New Kia Sportage offers 236bhp hybrid for £34,425
One of the UK's best-selling cars, the crossover has been reworked to bring its styling into line with its newer stablemates, such as the Picanto, Sorento and electric EV3.
The new treatment comprises column-like headlights and a blockier grille up front, plus new lights and a more prominent bumper at the rear.
The changes mean it's now slightly longer than previously (at 4540mm compared with 4515mm), but it remains the same height and width and the wheelbase is unchanged (at 1650mm, 1865mm and 2680mm).
Two powertrain options are available. The entry level comprises a turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine that sends 148bhp to the front wheels through a six-speed manual or seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox.
The range-topping hybrid uses the same petrol engine, but here an electric motor is sandwiched between the powerplant and a six-speed automatic gearbox. The set-up combines to send 236bhp through the front wheels, although four-wheel drive (with the same output) can be had too.
The entry-level hybrid is priced from £34,425 – £1790 cheaper than previously – but four-wheel-drive requires a significant step up, to £43,725.
The Sportage's 261bhp plug-in hybrid will not be available initially but it has been confirmed to return to the line-up in due course.
Inside the revised Sportage is a new 12.3in curved infotainment touchscreen running an updated version of Kia's ccNC operating system.
There's also a new two-spoke steering wheel, while the centrally mounted touch panel (for functions such as the climate control) is retained.
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BBC News
34 minutes ago
- BBC News
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Top Gear
an hour ago
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'We're not the taste police': meet Chloe Dowsett, the specialist artist at Rolls-Royce
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Top Gear
an hour ago
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After taking his time to recover from such a tough chapter, Lawson finished a career-best P6 in Austria last weekend and with both him and the immensely likable Hadjar scoring decent points lately, the VCARB satellite is right where the mothership wants it – at the sunnier end of the midfield battle. READ MORE Isack Hadjar's impressive F1 start has surprised his own team But back to that first question: why can't Red Bull find a driver who can get remotely close Verstappen? If any number of hotshoes end up looking like rank amateurs at Red Bull then the culprit must be… the car. Red Bull's cars are typically oversteer-y, making the rear end extremely sensitive. Verstappen has genius-level ability to deal with this type of setup, and make it fast. He might be the only driver in the world who can do it. But if you need a once-in-a-generation talent to make your car work… you're going to get found out, aren't you? Red Bull is arguably facing the music already: it lost Adrian Newey last year and its pace has dived dramatically since. Next year it will build its own engine (with some help from Ford) for the very first time, and you only need to pump 'Honda Alonso GP2' into the YouTube search bar to see how crippling a duff power unit can be. And with Max Verstappen leaving for Mercedes a real possibility, Red Bull could – we repeat, could – genuinely find itself near the back of the grid next year. Which would be some fall from its almost undefeated season in 2023. The team needs some back-up geniuses, and soon. And Peter Bayer, Racing Bulls' CEO, has an idea of where to look. 'One of the things we are currently discussing – and which I know Helmut Marko ultimately is responsible for – is whether we have to extend into the world of karting which, so far, Red Bull has not done strategically. 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