Preview: 2005 Kia Sportage

9,000
Philippines
Quezon City, Philippines & Las Vegas, NV
GTP_VanishingBoy
Vanishing Boy
Article coutsesy from Autoindex.org

Kia releases photos and technical specs of its new Sportage

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Kia Motors today released the first official photographs and technical specifications of the company’s long-anticipated successor to the widely popular Sportage SUV. First introduced in 1993, Sportage is Kia’s best-seller globally, with 568,720 export sales.
Representing Kia’s re-entrance into the small SUV market with completely new and highly attractive styling, the Sportage will make its world premiere at the Paris Motor Show in September 2004. It will be positioned as a progressive, contemporary SUV that has the strengths of an SUV, the smooth ride and handling of a sedan and the functionality of a MPV.

“Adding to our quickly expanding full product line-up, the all new Sportage will reinforce our SUV offering together with the tremendously popular Sorento, thereby boosting Kia’s brand reputation in the SUV category,” said Yong-Hwan Kim, Senior Executive Vice-President and COO of Kia Motors. “Moreover, the Sportage is a perfect match for Kia’s new brand identity - ‘Exciting and Enabling’.”

Compared to competitors in its class such as the Toyota RAV4 and the Honda CR-V, the Sportage boasts a longer wheelbase as well as larger overall exterior width and height dimensions.

It also outclasses the competition in terms of interior dimensions, with more leg room, second row seating headroom, and total interior volume allowing for maximum cargo space and storage.

With its well-combined powertrain offerings that include a 2.0 I4 and 2.7 V6 gasoline engine as well as a 2.0 diesel engine mated to manual or H-Matic 4-speed automatic transmissions (automatic only for the V6) with electronic full-time 4-wheel drive system (torque on demand), the Sportage is high on performance.
The 2.7 V6 version churns out 175 horsepower at 6,000 rpm with maximum torque of 24.6 kilograms per meter at 4,000 rpm.

From a functional standpoint, the Sportage offers spare tire placement at the cargo area floor, convenient upward swing hatch and flip-up tailgate glass, and ergonomically designed center fascia with driver friendly control placement. Seating is designed to allow for multiple variations with its full-flat front seats, fold and dive type rear seats for maximum cargo space, and seat split function for storage of large cargo items.

The Sportage is also equipped with class leading safety features including anti-lock braking system (ABS) and traction control system (TCS), curtain and side airbags, and electronic stability program (ESP).

Production of the Sportage will begin in early September for Europe and general markets and in the end of October for North America. Total annual export sales volume is predicted to be 100,000 units with more than 60,000 units destined for North America and more than 20,000 planned for Europe.

:)
 
It's impossible to figure out. They want to claim they have a good competitor for the Highlander when they don't even have a good competitor for the Ford Escape and Saturn Vue. And they say, "now we've got a good midsize SUV, we need a good small SUV." No, ass-heads, two mediocre small SUVs doesn't equal one good anything. Haven't we learned anything from Suzuki?!

And another thing - will Hyundai and Kia EVER come up with a V6 other than the 2.7 and 3.5? It wouldn't be such a problem if the engines were good, like Nissan's 3.5, but they're really not all that good, so Hyundai and Kia could stand to quit relying on them. The day Hyundai-Kia makes a car with more than 235hp is the day I buy a Hyundai-Kia.
 
Better give them time, since they're (Koreans) new in this field. You don't expect for a company started less than half a decade to come up a twin-turbo V12. :rolleyes:

Back where I came from (Philippines), 2.7 & 3.5 V6 is like the V8 Hemi in our streets back there, come on, bigger is not always better in most countries. Right now in Manila, Ford, GM, and DCX keep sending us useless Expeditions, Suburbans, and Durangos (although those are top hits among those corrupt politicians).
 
The Vanishing Boy
Better give them time, since they're (Koreans) new in this field. You don't expect for a company started less than half a decade to come up a twin-turbo V12. :rolleyes:

Seen a lot of twin turbo V12s that put out 236hp?

Freaking hell, you're unbelievable.

Back where I came from (Philippines), 2.7 & 3.5 V6 is like the V8 Hemi in our streets back there, come on, bigger is not always better in most countries.

Do I care? Hyundai is attempting to compete in this country. Not Korea, not the Philippines - the United States. Where the average engine size is 3.1 liters. If Hyundai can't get their act together to make a competitive engine for a midsize sedan or midsize SUV, then they aren't getting any respect from me.
 
