Media Invite: All-New KIA Sportage Goes Beyond Expectations

Fourth-Generation Sport Sportage Compact SUV Boasts Sophisticated Design, Premium Smart Features and Significant Ride Quality

I loves automobiles so whenever I get to attend a car launch, I always look forward to the reveal. This time round, it is the All-New KIA Sportage! The private event was held at MoCA cafe in 27A Loewen Road.

I was so excited to see the fourth generation of KIA Sportage after looking at the photo boards that depicted every previous generation. It was amazing to see how the styling changed over the years.

Mr Eric Chan, Managing Director of Cycle & Carriage, gave a wonderful speech on the background and new features of the fourth generation of KIA Sportage, before it was revealed to everyone.

Here is the first look of the All-New KIA Sportage in action. Check out the video below.

Take a look at the amazing detailing.

I definitely didn’t miss the chance of taking a photo with the all-new KIA Sportage in white.

Summary Winning Features of the All-New KIA Sportage

New design and advanced technologies for fourth-generation compact SUV
Modern layout and greater refinement for high quality new cabin
Greater passenger comfort with more space and less noise
The safest Sportage yet, with a stronger body and new active safety tech
Smoother, more refined ride and greater handling agility

Inspiring and Aggressive Design

Design ed under the direction of Kia’s President and Chief Design Officer, Peter Schreyer, the all-new Sportage clinched the highly coveted Red Dot Design Awards and prestigious iF Design Award, further reinforcing Kia’s reputation for the highest design standards.

As part of the ongoing collaboration with Twentieth Century Fox and the X- Men movie franchise, Kia created a distinctive second generation X-Car ahead of the X-Men: Apocalypse’s global release. Inspired by the iconic character, Mystic, this exclusive variant of the Kia Sportage mimics the appearance and powers of the bold shape-shifter.

With an exterior that juxtaposes smooth curves with sharp creases, the revised face of the all-new Sportage features the most significant change over the outgoing model alongside with completely new body panels.

The all-new Sportage remains instantly recognizable thanks to its sloping roofline and sharply raked rear window. Longer front overhangs (up by 20 mm) and shorter rear overhangs (reduced by 10 mm) continue to be Sportage signatures, adding to the car’s more raked profile; while a longer, more aerodynamic spoiler and bolder wheel arches give the compact SUV a more dynamic appearance.

Kia’s hallmark “tiger-nose” grille resides in the front fascia while the headlights are positioned higher, sweeping back along the outer edges of the sharply detailed bonnet.

At the rear, the new Sportage features more horizontal forms and clearly defined lines, with smooth bodywork on the tailgate, emphasising the car’s width and giving the compact SUV a stance that exudes stability. Inspired by the 2013 Kia Provo concept, slim combination lamps running along a horizontal parallel are joined by a strip that runs the width of the rear, while the turn signals and reversing lights integrated into the rear bumper to add visual weight to the lower half.

The All-New KIA Sportage in 5 Amazing Colours

Modern Layout and Greater Refinement for High Quality New Cabin

The Sportage boasts an all-new interior, a key improvement over the third-generation car. The focus for the design team behind the new interior was to create a cabin that offered a wide, driver-oriented dashboard, with a simple, modern design.

The interior blends metalwork with soft-touch materials and clearly defined horizontal lines, portraying a high level of attention to details and mechanical precision.

The all-new Sportage’s interior sports higher quality materials with greater use of soft- touch materials, leather and fine stitching to create a well-appointed cabin, surrounding all occupants in an ambience of unprecedented luxury. The result is an interior that majors on refinement and modern sophistication, with greater soundproofing measures adopted to reduce significantly the intrusion of exterior noise.

To further distinguish the all-new Sportage from the outgoing model, horizontal lines are used to emphasise interior width more effectively and deliver an impression of spaciousness and sportiness. The confident lateral design of the dashboard divides it into two clear zones – ‘display’ and ‘control’.

