Another in a series of my reviews that appeared in the online version of African Americans On Wheels, a now defunct automotive magazine that was included as an insert in the Sunday newspapers of major cities.
This was the review where I’d finally started to “get it.” After submitting, I received this e-mail from my editor:
This is a nice CARmentary. Adam, you have shown tremendous improvement in your writing and inclusion of information. If you notice, on this one and the Miata [Thursday’s Classic CARmentary], I am allowing more of your voice to come through, as I think you are getting the rhythm and flow of information that needs to be included. Both this review and the Miata required minimum attention on my part.
Needless to say, I was touched.
In case you have forgotten, the first Sportage was pure Kia. Even though 1998 was when Hyundai took control of Kia, it was several years before product development was integrated and the Sportage became a Tucson with different threads. While I loved the look of the Sportage, that’s really as far as it went. A friend of ours was enamored with it during this week, and I tried to tell her how terrible it was. “But it’s soooo cute!!!!” Fortunately, she didn’t buy one.
Below is the version that ran on June 8, 1998.
Here it is folks: the least expensive four-door, four-wheel drive sport-utility vehicle sold in the U.S. Although $19,529 for an almost fully-loaded SUV may seem like a great buy in a field where the average price is closer to $30,000, there are sacrifices for your savings.
Not that there isn’t a lot that’s good here. The Sportage is one of the cutest mini-SUV’s although it has a more muscular profile than the competing Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, Suzuki Sidekick and Subaru Forester. The Sportage’s garnet red paint, body-colored grill, chrome wheels and trunk-mounted spare drew positive looks.
As it is four inches shorter than a Toyota Corolla, maneuverability is superior to its larger cousins. This, combined with supportive seats (with lumbar support) and tilt-adjustable steering wheel makes it easy to find a comfortable driving position. But, again, there are sacrifices: the look of the dash, the feel of the controls and the tinny-sounding stereo system are reminiscent of “early Hyundai.” The horn seems better suited for a tricycle. And the 2.0 liter engine is overwhelmed by the 3,000-plus pound Sportage, especially when combined with the four-speed automatic transmission, as in our test vehicle. At highway speeds, passing is difficult and merging becomes a white-knuckle test of timing. Stick with the standard five-speed manual and avoid the automatic at all costs. As in most vehicles in this class, the ride is relatively rough and corners should be taken slowly.
Since most of its competition are based on car platforms, the Sportage is one of the few mini-SUVs that is a true light truck, with body-on-frame construction (as opposed to unibody) and a low-range for serious off-roading. Its four-wheel drive system is part-time, with shift-on-the-fly capability using a small lever behind the gearshift.
Rear passengers will be wanting for more legroom, but the Sportage makes up for it in headroom. The rear seat folds down and forward, expanding to an impressive 55.4 cubic-feet of cargo room. Safety-wise, the Sportage has anti-lock brakes, dual front airbags, and an airbag for the driver’s knees.
All-in-all, though this cute little sport-ute means some sacrifices, it does offer a few rewards.
For more information contact 1-800-333-4KIA
SPECIFICATIONS
Type: 5-Door Sport-Utility Vehicle
Engine: 130- horsepower, 2.0 liter inline 4
Transmission: 4-Speed Automatic
EPA Mileage: 19 city/23 highway
Tested Price: $19,529
This arrived at a time when the market wanted larger and heavier vehicles, and all KIA had were vehicles that were appropriate for the engine, transmission and frame for a smaller vehicle. So, KIA beefed up their offerings but didn’t beef up what made the vehicle move.
So, you had to have a manual transmission to get the undersized engine revved up to the right speeds. Worse, most Americans wanted the automatic transmission, which was never optimal for the engine of these early KIA vehicles. What was great about the early KIAs were offset by the newer heavier bodies. Performance was pretty bad, as was fuel economy.
I agree, it is a cute vehicle, and one of the poorest performers.
When these were new, I test drove one, but it was the stripper 2WD version with a sticker of about $16k, if I remember right. The sales guy let me take it for a drive without him. After just a couple blocks, I realized there was a loud wind noise near my left ear.
I took a look, and noticed that the driver door was so horribly misaligned that I could see half an inch of daylight where the door seal should have been meeting the jamb. Just to be sure, I opened and re-closed the door. The gap was still there. In the pre-merger days, KIA was weak on quality and quality control.
Nice write-up. I recently shot a couple of these that are still around and was intending to write them up one of these days. The Sportage was a bit of a pioneer in its day.
There’s a lot of Mazda in these: It was based on the platform of the Bongo van, and used the Mazda DOHC four as also used in Mazda cars and trucks. And a version for Europe was built by Karmann in Germany, where it was quite well received. I remember reading a quite positive review of it in Auto, Motor und Sport.
So did you push the gas pedal down hard enough when driving the automatic? Whenever folks rant about how slow an automatic version is compared to a stick, I always wonder if they realize that driving a small-engine automatic does require putting the spurs to it.
