Kia Sportage 2005 review

It has been unveiled without the usual pomp or ceremony.

Which is a shame, because the five-door AWD that sells at a highly respectable $31,990 driveaway, is quite a good car.

It bears more than a passing resemblance to Hyundai's new Tucson, which has won wide praise, because it is in fact built off the same platform. Looks are important and at first glance the compact off-roader (that is highly likely to spend most of its time on-road) has a bold front.

I am still undecided, however, about its rear. The car just seems to end, with a rather small side window panel, rather than boast a striking finish.

The 2.7-litre V6 engine produces 129kW@6000 rpm and has a 241Nm maximum torque at 4000rpm.

This is plenty of power for handling Sydney's highways and by-ways.

On this test, which amounted to more than 700km in just over a week, the car showed off its power with a trip to Katoomba and back.

Climbing up the hilly roads of the Blue Mountains it has plenty in reserve.

The handling is good, even for a car where you sit high above the road.

Under acceleration the engine note is clearly heard however, thanks to work on improving sound insulation, road noise reduction is improved from the previous model.

Gear shifting is achieved with a four-speed automatic transmission with tiptronic-style manual gear selection available.

At first the gear lever seemed very light and almost flimsy.

However it was just a case of getting used to its movement. You can also manually select the 4WD mode.

Inside there is no shortage of room for the front row and for the rear seat passengers.

Kia claims it is class-leading in this regard,

The test car's black interior was off-set by metal lining around the dash area.

And it is inside the car that Kia's appeal to the modern versatile lifestyle shows off.

There is a hook at the front for a shopping bag while net bags are on the back of both front seats. And the front passenger seat can be folded down to become a table.

It's similar in the rear.

There are two options to open the hatch. One flips open the rear glass window, the other lifts the entire hatch.

Inside are several hooks that are perfect for shopping bags, although not completely suitable for the modern green supermarket reusable bags with their wider handles.

There is also under-floor storage beneath the boot. Up front the dashboard display area is clean and everything is within easy reach.

Again as a service to modern motoring, the 50km/h level on the speedo, the common speed limit in most suburban areas, is marked by a red line. Options are fairly limited on such a price-conscious car.

Metallic and mica paint adds $190 to the driveaway price while adding an electric sunroof and electric seats will set you back $2800.

The Sportage enters a very competitive market already the domain of proven vehicles such as the Honda CR-V, Toyota Rav4 and the Nissan X-Trail.

They are all priced the same as the Sportage, although the Kia benefits from having a driveway price which eliminates the dealer delivery charges the others incur.

The Kia and the Tucson have larger engines and claim more interior space.

Whether the Sportage can succeed could clearly come down to individual preference.