Up Close With the 2023 Kia Sportage: Bigger Really Is Better
You know that saying, go big or go home? When it comes to the 2023 Kia Sportage, Kia won’t be going home anytime soon. The South Korean automaker redesigned its bestselling compact SUV for the first time since 2017, and the results I saw on the floor of the 2021 Los Angeles Auto Show are impressive.
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Out front, the Sportage’s styling is reminiscent of its sibling, the Kia K5 sedan, but the SUV goes bolder, with a larger grille that’s offset by eye-catching LED daytime running lights. Kia calls them boomerang-shaped, but they remind me of arrows that point forward. There’s subtle side creasing that conveys a sense of motion, and the SUV’s rear has several ridges that give the tailgate some style.
In addition to the standout styling, Kia went bigger — literally — by increasing the 2023 Sportage’s overall length by 7.1 inches to 183.5 inches, and the wheelbase went up by 3.4 inches to 108.5. These specs are now longer than its bestselling rival, the 2021 Toyota RAV4, which features a 105.9-inch wheelbase and 180.9 inches in length in LE, XLE, XLE Premium and Limited trims. The 2022 Honda CR-V is a little closer in size to its rival, meanwhile, with a 104.8-inch wheelbase in front-wheel-drive guise and 182.1 inches in length.
A bigger Sportage is a boon for occupants, with the interior seeming cavernous, especially in the backseat and cargo area. I jumped into the newly announced 2023 Sportage Hybrid to test it out at the show. Front legroom remains the same as the previous generation at 41.4 inches. The driver is treated to a curved digital display with a 12.3-inch gauge cluster and 12.3-inch multimedia display, but I was unable to test both that and the touch-sensitive climate controls because the car was off and no one could find the key. Awkward.
While front legroom remains the same, rear legroom increases 3.1 inches. With the driver’s seat adjusted for a 5-foot-11 person, who nicely shared their height with me when asked, I, at 5 feet, 7 inches, had a ridiculous amount of space, and the seats were comfortable. I could easily cross my legs without any issue.
The Sportage’s massive cargo area could easily compete with those of mid-size SUVs. The Sportage has 39.6 cubic feet of cargo space, while the mid-size Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport’s cargo area has 40.3 cubic feet. Of course, these are the automakers’ numbers; we’ll determine the true size of the Sportage’s cargo area using Cars.com’s independent measurements, but eyeballing it, it’s clear the Sportage has made a big leap forward.
One last thing that got bigger is the number of trims. The 2023 Sportage can be had in LX, EX, SX, SX Prestige, X-Line, X-Pro and X-Pro Prestige variants, as well as the 2023 Sportage Hybrid, which has three trims: the LX, EX and SX-Prestige.
I served as a judge in Cars.com’s most recent compact SUV comparison that evaluated six nameplates, and the 2023 Sportage would give its classmates a real challenge. We look forward to evaluating both the Sportage and Sportage Hybrid in the coming months.
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