Kia Sportage GT-Line petrol 2025 Review

Following its mid-life update earlier this year, there are now four GT-Line variants for people to choose from, spanning turbo-petrol, turbo-diesel, and turbo-hybrid propulsion systems.

The cheapest of the quartet is the subject of this review, the 2025 Kia Sportage GT-Line petrol, which retails from $54,490 plus on-road costs (ORCs). That figure grows to $56,400 if you want the all-paw diesel, $57,370 for a two-wheel-drive hybrid and $60,370 for the flagship Hybrid all-wheel-drive (AWD).

Crucially though, the petrol has been subject to the biggest price increase over the previous version, and indeed the entire Sportage portfolio: $4070.

Why? Because Kia has finally got the memo that its seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission sucks at anything that’s not open road driving and binned it in favour of the turbo-diesel’s eight-speed torque converter.

There are also several new additions to the GT-Line’s kit list the lesser SX+ 1.6T AWD misses out on, hence the latter’s smaller $3030 price increase.

In short, a lot.

The 2025 Kia Sportage GT-Line petrol sits on black 19-inch alloys wheels, dons a GT-Line-exclusive body kit, heated, cooled and power-adjustable front seats with memory function for the driver, a heated two-spoke steering wheel, 64-colour ambient interior lighting, a rotary gear selector, panoramic roof, dual-zone climate control, leather upholstery and a powered tailgate – just to name the headline acts.

As usual for a modern Kia, the Sportage GT-Line petrol is backed by a seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty, plus a seven-year capped-price servicing program. However, its 10,000km/12-month service intervals (whichever comes first) are starting to look less competitive against some newer rivals.

Service costs range from $353 to $796 depending on the interval, totalling $4017 across the first seven years of ownership and averaging out to $574 per visit.

Very – the 2025 Kia Sportage GT-Line petrol carries a five-star rating from the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP) from 2022, thanks to its extensive suite of active and passive safety features and eight airbags.

Headline inclusions comprise autonomous emergency braking with cyclist and pedestrian detection, rear cross-traffic alert, adaptive cruise control, lane departure warning, lane-keeping and centring assists, blind-spot monitoring with view monitor, 360-degree surround-view cameras, front and rear parking sensors, trailer sway control, and hill descent control.

The new model also comes with the Hyundai Group’s irritating intelligent speed limit assist which shouts at you if you stray 1km/h over the posted speed limit, but happily, it can be silenced via a long hold of the mute button on the steering wheel.

While we’re complaining, the lane-keeping system is still a bit overbearing in its supervision and gruff in execution for our liking – but it works.

Again, being the flagship trim, there’s a lot.

The most obvious piece of technology in the 2025 Kia Sportage GT-Line petrol is its dual-screen panoramic display, which combines a 12.3-inch infotainment system with a matching 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster that can be lightly customised for layout and colour.

The infotainment system is Kia’s latest ‘connected car Navigation Cockpit’ (ccNc) unit which, among other subtle enhancements, finally allows models with native satellite navigation to come with wireless smartphone mirroring as well.

During our week with the Sportage, the system worked flawlessly – apart from a slight lag in CarPlay when the connected iPhone got a bit warm wirelessly charging and projecting in the sun.

The infotainment system plays through an eight-speaker Harman Kardon sound system while the interior is jazzed up at night by the 64-colour ambient lighting suite.

New for 2025 is a colour head-up display that adds a touch premiumness and convenience – plus a safety boost, as it helps keep your eyes on the road.

As with the previous version, the 2025 Kia Sportage GT-Line petrol is powered by a turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine outputting 132kW of power and 265Nm of torque.

It’s still exclusively offered with all-wheel drive, but as mentioned above, is now paired with an eight-speed torque converter automatic transmission instead of the ancient but good-for-efficiency seven-speed dual-clutch.

Why Kia didn’t take the opportunity to upgrade the Sportage to the pokier 146kW version of this ‘SmartStream’ engine in tandem with the new transmission is simply beyond us – the smaller and cheaper Seltos AWD has been using this combination to great effect for years.

According to the brand’s local product team, this wasn’t an Australian decision – the more powerful engine supposedly isn’t available for the Sportage at a factory level, which is a ludicrous oversight by global product planners.

Kia Australia claims a combined fuel consumption figure of 7.5L/100km for the 2025 Kia Sportage GT-Line petrol – a 0.3L/100km increase over the 2024 equivalent.

