2023 KIA Sportage Comes With Powerful Turbo-Hybrid Engine
2023 KIA Sportage – The Sportage Hybrid offers impressive horsepower and fuel efficiency, encased in a sleek design ready for anything.
The all-new Sportage offers its class-leading second-row legroom and a range of intelligent technologies that inspire confidence.
2023 KIA Sportage
The fifth-generation crossover is planned to land in the United States in the first quarter of 2022.
The 2023 Sportage shares the N3 platform with the Sorento, which uses more heat-stamped parts and ultra-high-strength steel to increase tensile strength and torque stiffness.
There is also more sound absorbing and insulation materials to provide a quieter driving experience.
The Sportage 2023 is available in X-Line, and X-Pro trim levels if you want a more powerful crossover. Both get standard all-wheel drive.
The X-Line has a chrome satin surround for bumpers. There are black pieces of gloss for glass covers, roof racks, and windows.
The roof rack lifts the rails to facilitate the installation of accessories. This trim wears 19-inch alloy wheels.
The X-Pro is even more capable of off-roading. Kia equipped it with 17-inch matte black alloy wheels, clad in B.F. Goodrich all-terrain tires.
LED fog lights, heated windshields, washer nozzles, multi-terrain driving mode with standard settings, sport, intelligence, and snow. A two-tone roof is an option.
Then, there is also an X-Pro Prestige with several other facilities. The trim adds LED projector headlights, ventilated front seats, and an eight-way power-adjustable front passenger seat.
What’s new for 2023?
The redesigned Sportage has a sharper look and a roomier interior thanks to its longer body. The 226-hp hybrid model targets 39 mpg combined with front-wheel drive.
Two new off-road suggestive trim packs add personality to the problem. Still, the interior on the top models can be equipped with a twin 12.3-inch screen under a single glass panel for an unusual futuristic cockpit in the compact crossover class.
Kia clamps down on a new Sportage grille with a vertical DRL that backfires from bumper to fender. Kia ironed the hood folds to the edges, and a layer of tasteful black covers high above the wheel arches down the rocker backwards.
Led taillights bridge the tailgate in one lightbar at the back over a large black panel and a wide rear bumper. The body line is visible at the back to the tapered roofline for a clean, smart profile that looks more like a Subaru than a bold and fun Hyundai Tucson.
Nestled between the small crossover Kia Seltos and the Kia Sorento’s three-row SUV, the Sportage’s most major change comes in the form of a roomier interior.
Here, it raises the stakes on Hyundai’s origami exterior of the Tucson with a 25-inch panoramic glass display of the screen on the dashboard.
Framing the panels is an angled vertical vent that focuses on the center of the cabin. Underneath, a thin board of haptic climate control flanked by a temperature knob completes the dashboard design.
Gear levers and drive mode selectors fill the console, as well as touchpads for climate control and infotainment settings that worry us—at least until we give it a try.
On its North American debut, Kia showed off a more extensive base engine. A 2.5-liter inline-4 would produce 187 hp instead of 181 hp in the outgoing model.
The 8-speed automatic replaces the sluggish 6-speed and promises more efficiency, but we’ll hold the impressions until we drive it.
The Kia Sportage Hybrid uses a 1.6-liter turbo-4 engine and a 6-speed automatic transmission that works with a single motor powered by a 1.49-kWh battery, the same as the Hyundai Tucson Hybrid.
Kia declared an output of 226 hp and a towing capacity of 2,000 lb. The basic version of the LX comes with a front-wheel-drive and a combined estimate of 39 mpg. Optional all-wheel drive became standard on higher EX and SX-Prestige trims.
Kia is planning a Plug-In Hybrid Sportage variant but has yet to reveal details. There is also no indication whether the 240-hp turbo-4 in favor of the S.X. Turbo model will continue.
The front-wheel-drive became standard, but all-wheel-drive models got a ground clearance of 1.5 inches over older models, to 8.3 inches.
The stealth X-Line model gets an off-road partner in two new X-Pro trims. The X-Line models get different bumpers and shiny black side mirrors, roof racks, window coverings, and 19-inch alloy wheels.
The X-Pro adds a level of capability to the X-Line’s appearance package, with BF Goodrich all-terrain tires clad in 17-inch black alloy wheels, LED fog lights, a two-color roof, and a power-cooled front seat available.
The X-Pro comes as standard with all-wheel drive and synthetic leather seats.
The Sportage grew wider, taller, and 7.1 inches longer to 183.5 inches, bringing it to almost Volkswagen Tiguan proportions.
The longer wheelbase opens up the already roomy rear seats into the comfort of a larger SUV with 41.3 inches of rear legroom. The tiered cargo floor carries 39.6 cubic feet of gear, even more than the Volkswagen Tiguan.