The ‘display’ zone is focused purely on delivering information to occupants in the clearest way possible via the driver’s instrument cluster. Separated by a bold line running the length of the dashboard is the ‘control’ zone, with the central console cascading downwards and tilted 10 degrees towards the driver. The new, uncluttered dashboard now comes standard with a 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Bluetooth connectivity, and offers drivers a highly ergonomic layout that is easy to see and use, even on the move.

Greater Space and Improvement Passenger Comfort

The fourth-generation model is set to be the most practical Sportage yet thanks to increased exterior and interior dimensions, with the vehicle’s development teams realising greater space and comfort for all passengers.

Although the all-new Sportage is as wide as the outgoing model, the luggage area has been widened by 35 mm, with a lowered load lip reducing the lift-over height by 47 mm to 732 mm, to ensure ease of loading heavy items into the car.

The safest Sportage yet – stronger body and a wealth of active safety systems

Safety, as always, is a top priority for Kia, and the all-new Kia Sportage builds on the brand’s reputation for offering the highest standards in occupant and pedestrian crash safety. The fourth-generation of Kia’s best-seller has been engineered to meet the toughest and most demanding crash safety tests, thanks to an even stronger bodyshell, a wide array of passive safety equipment and the latest active safety and autonomous hazard avoidance technologies.

Smoother, more refined ride and greater handling agility

The fully-independent front suspension carries over the format of the outgoing model, but features a range of modifications to make the best use of the new bodyshell. The new setup achieves a leap forward in ride quality, while also delivering sharper handling. Modifications include revised bushing mount positions for greater stability and more natural responses to changing road surfaces, as well as stiffer wheel bearings and bushings resulting in more direct handling and greater stability in all conditions. The steering gearbox is also mounted further forward on the axle for smoother steering inputs.

For the rear suspension – also fully-independent, including the adoption of dual lower- arm multi-link suspension for two-wheel drive models – the new Sportage receives a stiffer cross member to cut road noise and vibrations from intruding into the cabin. Specially-tuned dampers have a longer rebound stroke to eliminate smaller vibrations from poor road surfaces, while the rear subframe is now mounted on isolated bushings to further improve the NVH performance of the suspension. Finally, slight changes to the suspension geometry, as well as stiffer wheel bearings and lateral bushings, quell understeer and allow for more direct handling.

These suspension upgrades, combined with the 40 mm growth in the Sportage’s wheelbase over the outgoing model, provide the all-new model with far superior damping over poor road surfaces, while offering drivers more driving fun through improved handling responses and reduced understeer.

Refined and spirited performance

Every engine in the range is compliant with the latest Euro 5 emission standard, resulting in cleaner exhaust emissions. This has been achieved, not only without compromising on-road performance, but enhancing it.

The fourth-generation model features the “Nu” 2.0L MPi engine with Dual Continuous Variable Valve Timing (DCVVT), delivering 155 PS and 192 Nm of torque. Power is sent to the wheels via a six-speed automatic transmission.

Steering is another area of improvement, engineers mounted the steering box farther forward on the axle for better weight distribution. With 25 percent less friction than the previous unit, the all-new Sportage offers smoother and more precise steering inputs and better feel.

Comfort and convenience

The all-new Sportage debuts an advanced 7.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system that supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The Sportage also features up to two USB charging points, one in the front and an optional one in the rear, to allow occupants to charge their mobile devices on the move.

Other new available features include a rear-view parking camera with dynamic parking lines and a Smart Welcome function, which turns on interior and door handle lamps and unfolds the door mirrors once the smart key fob is located within 1.3-1.7 metres of the door handle.

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Thinking of getting a new car since MAS has eased rules on motor vehicle financing?

Test drive the All-new KIA Sportage right now in KIA Showrooms located at 239 Alexandra Road, Tel: 6427 8888 and 22 Ubo Road 4 Fulco Building, Tel: 6746 2000.

Elaine Heng

Born and based in Singapore, Elaine Heng is an entrepreneur who founded Elaine Heng Image Consultancy and EH Global Group, and the blogger/writer behind www.mselaineheng.com. She goes by @mselaineheng handle for her instagram, twitter and tiktok accounts. She is also a blessed single mommy to two lovely boys, Kaiser Quain Lim and Rayes Luke Lim.

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