Jeep Renegade vs Kia Sportage

What's the difference?

Jeep's Renegade might be late to the mini-SUV party but it comes with a pretty impressive back catalogue to suggest that this is a SUV that can cash the cheques its name can write.

The top of the range Trailhawk can write even bigger cheques than the lower models, bringing with it a range of off-road tech toys to let you really get down and dirty.

An updated Sportage is a big deal for Kia. It's the brand's best-selling model in Australia and around the world, and arguably has never faced more and stiffer competition.

There's a new Mazda CX-5 around the corner, this time with a hybrid, and Toyota has just whipped the covers off its new RAV4. And that's before you mention Hyundai, Volkswagen, Honda or the litany of Chinese newcomers all here for slice of the pie.

Kia tells us this mid-life update is designed to look better, drive better, offer better tech, better safety and better equipment right across a vast range that includes petrol, diesel, hybrid, two-wheel drive, all-wheel drive, turbo and non-turbo alike.

So the question is, is all of that enough to keep the Sportage fresh in the face of all this new competition? Let's go find out.