2022 Hyundai Tucson v Kia Sportage

By Alex Forrest

More than 2000 Western Australians voted with their wallets and collectively spent over $77 million on a Kia Sportage or Hyundai Tucson in 2021.

Fair to say then, that the Tucson and Sportage are near the top of many buyers’ shopping lists in the medium-sized SUV market, which is the second biggest-selling new vehicle segment (after 4x4 utes) in WA.

It’s no secret that the Sportage and Tucson share the same underpinnings thanks to Hyundai having a 38.8 percent share in Kia, however they do have their differences.

The most noticeable of these is in their exterior appearance, but their dashboards are also quite different and there’s also the marked difference in warranty coverage (seven years for the Kia; five for the Hyundai).

What they have in common is they are up-to-date with plenty of tech, and both have well-sorted interiors. Both have good track records for reliability too.

Value for money
Where the Tucson and Sportage had been quite affordable options in recent years, the launches of these two current models in 2021 did bring marked price rises. The increase was roughly $2000 where entry level models are compared.

An upside to that is they both come better equipped with safety gear - more on that later.

Entry level versions of both vehicles with an automatic transmission start from around $38,750.

A slight difference is that the Sportage gets a bigger infotainment screen on its higher variants – 12.3 inches compared to 10.25 inches in the Tucson. On the base models though, screen sizes are the same, at 8 inches.

But the Tucson gets wireless phone charging in the base model, whereas in the Sportage you need to go to the top-of-the-range GT-Line variant to get it.

On the road
Cross-pollination across these two models means the Sportage and Tucson have the same line-up of engines available in them. We tested the 2.0-litre naturally aspirated petrol in the Tucson and the 2.0-litre turbo diesel in the Sportage.

There’s also a 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine with a seven-speed dual clutch transmission available in either of these, which we’ve experienced recently in other Hyundai and Kia products.

While the 2.0-litre petrol is cheaper by about $10,000 than the 1.6-litre turbo petrol, we’d recommend making the stretch to the 1.6 if you can - the 2.0-litre is sluggish and buzzy under load.

The diesel we tried in the Sportage was powerful from low revs and economical around town, and much more miserly on fuel than the 2.0-litre petrol in the Tucson.

Safety and Practicality
As standard, both vehicles get rear cross traffic alert, lane keep assist and autonomous emergency braking (for cars, pedestrians, cyclists and for oncoming vehicles when turning right at an intersection).

At the time of writing, the Sportage had not yet been rated for safety by ANCAP, but the Tucson has a 5-star ANCAP rating.

Both come with a full-sized alloy spare wheel, which can’t said of all mid-sized SUVs.

The Sportage has a huge single display panel extending across two-thirds of the width of the cabin, within which are the instrument displays ahead of the driver, and the infotainment system in the centre area.

The Tucson’s dash is slightly more traditional in its design but both are easy and intuitive to use.

Verdict
You won’t go wrong with either of these, with both being among the class leaders when it comes to being well-specified, safe and easy-to-live-with family haulers. But we’d call it a very narrow win for the Kia Sportage, which has a longer seven-year warranty (compared to the Hyundai’s five-year warranty) and a more cohesive dash design. But we wouldn’t commit to purchasing the Sportage until we know it has a five-star ANCAP safety rating.