Do I care? Hyundai is attempting to compete in this country. Not Korea, not the Philippines - the United States. Where the average engine size is 3.1 liters. If Hyundai can't get their act together to make a competitive engine for a midsize sedan or midsize SUV, then they aren't getting any respect from me.

No wonder why terrorists are still around. :rolleyes:

Hyundai-Kia is not Toyota, Honda, GM, Ford, DCX and Nissan, they don't have that much funds to build many engine variants. Right now they are concerned about customer satisfaction than producing higher powered engines, just wait around within 10 years and see, you'll get it.

How about the Chevy Aveo made by Daewoo? I don't see you ranting about it. In fact, Daewoo is far worse compared to Hyundai-Kia.



Oh wow! Over here its like 1.6litre......???!!!

-In the Philippines right now (thanks those useless full size SUVs) its 2.5L, but before that, it was 1.3L. :)
 
It looks ok, I think. The front end looks like it took the santa fe's headlights, The rear window looks a little outta place and the wheels look tiny with those fender flares.
 
TsLeng
3.1 litres is the average????

Oh wow! Over here its like 1.6litre......???!!!

I know - it took me days to compute (I had to write out every engine in the business). Unfortunately it was sparked by a Famine comment. But at least now I'll know (though I actually won't since it changes every model year). Weird thing is that there's exactly one 3.1L car on the market.

The Vanishing Boy
No wonder why terrorists are still around. :rolleyes:

No it isn't. I was discussing why Hyundai and Kia don't give the American market more than 230bhp. You came in and said that in the Philippines, those engines would be considered large. Completely irrelevant. If we were discussing the Filipino market, and I started talking about engine sizes in the US, would YOU give a damn? Exactly.

How about the Chevy Aveo made by Daewoo? I don't see you ranting about it. In fact, Daewoo is far worse compared to Hyundai-Kia.

Worse, I LIKE the Chevrolet Aveo. Well, one trim level, at least. And I'm actually not ranting about Hyundai-Kia's four-cylinder engines: they're great. And the Aveo's engine is a good one, for the price. It's the V6s that suck.
 
TsLeng
The Aveo you get is 1.4 litre version right?

The 1.5 here sucks big time(80+hp only). Luckily the 1.4 is coming.

The Chevrolet Aveo has a 103bhp 1.6L 4-cylinder. The smallest engines on our market are:
1.0 = Honda Insight
1.3 = Mazda RX-8, Honda Civic Hybrid
1.5 = Scion xA, Scion xB, Toyota Echo, Toyota Prius
1.6 = Mini Cooper, Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio, Chevrolet Aveo
1.7 = Honda Civic
1.8 = Volkswagen Jetta, Audi A4, Audi TT, Volkswagen Beetle, Volkswagen Passat, Kia Spectra, Mazda Miata, Mercedes C-class, Nissan Sentra, Toyota Corolla, Pontiac Vibe, Toyota Celica, Toyota Matrix, Toyota MR2
1.9 = Volkswagen Jetta, Volkswagen Beetle, Volvo S/V40

Those are the only engines under 2.0L on our market - only 18 seperate engines in total (separated above by colors!)
 
That was for the beginning of the 2004 model year - it's changed a bit since. The Volvo S/V40 have been redesigned and are now known as the S40 and V50 and they've dropped their 1.9L engine in favor of a 2.4. And with the stunning 2005 redesign, the Kia Spectra has dropped its 1.8L engine in favor of the 2.0 used in the Hyundai Elantra and Hyundai Tiburon.
 
Did you start working for them?

No, but I'm rooting for them (a bit). I like the motivation of these Korean (esp. Hyundai-Kia) manufacturers to suceed in the global marketplace esp. in the US. 👍

I wish I work for Honda Cars Ltd. :D
 
AP1
The Sportage still exists? I thought it was dead...

It was cancelled here in 2002 (and it barely made it that far). The Sorento was supposed to be its replacement, because Hyundai-Kia at the time didn't have the cash or the desire (mainly the latter) to completely debut one SUV and completely redesign another (assumably while still selling the vehicles under both badges). But the Sportage name is actually worth a bit - the Sportage is one of the vehicles credited with starting the small SUV craze in this country. So it's good to have it back for Kia.
 
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