2021 Kia Sportage review

2021 Kia Sportage review

The 2021 Kia Sportage is a two-row compact SUV with seating for five, competing against the likes of the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4. The front and rear seats are plenty roomy, but both engines are weaker than the competition and neither offers competitive fuel economy. Some features, like cooled seats on the top-tier SX Turbo trim, help the Sportage stand out from competitors.

The 2021 Sportage is offered in four trims: the base LX, the S (adds synthetic leather upholstery), the EX (includes heated front seats and a power-adjustable driver's seat), and the top-trim SX Turbo (more powerful engine, cooled front seats). The top-level SX Turbo trim also includes desirable driver aids like adaptive cruise control along with front and rear parking sensors.

Check out the full review to see if the 2021 Kia Sportage is right for you.

• Technology

• Comfort

• Cargo and storage

• Ease of use

• Driving

What tech does the 2021 Kia Sportage have?

Connectivity

Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are both standard features. The base LX trim comes with a single USB-A port up front—to get a rear USB port, you need to upgrade to the second-from-top EX trim. An available EX Technology package also adds a wireless charging pad to the area underneath the stereo. The standard audio system is good, but the upgraded system you get with the EX Technology package is excellent. Everything in the EX Technology package is also included on top-of-the-line SX Turbo trim Sportages.

Infotainment

The eight-inch touchscreen is easy to use, as is the built-in navigation system. The navigation system only comes on the top-of-the-line SX Turbo trim or models equipped with the EX Technology package. Voice commands do not work consistently; if you're frustrated using Siri, you're unlikely to be impressed with this system.

Driver-assist tech

The base Kia Sportage comes with a handful of useful driver aids, including lane keeping assistance and forward collision mitigation. The Technology package adds adaptive cruise control to EX trims, and it's standard on the top-tier SX Turbo trim. These systems work well, with the exception of the lane keeping assistance, which struggles to keep track of painted lines on highways.

How comfortable is the 2021 Kia Sportage?

Front seating

The Sportage's front seats are comfortable and offer a lot of adjustments, making it easy to find a seating position that suits you. EX trim Sportages and above have heated seats, while Sportages equipped with the EX Technology package and SX Turbo trims boast cooled seats. Cooled seats remain a rare find on mainstream vehicles, but especially so on vehicles from these years (2017-22).

Rear seating

The rear seats are comfortable, and while headroom and legroom lag behind the Honda CR-V ever so slightly, most passengers are unlikely to feel cramped. The rear seats fold in a 60/40 split, allowing for a compromise between rear passenger seating and extended storage capabilities.

Ride quality and interior noise

The Sportage keeps most outside noise outside of the vehicle, but in our partner Edmunds' testing we noticed quite a bit of tire noise at freeway speeds. The ride quality is composed around town, with the Sportage able to tackle small bumps and potholes. At higher speeds, the Sportage's ride is firmer, and hitting big bumps can make the SUV feel floaty as it resettles itself.

Does the 2021 Kia Sportage have good storage?

Cargo 

The Kia Sportage holds 60.1 cubic feet of cargo with the rear seat folded down. That's quite a bit less than vehicles like the Honda CR-V (75.8 cubic feet) and Nissan Rogue (up to 74.1 cubic feet), but it will still be enough for most families. With all the seats up, the Sportage offers 30.7  cubic feet of storage—that's about the same size as what you might fit in a large refrigerator. 

Storage

There's a generous phone cubby underneath the stereo, but otherwise small-item storage is lacking in the Sportage. The center console is on the small side, and the door bins are too narrow to fit things like reusable water bottles.

How easy is the 2021 Kia Sportage to use?

Entry, exit, and car seats

The doors of the Kia Sportage open wide, making it easy to get in and out of this SUV. Its ride height also makes it easier to slide in and out of the front seats, rather than needing to step up or hunch over to get in and out. The rear seats recline (though not a lot) and LATCH anchors are easy to find and use. 

Interior layout and visibility

The controls on the Sportage are easy to find and use, whether they be physical buttons or icons on the touchscreen. The backup camera's resolution is on the low side, and rear visibility isn't very good, which can make backing out of spaces challenging, especially in dimly lit areas.

What’s the 2021 Kia Sportage like to drive?

Driving

The Kia Sportage is perfectly competent going from stoplight to stoplight. City driving, in general, is a strength of this small SUV; handling is responsive and the ride comfortable. Getting up to highway speeds is a different story. In Edmunds' testing, the Sportage with the upgraded turbocharged engine took a whopping 9 seconds to get to 60 mph, which is quite slow compared to the competition. The standard engine is not markedly slower, but you'll need to plan your passes well and exhibit some patience while merging onto highways no matter the engine equipped. 

Fuel economy

In Edmunds' testing, the Kia Sportage returned a disappointing 20.6 mpg in combined driving, close to the EPA estimate of 21 mpg for the all-wheel-drive model. The front-wheel-drive Sportage with the base engine gets an EPA-estimated 26 mpg. That's poor when the competition boasts combined EPA estimates of up to 30 mpg.

EPA fuel economy estimates