As the Kelley Blue Book Small SUV Best Buy of 2017, the 2017 Kia Sportage has already impressed us with its combination of comfort, quality interior appointments and reasonable price. It’s no wonder those same qualities and more would land it on our list of Best Family Cars for 2017.
Clever Utility and Advanced Safety
Whether you’re talking strollers, baseball bags, or just a whole bunch of groceries, the 2017 Kia Sportage offers plenty of useful cargo area for the laden family shopper. An exclusive bonus is the hands-free liftgate, which opens automatically if you just stand near it for a few seconds while you have the key fob on you. Like the Honda CR-V, it offers a load floor with multiple levels, allowing you to have either a flat load floor with the seatbacks down for long objects, or a deeper well to keep smaller items in place when you open the hatch. There’s also storage space underneath for smaller objects. It adds up to excellent and easy-to-use flexibility for the class.
The second row offers good leg, foot and headroom for two passengers, who will enjoy their own vents, a USB port and comfortably padded armrests. There’s good room for an infant seat, although the passenger in the front may have to slide forward a bit to accommodate it. The Sportage is better with two forward-facing boosters, and its lower and upper anchors are both easy to access. Buyers seeking maximum capacity should note that using two boosters effectively eliminates the middle position in the rear.
On the safety front, the 2017 Sportage offers a rear backup camera, multiple airbags, and stability control as standard equipment. Available equipment includes blind-spot detection with lane-change assist, rear cross-traffic alert, autonomous braking with pedestrian detection, and lane departure warning. The bottom cushions on the rear seat are on the stiff side, so accessing the lower anchors isn’t as easy as in the CR-V, for instance. Once there though, the ample headroom made cinching the seats into place a snap.
Sharp Looks, Turbo Power
The time has finally come to appreciate the Kia Sportage for its looks, and not just its utility. The headlight treatment, aggressive bumper styling and wide stance all give the Sportage a look that’s appropriate to its name. Available four-element fog lights and tasteful chrome accents give it a sense of luxury as well. Inside it’s much the same, with a cleanly styled dash that puts vital information front and center of the driver thanks to clear gauges and a full color info display. The touchscreen infotainment system is as simple and straightforward as it gets, especially when utilizing the available Android Auto or Apple CarPlay compatibility.
Two engine options are available for the Sportage. The base 2.4-liter 4-cylinder puts out 181 horsepower while getting up to 30 mpg in front-wheel-drive models, while the SX Turbo offers a 240-horsepower 2.0-liter turbocharged engine. Both engines route power through a 6-speed automatic transmission to either the front or all four wheels. While the turbo is definitely quicker, the reality is that the standard engine is plenty powerful for the vast majority of drivers, not to mention more efficient and a little more relaxed.
Competitive Price
Prices for the 2017 Kia Sportage start reasonably at about $24,000 for a front-wheel-drive LX model. The mid-line EX includes more equipment for only a little bit more, and offers the ability to option up to most of what you could get on the SX Turbo, but without the more expensive engine. If you want that power though, the SX Turbo is loaded, and starts at about $33,500.
More 2017 Kia Sportage
To learn more about the 2017 Kia Sportage, you can read our full review. If you’re ready to take the next step, build and price your own Sportage to unlock its Fair Purchase Price, 5-Year Cost to Own and more. And if you want to keep looking around, head over to our Compact SUV Buyer’s Guide.
