and to provide more feedback through the steering wheel. 

There have been some minor tweaks to the Sportage's body styling at the front and rear, and the range-topping Sportage GT-Line gets LED headlights.

With its industry-leading seven-year warranty and all the standard safety gear in the new Sportage, your small SUV test drive list would be incomplete without it. 

Specifications: Kia Sportage GT Line