Thanks Paul. I’m going to say that since I grew up on small cars with small engines, I’ve no compunction about flooring the accelerator. I tried to find an old Sportage review with performance specs, but came up empty. I did find this old Motorweek review, and it took their 5-speed tester 11.8 seconds to hit 60, so add a couple of seconds to that for the auto. Still doesn’t put it in “terrible” territory by the numbers. Maybe it was the gearing?
This is the ancestor to the car a friend bought new last year, hers is rather nice lots of kit and ok to ride in, Ive seen a few of the older Sportages around in all sorts of conditions from nicely kept to beat to death, I guess once you work out where they got all the various parts from its easy to keep one alive.
My most vivid memory of this specific Sportage was my Army unit managed to get hold of one in Iraq in 2003. We weren’t hard on it but, nonetheless, it wasn’t long before one of the front suspension pieces broke (tie rod?) and, despite the best efforts to get it fixed locally, it was eventually abandoned.
These didn’t seem to persist long in the snow belt. I remember them as one of the first Kias to really get (4WD) traction but they seemed to disappear fast and with lots of surface rust
Thank you for the write-up on this quirky Kia. Some folks in Oregon like these vehicles due to their off-road ability and I like seeing them out and about. Sometimes I’m tempted to buy one.
Had 2 co-workers with these a couple of years ago, hardly ever see them these days.
I still see a number of these around; they seem to have actually outlasted similar Suzuki Sidekick/Vitara’s and Trackers here. I still think the first-gen 4 door Sidekick, with the optional 2.0 engine from the later years, would be my choice in this class.
Nice review, and I recognize that photo, taken by IIHS! The Sportage didn’t do very well in the moderate overlap crash test, earning only a marginal rating (no other tests were performed that far back). Pohanka is still in business today (see front license plate), a large dealership chain in the metro Washington, DC area.
Yeah, I couldn’t find a good manufacturer photo that was big enough to use.
That’s funny that it’s an IIHS photo… I noticed the Pohanka front plate (actually I noted the yellow Virginia inspection sticker first) and assumed that the picture was a sales photo from the dealership itself. It’s amusing that IIHS didn’t remove the dealer’s plate beforehand.
At least it’s the “before” picture… 😃
Very few of these left now, unlike their main rival in this market, which was the Suzuki Grand Vitara. It always amazes me how far Kia has come since the days when they made this and the Sephia. I figured it would have been based on a Mazda product, thanks for confirming that.
Speaking of the Miata, the engine in these is the Mazda DOHC four as used in the Miata.
I’m enjoying reading both your prologues and the articles themselves, Adam.
I remember when these first came out (sold alongside the Kia Sephia). The Sportage seemed like it was everywhere in Florida, and then nowhere just as quickly. There’s one on my block here in Chicago, and whenever I see it, it reminds me of just how few of these there seem to be left.
I never really cared for its model name. It was up there (“down there”?) with Hyundai “S’Coupe” as being just a bit too precious or pretentious for what it actually was.
An ex that gave me my first real taste of heartbreak traded a Jeep Wrangler for a new Sportage in the mid-’90s. I suppose that regardless of the Sportage’s actual merits, I was never going to really like them, even if they had been great.
We had a neighbor that purchased one when they were new. I suppose the price was right and it seemed to last, or at least it never got towed unlike her old car. For driving around the Bay Area it seemed to be fairly durable. I still see a steady stream of them in the junkyards out here now, which means they sold in pretty good numbers and since they keep coming in, that must mean that there are still plenty out there in the wild. Never one of my own favorites when they were new, I can certainly respect them in hindsight for their apparent longevity – back in the late 90’s, KIA was a different brand than it is nowadays, selling almost exclusively on price. Great little review, too!
These sold well in the midwest. The first person I knew with one was a secretary from a former office whom I had lost touch with, saw by chance in a McDonalds one day, which led to my hiring her.
She had divorced and was driving some horrible car before buying one of these from her daughter. I never heard any complaints about it, and she seemed to like it.
Kia was challenging to like in its early days here.
I Luke KIA. We not an off lease one way back. A 2007 model. It now has 345000 kms and runs well…no rust. In the rust belt. Other than brake and suspension work 70000 kms ago…and the ac pump went 20000 kms ago. And I trailer a 17 camper with it. Its been a great great van for us. The 3.8 is long lived and no trans issues.
My brother bought one of these new in spring of ’98 (5 speed,thankfully). Had company cars at the time so he managed to put a mere 21K on the clock in 18 years of ownership. Sold it to a friend of mine for peanuts, who has managed to more than double the mileage. Problems? cracked plastic radiator tank (rads are dirt cheap for these) and one broken automatic locking hub-replaced with Warn manual hubs.
I had one of these back in 2013 or so, it was the 2WD two door soft top version in a sort of lavender color. I was in need of a car, any car and I believe I paid $475 for it. It was missing the top and had peeling clear coat but never gave any problems in the few months I owned it. I still remember the engine sound, it was a very loud roar just like a truck presumably from the driven fan. hauled a huge orange IKEA couch one day with it and it was quite the sight.
I sold it for $1400 if I recall. It wasn’t awful as far as cheap automobiles go – I’d rank it at or slightly above Mitsubishi’s late 90’s offerings when they really let quality go.