When Kia introduced the world to its redesigned-for-2017 Sportage crossover, it did so at the 2015 Frankfurt auto show, and didn’t really get into the U.S.-market specifics of the new Sportage. At the L.A. auto show, Kia breaks its silence, and has outlined everything from the compact crossover’s trim levels and features to its two available engines.
As expected, Kia doesn’t change the Sportage’s dimensions or its styling for the U.S. version. Depending on what you think of the Sportage’s front-end look, that is either a good thing or a not-so-good thing. No matter. The interior certainly is slick, and it’s available in either black or two-tone black and beige.
Three trim levels will be offered, starting with the LX and moving up to the EX and top-flight SX Turbo. LX models come standard with a 5.0-inch touch screen, SiriusXM satellite radio, Bluetooth, a backup camera, a 160-watt audio system, and a 181-hp 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine. The EX keeps the naturally aspirated 2.4-liter, but adds leather upholstery and a Kia’s all-new UVO3 touch-screen infotainment system. According to Kia, the Sportage will be the first vehicle with UVO3, which includes a 7.0-inch touch screen equipped with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay phone-mirroring, 8 GB of built-in music storage, and wifi tethering capability.
The SX turbo muscles up with a turbocharged 2.0-liter making 241 horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque. Opting for the SX Turbo also nets an 8.0-inch touch-screen, navigation, satin-silver exterior trim, “metal-look” skidplates, 19-inch wheels, LED taillights, HID headlights, and Kia’s newest signature design element, “ice cube” quad-element LED fog lamps. Kia also equips the SX Turbo with a heated, leather-wrapped flat-bottom steering wheel, paddle shifters, aluminum-trimmed pedals, and piano-black interior trim.
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As is customary these days, the Sportage gains a plethora of active and passive safety features, including automatic emergency braking, blind-spot monitoring, a lane-departure warning system, and rear cross-traffic alert. Kia may have broken its silence on the Sportage’s U.S.-market particulars, but it remains coy about the crossover’s pricing, promising only that MSRPs will come out closer to the on-sale date next year.
