There's a temptation, when a new version of a very popular SUV lands, to reach straight for the top-spec version with the panoramic roof, the Harman Kardon 40 speaker HiFi and the 16 way electric seats that heat, cool and probably make you a coffee. So it's worth pausing on the car that most people will actually cross-shop and quietly buy: the Kia Sportage S, in this case fitted with the 2.0-litre turbo-diesel and all-wheel drive.
I took one for what I would call a proper drive from Sydney up to Walcha and back, more than 1,000km all up. That's long enough to get past the metropolitan gloss and find out whether a mid-size SUV is genuinely good or just competent.
TL;DR: the Sportage S is wonderfully simple and puposefully functional, and the turbo-diesel drivetrain is the star of the show. I encourage you to read on, warts and all.
Design & Exterior
The updated for 2027 Sportage carries a fresh front end design. Gone are the boomerang DRLs - replaced with a new headlight cluster and a redrawn daytime running light signature that gives it a broader, more deliberate face. It's a big car for the class in the metal, 4,685mm long and 1,865mm wide, riding on a 2,755mm wheelbase, and it wears those dimensions well. Nothing about it looks fussy or overwrought.
The S rolls on 17-inch alloys wrapped in 235/65 R17 tyres. That's the smallest wheel-and-tyre combo in the range, and I'd argue it's a feature rather than a compromise. Taller tyre sidewalls mean more cushioning, which matters when the road turns bad, and 17s are cheaper to replace. The car I drove wore the optional Vesta Blue, a $600 premium paint, and it's genuinely not unpleasant to look at. Understated, a little bit different, and it suits the shape.
You don't get the flashy detailing of the GT-Line here, no curved display housing on the outside, no fancier lighting, but the S doesn't look like a poverty-spec special either. It looks like a Sportage. That's the point.
Interior & Technology
Inside is where the S earns its keep and also where you feel the price. Let's start with the good. The driving position is very comfortable, and Kia has done something clever with the seats. The driver and front passenger head-rests have an oddly premium, almost Bentley-esque feel to them, the kind of detail you don't expect at this end of the range. Cloth trim throughout is hard-wearing and honest. Very dog and child friendly, although heated front seats would be very welcome in the cooler climates.
The tech is a genuine strong point. Every Sportage, S included, gets a 12.3-inch colour touchscreen with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard, plus multiple USB-C ports front and rear. That combination alone puts it ahead of a lot of rivals that still make you plug in or pay extra. DAB digital radio, Bluetooth and Kia Connect telematics round it out. For a base model, you're not left wanting for connectivity.
Practicality is another tick. Boot space is a generous 543 litres with the rear seats up, expanding to 1,829 litres with them folded. That's family-holiday territory, not just a weekly shop. The 60:40 split-fold rear seat, big door pockets and sensible storage make it easy to live with day to day.
That's all well and good, but the S does lack a few necessities and you should know exactly what. The single-zone climate control has no temperature readout, just a dial with notches. In practice that means the cabin can swing from Turkish prison to igloo with only a couple of clicks, and you spend the first week guessing. It's the kind of cost-saving you feel every single day. A dual-zone system arrives higher up the range, but on the S you're rationing degrees by feel.
The other omission I'd flag is the lack of a forward-view camera. In tight city parking, being able to see what's directly ahead of the nose gives you real confidence, and its absence is noticeable when you're nosing into a Neutral Bay side street with a wall in front of you. Yes - there are plenty of sensors front and rear, but being able to sight and object always beats parking with sonar. Neither of these is a deal-breaker, but they're the reminders that this is the sub-$45k car for a reason.
Performance & Driving Experience
This is the bit that turns the Sportage S from sensible to genuinely compelling. The 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel makes 137kW at 4,000rpm and, more importantly, 416Nm of torque from just 2,000rpm. That torque figure is the whole story. It arrives early, it arrives hard, and it makes the Sportage feel effortless in exactly the situations where mid-size SUVs usually feel strained: overtaking on a country road, climbing a long grade with the family and luggage aboard, merging onto a fast freeway.
Backing it up is an 8-speed torque-converter automatic, and I want to be clear about how much I appreciate a proper conventional auto here. With an old-school T-bar selector, it's smooth, decisive, and it doesn't do the shuddering low-speed nonsense that dual-clutch gearboxes are prone to. The pairing of a torquey diesel and a well-sorted 8-speed is 'trad' in the best way - especially on long, steep descents with a few extra kilos in the boot.
Then there's the efficiency, which is the headline. Kia claims 6.3L/100km combined. Over my 1,000km-plus Sydney-to-Walcha loop I averaged 6.8L/100km, or 14.7km per litre, in real-world mixed driving with a pretty full load in both directions. That's remarkable for a car this size, and with the 54-litre tank it means a genuinely long touring range between fills. This is a car you could drive to the other side of the state without a second thought.
The all-wheel-drive S also gets Kia's Terrain Mode select, and it's better than it has any right to be. On slippery gravel roads it does exactly what you want, keeping revs and traction up while dialling back the ABS so the car doesn't skate helplessly on loose surfaces. I wasn't expecting much from it and came away impressed.
It's not perfect on the road, though. Over a genuinely unloved stretch of tarmac between Stroud and Dungog, the ride turned harsh and busy, the suspension clearly happier with smoother surfaces than the unloved and broken stuff. On the freeway it's the opposite, a docile, quiet, relaxed cruiser. So the ride quality depends a lot on where you point it. Around town and on decent roads it's fine; over really rough country roads it lets some of that harshness through.
Safety
The Sportage carries a 5-star ANCAP rating across the range, so the S doesn't miss out on the fundamentals. Standard kit includes the expected airbag coverage, driver attention warning, and the suite of active systems Kia now fits across the board. You're not trading safety for price here, which is exactly how it should be, and it's a big part of why the base model is such an easy car to recommend to a family buyer.
What I'm also observing from the stable of cars today that aren't Chinese, is that the ADAS system warnings are less tornado-warning, and more gentle reminder. I don't think I had to turn any annoying bing or bong off during my week with the Sportage S.
Value & Verdict
Here's where it all comes together. The Sportage S diesel slots in under $45,000 (a nudge under $50K on the road), and for that you get a genuinely spacious, well-equipped mid-size SUV with a superb drivetrain and Kia's 7-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty. That warranty is worth dwelling on. It's standard across the entire Kia range, and it buys you years of genuine peace of mind that most rivals simply can't match.
The Sportage plays in a brutally competitive space. Mitsubishi, Nissan, Hyundai and Toyota all field strong contenders, and none of them are pushovers. But the S has a specific edge, and it's the diesel. That strong turbo-diesel motor paired with the 8-speed auto delivers a blend of effortless torque and real-world economy that its petrol and hybrid rivals struggle to match on a long haul. If you do serious kilometres, tow occasionally (it's rated to 1,900kg braked), or just want a car that'll cruise all day without drama, this is the pick of the class.
Yes, you make some sacrifices for the entry price. The single-zone climate with no temperature display is a daily irritation, and I'd happily pay a little more for a forward-view camera. The ride can get harsh over really poor surfaces. But none of that undoes the core case: this is a wonderfully simple, very functional SUV that does the important things exceptionally well and costs less than the versions people think they want.
If you were going to buy one Sportage, the base S diesel is the one I'd point you at. It's the sensible choice, and in this case, sensible is also smart.
Get all the details over at kia.com/au/sportage