KIA Sportage - Driving and Engines

I feel very good because the motor city has much strength from just over 1,200 rpm. Make it so long marches to insert early to spend less, reduces noise and makes driving more relaxed because you do not need to use often to change a nimble urban traffic.

The weakness of the engine is in uptown. Once you get past about 3,600 rpm it costs continue to accelerate. As the engine normally used at low or medium speed, I prefer to work and to do it lazily at low revs (to put the car in motion) but after reaching the maximum system more easily. Shifting gears, six-speed, very gently handled.

That performance is reflected in our measurements. Speeding is slower than comparable models we tested him-as the Ford Kuga or Volkswagen Tiguan - while recoveries in the leads.

Consumption is low, when crossing highway, at an average speed of 121 km / h, spent 7.4 l/100 km. By city and vicinity, consumption hovers around 9 l/100, depending on traffic. The above data are driving smoothly and always using gears. Taking advantage of the maximum acceleration of the car, as I do on the mountain road run, consumption increases, in this case up to 15.0 l/100 km (at an average of 77 km / h). That is, spends a little less than a Honda CR-V on the same route (150 hp with automatic transmission).

The suspension is less dry than a Honda CR-V but not holding the body just as well or makes the Kia Sportage an agile car like the Honda. Driving it at a rapid pace, the header and body sways so obviously to support sudden changes shows some awkwardness. A Kuga or a RAV4 are better in this aspect, but not much. It does not help to improve agility that management is slow (3.0 laps between stops). On faster roads gives me comfort that looks good.

The visibility is poor or backward, the bezel is small-or rear-three-quarter rear pillar shape hides a very large angle. My partner Henry Street you find that visibility in tight bends is also bad for the front pillar thickness and inclination, combined with the large size of the mirror, to me that's not happened to me, perhaps because the eyes are above me. Maneuver in small places it requires some adaptation because it takes some getting used to know precisely where the front corners of the car are. The rear is less problematic, there are proximity sensors and, in the case of the version equipped, a rear camera, the image produced in dark places such as a garage, is somewhat deficient in quality and because it will jump.

The Kia Sportage and Kia warns the user manual, not a car suitable for driving off-road tracks beyond healthy. It has a switchable AWD system automatically sends power to the rear wheels when it detects that the front skate. There is also a switch-coupling strength that makes solidarity rotate the front and rear wheels, if you are driving less than 40 km / h.

In the course of the tests that I've had trouble SUV past the first ramp, it is a hill of loose earth and stones, medium rise, have a deep transverse ditch. When cars get there, depending on the suspension travel, a wheel is spinning in the air so it has to be operational support systems to traction. I went three times; treatment. I reached the top one and the other two had to reverse down because he could not pull the Kia Sportage. I do not think it's a problem of the traction system because it allowed the wheels were in contact with the ground siguiesen turning, but rather nothing tires suitable for the field skated on the ground.

The time I got to get to the end of the climb, I turned to go down with the speed control on descents. According put in the manual, was able to maintain the speed of the car at about 8 km / h. It was not the case and I had to stop before emblaze too.