THE UPGRADE KIA Sportage has arrived in Ireland with a starting price of €29,495.
The new model pairs an updated exterior and interior design with new safety and infotainment technologies.
The refreshed exterior design includes new front and rear bumpers, as well as redesigned front and rear lights and new 16, 17 and 19-inch alloy wheel designs. Options include chrome sill trim and metallic skid plates, and five new paint colours.
GT-Line models are equipped with a gloss black hot-stamped radiator grille, a gloss black and silver skid plate, and dark chrome inserts on the side sills and rear tailgate. The GT-Line’s unique 19-inch alloy wheels have been redesigned, and all models are fitted with a dual exhaust rear valance and revised ‘ice cube’ LED fog lamp designs.
The cabin features a new steering wheel and revised instrument cluster, as well as new black-and-grey two-tone upholstery. GT-Line models are available with new black-and-grey two-tone leather seats, or optional black leather with red accents. There is a seven-inch touchscreen as standard or new ‘frameless’ eight-inch infotainment system.
On the engine front, a 1.6-litre turbocharged diesel unit called the ‘U3′ replaces the old 1.7-litre common-rail direct injection (CRDi) engine. The U3 engine is available in power outputs of 115hp and 136hp. The Sportage gets a Idle Stop & Go (ISG) technology, a six-speed manual gearbox and front-wheel drive setup as standard but the higher powered models are available with the option of all-wheel drive and a seven-speed double-clutch transmission.
Every Sportage is equipped as standard with Kia’s Vehicle Stability Management (VSM), which maximises stability when braking and cornering by controlling the car’s Electronic Stability Control (ESC) if it detects a loss of traction.
Driver assist technologies available in the Sportage include Smart Cruise Control with Stop & Go, and Driver Attention Warning, to combat fatigue and inattentiveness at the wheel. There’s also Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist, Lane Keeping Assist, High Beam Assist, Intelligent Speed Limit Warning and Blind-Spot Collision Warning.
More than 3,066 Sportage models were sold in Ireland in 2017, representing a quarter of Kia’s total Irish sales. One Sportage was sold every 69 seconds globally in 2017, making it Kia’s international best-seller. The five-millionth Sportage was built in March 2018, three months into the car’s 25th year on sale, following its introduction in 1993.
The Kia Sportage is on sale now starting from €29,450 and rising to €35,995 for the GT Line model.
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