Kia Sportage Simply Adorable, Rarrrooooom... By Aiman Amir on Jul 27, 2009 - Updated Oct 15, 2011

When we talk about SUVs, first thing that pops up in our minds is a huge vehicle with an enormous engine, which is heavy on gas, difficult to park, terrible in road handling, comes with a stiff ride, and all that after a chunk out of our pockets. Kia has come up with a solution that offers remedy to all of the above mentioned concerns.

I for one am not a SUV type personality. I like cars that offer handling, comfort and a bit of power in an affordable price. Last year when we decided to buy a second car, my husband insisted on getting a SUV. Being tilted towards the handling of a car he convinced me to the smaller sized SUVs. We checked out RAV4, CR-V, Grand Vitara, and Kia Sportage. Most of the options and specifications are about the same in all these four SUVs. The one thing that convinced us to buy a Kia Sportage was its affordable price. We only paid $3500.00 for a 2002 model, through local newspaper ads.

Kia Sportage offers all major options as standard like, power widows, power mirrors, power locks, power & tilt steering, power breaks, AM/FM Radio, CD Player, 4WD, alloy wheels, and A/C. It comes with front air bags and an additional driver's knee air bag. It also offers leather seats and Anti lock break as options.

Sportage is equipped with a 4-Cylender 2.0 Liter engine that delivers approximately 130 hp. Owing to moderate size of the vehicle, its power to gear ratios within the city are quite satisfactory to our standards. Unlike most of the SUVs the turning circle of Kia Sportage is very impressive. It turns just like a car. It is 7.9 inches from the ground that offers significant clearance for off roading. The size of the vehicle also makes it very convenient to drive in the city traffic. It carries all that a SUV has to offer with an advantage of presenting the comfort and handling of a car.

Including, both city and highway, the vehicle now has about 65,000 miles altogether. So far we did not require any major repairs other than the regular maintenance.

Besides all its advantages over its competitors, Kia Sportage does have some drawbacks. The first downside is its smaller sized engine which doesn't offer much acceleration for highway driving or enough torque to do any heavy pulling. Although it has a decent size boot in the back but it doesn't come with any seats in the boot which limits its seating capacity to 5 passengers.

If you are looking for a fulltime SUV with a blend of car like comfort and handling Kia Sportage is your answer. I highly recommend it. Go get it, you wont regret at all.