Kia Sportage long-term test: report 4

The Sportage is one of our favourite family SUVs, and the mild hybrid version promises low running costs, but what's it like to actually live with? We're finding out...

Kia Sportage LT over shoulder

The car Kia Sportage 1.6 T-GDi 48V ISG 3 Run by Allan Muir, managing editor

Why we’re running it To find out whether a petrol family SUV still makes sense in the face of growing electric competition, and whether the Sportage is among the best of them

Needs to Be comfortable, good to drive and practical in daily use, and be frugal enough to keep running costs down


Mileage 1490 List price £33,700 Target Price £32,309 Price as tested £34,350 Test economy 33.6mpg Official economy 44.1mpg


22 January 2023 – Display dismay

The digital instrument panel in my Kia Sportage may look impressive, but I wish it was more configurable. Yes, you have a choice of three fonts and colours that can be tied in with the driving modes (although I use just one), but you’re basically stuck with conventional-looking round dials and an info panel between them.

Kia Sportage LT instrument panel

Why can’t I have a more diverse choice of layouts? I’d prefer something like the displays you get in some sports cars and on many new motorbikes, with numerical readouts for speed and gear and a bar graph for revs – not because this looks ‘sporty’, but because it’s very easy to absorb. And you can present all the key info in a smaller area.

Thankfully, I can have a numerical speed readout showing in the panel between the dials, but I reckon more cars with digital displays should offer some proper alternative layouts.

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