The key difference lies in their transmissions – dual-clutch systems typically deliver better fuel efficiency than torque converters thanks to a more direct and efficient power transfer from the engine to the wheels.

Still, 7.5L/100km is nothing to be scoffed at in the context of internal combustion (ICE) medium SUVs, and the Sportage does a respectable job of matching its claimed figure. In town it’ll easily be into the nines while extended open road runs can comfortably see it drop into the low sixes – even the high fives with a tailwind.

The Sportage has long been the benchmark in the mainstream medium SUV segment, and for good reason; it’s comfortable, well-built, practical, good value, backed by a competitive aftersales program, safe, and relatively agile.

If there was ever a blemish on its scorecard, it was the 1.6 turbo’s seven-speed transmission, which bordered on hateful at low speeds and still carries a chequered reputation for reliability.

Easily the biggest and most meaningful upgrade to the 2025 Kia Sportage GT-Line petrol (and the lower SX+ AWD) is the addition of the diesel’s eight-speed torque converter which has done wonders for how this powertrain operates.

Gone are the low-speed shudders, jerks, lumpy changes, laggy drive and reverse-selection quirks, plus all the other foibles – you can finally just focus on driving without thinking or worrying about the car.

The new transmission is smooth, smart, and sophisticated, and generally speaking, a great match for the 1.6-litre engine in most environments and applications – save for outright performance.

Dual-clutch transmissions are direct drive, like a manual, meaning they send the engine’s power and torque to the wheels more efficiently – with fewer drivetrain losses – which in turn yields more tractable performance.

The average consumer won’t notice or care about such trivial matters seeing as the turbo-petrol Sportage still picks up its frock and gets a wriggle on when asked to, but come time for an overtake of extended hill climb, it can feel like you’re missing out on a bit of extra mid-range compared to the old model.

And there’s not much to gain from revving the little mill all the way out, since its trump card over most of its (more powerful) competitors is that torquey turbo mid-range. If only Kia had opted for the spicier 146kW engine…

Still, we’re nitpicking here; the eight-speed automatic is so much better than the old seven-speed dual-clutch across most applications that we can now wholeheartedly recommend the 1.6-litre powertrain alongside the stunning turbo-diesel and the peppy, albeit pricier, hybrid.

No changes were made to the ICE Sportage’s suspension settings as part of the facelift, meaning you still get one of the segment’s best, if subtly athletic, ride-handling balance, and we’re pleased to confirm the new localised steering tune feels much nicer than the hybrid’s.

The 2025 Kia Sportage GT-Line petrol’s cabin looks exactly the same as before, except for the new two-spoke steering wheel – and that’s no bad thing, since it was already one of the segment’s better interiors.

Most of the materials are decent quality, the seats are comfortable with heaps of adjustment, everything feels well put together, there aren’t any rattles, there’s plenty of space in most directions (especially in the second row), and the boot is a handy size and shape, as per most of the storage bins.

If the Sportage is lacking anywhere inside, it’s the front row headroom, primarily on account of its panoramic roof.

Even with the seat in its lowest position, this 183cm author’s head was unnervingly close to the black roof lining and sun visor which made the Sportage GT-Line feel a little claustrophobic.

You get used to it, but it’s not an issue we had with the lower grades on the Sportage’s launch.

It also makes moving the sun visor to the side window (or back) far less graceful than it ought to be, especially in traffic or when you’re trying to concentrate on the road – which should be all the time.

As stated above, we can now genuinely recommend the 2025 Kia Sportage GT-Line petrol.

What was by far its biggest flaw has been rectified, and while Kia really should have doubled down and fitted the Seltos’ 146kW engine, we appreciate this would likely inflict further price increases and put the all-paw petrol powertrain in direct competition with the still-brilliant turbo-diesel.

Yes, the asking price has increased more than four-grand, but you’re getting a significantly better vehicle for money along with more toys.

The diesel and hybrids still justify their price premiums, but there’s now very little wrong with the top-spec turbo-petrol Sportage – aside from the obligatory Kia-isms.

2025 Kia Sportage GT-Line petrol at a glance:
Price: $54,490 plus on-road costs (ORCs)
Available: Now
Engine: 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol
Output: 132kW/265Nm
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Fuel: 7.5L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 169g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2022)

Join the conversation at our Facebook page
Or email us at editor@carsales.com.au