2023 KIA Sportage Display
The new Sportage adopts a much more attractive appearance than the previous generation.
Kia’s typical tiger-nose grille is much smaller and sits on a black grille. Drl (daytime running light) boomerang-shaped lights give a distinctive front view.
In profile, the beltline descends on pillar A, then rises as it reaches the back.
2023 KIA Sportage Exterior
On the front of this SUV, a sizeable tiger-nose grille wrapped in black and equipped with boomerang-shaped daytime running LED lights.
It helps accentuate the SUV’s dramatic side, including a black roof available and a chrome beltline that extends up to pillar D. LED rear lights with light bars help ensure the Sportage also stands out from the back.
Depending on the specifications, Kia will offer 17, 18, and 19-inch wheel designs for the 2023 Sportage. Trim levels will vary depending on the market, but Kia has confirmed the SUV will be offered with an X-Line variant, similar to the Sportage X-Line and featuring sturdy bumpers, side sills, and roof racks.
Also available are GT-Line models with bright colors and interiors with black and white surfaces.
2023 KIA Sportage Interior
The interior of the Sportage 2023 takes a big step towards the high-end market.
Buyers can get a curved panoramic display that integrates a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster and a 12.3-inch infotainment screen.
Then, under the center monitor, there’s a touchpad for climate control and audio. The function of the physical button changes depending on whether you want to change the temperature or adjust the volume.
The higher trim level has a modern-looking interior with two large screens: a 12.3-inch digital gauge cluster and a 12.3-inch central infotainment screen.
The basic LX model has a smaller 8.0-inch touchscreen. There is an attractive touch panel under the infotainment screen that controls the radio and HVAC system.
The two physical buttons on either side can change functions depending on displayed, such as a volume button and tuning for audio or a temperature button for climate control.
Driver assistance systems including lane-keep assist and forward-collision warning are standard across the board, but blind-spot alerts and adaptive cruise control are optional.
2023 KIA Sportage Safety
Kia is equipping the new Sportage with a range of safety technologies.
The basic trim already has forward collision avoidance, lane-keeping assist, reverse parking distance warning, driver attention warning, and rear occupant alert.
Optional features include forward collision avoidance, blind-spot collision avoidance, rear cross-traffic collision avoidance, forward parking distance warning, reverse parking collision avoidance, and adaptive cruise control.
Safety features come abundantly with SUVs. These include Kia’s Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) as well as Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist (FCA), Highway Driving Assist (HDA), and Navigation-based Smart Cruise Control (NSCC).
The Sportage also receives the same Remote Smart Parking Assist system as other Kia, Hyundai, and Genesis models.
2023 KIA Sportage Trim Levels
Sportage 2023 will be available in seven trim levels: LX, EX, SX, SX-Prestige, X-Line, X-Pro, and X-Pro Prestige.
The Korean company will announce the Price and specifications of each trim ahead of the launch.
The new Sportage has a wheelbase of 3.4 inches longer than before, and its overall length has increased by 7.1 inches.
This makes for a large cargo area measuring 40 cubic feet with rear seats facing up, which beats its corporate cousins, the Hyundai Tucson and Honda CR-V. The U.S. version has the same headlight settings as the global model we saw earlier this year.
2023 KIA Sportage Engine
Available from the launch is a 1.6-liter four-cylinder TGDI with 177 hp and 195 lb-ft of torque. A turbocharged 2.0-liter diesel engine will also be offered with an impressive 183 hp and 307 lb-ft of torque.
Coupled with the 1.6-liter TGDI is a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, and a six-speed manual will also be offered.
The R2.0-liter diesel comes standard with an 8-speed automatic equipped with a damper-controlled multi-disc torque converter that Kia says improves fuel efficiency by enlarging the locking range.
These eight speeds have also been optimized with the new oil pump.
Kia said that other gasoline and diesel engines were imminent but had not provided details about them. Hybrid powertrains and plug-in hybrids are also available.
Underlying the 2023 Kia Sportage is the automaker’s N3 architecture, making it more capable when off-road.
The SUV has been equipped with an all-new Terrain Mode that automatically adjusts various settings depending on conditions, including snow, mud, and sand.
Comfort, Eco, Sport, and Smart driving modes are also available for road driving. Sportage also features An Electric Control Suspension (ECS) that provides continuous attenuation control in real-time.
Hybrid and plug-in hybrid models will also feature Kia’s high-tech E-Handling system.
2023 KIA Sportage Release date and Price
Kia hasn’t announced a price for the 2023 Sportage, but we expect it to be slightly higher than the current model, which costs between $25,265 and $36,425.
Nonhybrid will go on sale in the U.S. in the first quarter of 2022, with a hybrid likely to follow a few months later.
2023 Kia Sportage Full Details, Features, Interior, and Design
