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That old saying, “There’s a new kid on the block,” generally refers to some plug-ugly terror only loved by his mother.

In the case of the new Kia (pronounced kee-ah), the new kid is the 1998 Kia, a Korean-built import that consists of a solid set of wheels.

The Kia line consists of the Sephia compact sedan, Sportage sport utility vehicle, and Sportage convertible models. The emphasis is on vehicles that range from low cost of under $10,000 to a fairly high buck proposition like the Sportage EX 4X4 that stickers at a base of $18,495.

When an automatic transmission, rear spoiler, carpeted floor mats and freight was added to the EX 4X4 that Jim Webb, general manager of Butler Kia, provided for a test vehicle, the bottom line was $20,203.

Not exactly your inexpensive Korean runabout, but in return the EX contained almost all of the comfort and convenience features found in high grade sport utes.

No matter how you approach it, a sport utility vehicle – anybody’s – looks like a sport utility vehicle. Said holds true for the Sportage, but on balance it’s a nicely styled compact.

The lines have a rounded aerodynamic flavor to them. There is a maximum area of curving glass. Body cladding and trim set off the styling.

Not too easy a job on something that has an overall length of 170.3 inches, and you have to include the outside spare tire to get that. Wheelbase is a sports car length of 104.3 inches.

Packed in between those dimensions is seating for five, and when you fold the split rear seats forward cargo space is over 55 cubic feet.

The Sportage was a compact, easy to drive package, especially with the optional four-speed automatic on board. The four-speed was a $1,000 item, but it took away all the work needed to operate the vehicle with a standard manual five-speed.

The four-speed was a $1,000 item, but it took away all the work needed to operate the vehicle with a standard manual five-speed.

For urban and suburban use, two-wheel drive is recommended. The EX trotted right along without fuss or bother. The ride on good pavement was about commensurate with small sport utes. With its short wheelbase and strong suspension to accommodate off-road motoring, there was a little rock to the ride, but that’s to be expected with this type vehicle.

A guess is that most of the Sportages will see short distant suburban use, with occasional forays off-road.

Leaving the pavement onto uncharted territory calls for four-wheel drive to be engaged. A second shift lever puts the Sportage in all-wheel mode and takes it back out. There is a High-Low gear selection.

Towing capacity is rated at 2,000 pounds, payload capacity 800 pounds. This lets the vehicle operate in the realm of towing small boats, things of that nature.

There wasn’t a whole lot more to do with the EX except steer. There was a plethora of power accessories, so in effect it almost drove itself.

The Sportage is powered by a relatively high tech, 16-valve double overhead cam, 2 .0-liter (121.9 cubic inch) four-cylinder engine. Power is a quite respectable 130-horsepower, which is quite sprightly for 122 inches in a sport ute. However, with 127 foot-pounds of torque it was no barn-burner on acceleration.

In full throttle passing maneuvers, the motor sounded pretty busy. But you could duck in and out of traffic quickly, as the steering was positive and online.

The EX possesses a new four gauge instrument panel and a tilt steering wheel that lets a variety of drivers find a comfortable driving position.

The instrument panel gauges were big enough, but under some daytime light conditions would fade out to a degree.

The gauge numerals were white on a black background, and I’d say they could use a little whiter shade of white.

A delight was a couple of cupholders that sprang put of the instrument panel just to the upper right of the steering wheel. No need to grope down low to get to these.

Also of ease to operate was the swing away spare tire car rier that permitted access to the rear door. When locked in position, however, the tire intruded slightly into the vision out the rear window.

There were a couple of minor items I would like to see changed in a $20,000 sport ute. There was no night light on the floor and no light on the vanity mirror.

In exchange for these there was a first for Kia’s sport ute, a knee airbag. And gas mileage is 19 city /23 highway.

In addition to Butler it is represented by Ray Skillman and Tom Wood.