KIA Sportage - Drive car of the Year 2010

Drive Car of the Year: Best SUV under $40,000

Barry Park

November 25, 2010

The Kia Sportage teams superb value with a strong diesel engine to take out the SUV Under $40,000 category in Drive's 2010 Car of the Year awards.

A locally-tuned Kia was the surprise winner of the compact SUV class this year.

We seem to have an insatiable appetite for soft-roaders. The growing inclination for buyers to seek high-riding family wagons with even more space and versatility hasn't gone unnoticed by car makers, who are continuing to refine their products in an effort to snare a larger slice of one of the strongest new-car segments.

All four names in this field are already familiar; last year's winner, the Subaru Outback; Honda's CR-V; the Nissan X-Trail; and the freshest face here, the Kia Sportage - the only all-new metal to gain nomination as a finalist this year.

Subaru's all-wheel-drive Outback 2.5i was a clear winner in last year's awards, but this year it came under much more intense scrutiny. In the face of this year's high-riding competition, judges questioned how a humble Subaru station wagon sitting on raised suspension qualified as an SUV.

Kia Sportage - Winner, Best SUV under $40,000

Judges had an interesting job of assessing Kia's new diesel-engined Sportage SLi - the Korean car maker has just updated the Sportage's steering, so they gave us two cars.

One car, the SLi, had the old steering set-up, while another, a range-topping Platinum, had the new one.

Judges had to gauge the SLi for presentation and basic driving experience, and the Platinum for its steering through the track exercises.

Discussion kicked off around the table with a question: Is this really a Korean car?

Let's roll off a list of the early comments: "terrific looking", "love the dash", a "nicely resolved interior", and "simple stuff done well". While clearly lacking class-leading boot space because of its smaller footprint than rivals, the load area in the Sportage was described as "not prohibitively small", meaning it's still quite useful.

It comes with a strong level of equipment, too, outstripping many rivals with gear such as hill-hold assist, a full-size alloy spare and reversing camera, not to mention a five-year warranty.

And then there's that engine. Initial acceleration from the frugal 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder was described by one judge as "fantastic", with the six-speed automatic gearbox also gaining plaudits for its smooth handling.

Oh, and those tweaks to the suspension, balance and handling? "Clearly best in class" was the answer fired in from one corner of the room. The only blights were an anti-lock braking system that was at times overly sensitive, and skaty Solus tyres.

Local tuning of the Kia's suspension has paid off, with the compact Kia winning the judges' unanimous vote as this years' Best SUV under $40,000.