New Kia Sportage ‘must be better’

Kia Australia has issued details and images of the incoming 2021 Kia Sportage undergoing its local suspension tuning program – a six-month-long project that ensures the crucial new-generation model is suited to Aussie roads.

And the local development team is confident the new Sportage will offer a better ride and handling balance than the outgoing model.

The redesigned mid-size SUV is due to launch Down Under in the fourth quarter of this year, bringing bigger dimensions, a tougher-looking exterior as well as a host of new technology headlined by a huge curved-glass interactive dashboard.

Pricing for the fifth-generation Kia Sportage is expected to increase across the board, and a hybrid powertrain is set to be offered for the first time – but not at launch, with the first wave sticking with carryover petrol and diesel engines.

Kia says it finetuned the SUV’s ride and handling over thousands of kilometres during the local program, which was conducted by the Australian product planning team in conjunction with the Korean car-maker’s Namyang-based engineers.

Most of the work is said to have taken place around greater Sydney and rural New South Wales to ensure – as with all Kia models – that the new Sportage is “designed to cater to the unique nuances of Australian roads and the style of driving Australians’ best exhibit”.

Kia Australia’s ride and handling engineer, Graeme Gambold, said the outgoing fourth-generation Sportage was already dynamically competent, but that “the new model must be better”.

“As usual, our NQ5 Sportage tune will be unique compared to other regions. We’re trialling all available spring rates globally suited, in order to flatten the ride and minimise body roll,” he said.

The new Sportage will come with Mando shock absorbers, which are said to feature an “advanced valve technology” first seen on the MQ4 Kia Sorento, which has just been named carsales’ Best Family SUV 2021.

Gambold said that due to COVID complications, Kia was forced to apply the tuning to Sportage via a “correspondence process”, whereby shock absorber production samples were ordered in batches and air-freighted over for testing, rather than having a dedicated damper engineer in Australia for the duration of the program.

“While it’s been a challenge and taken a little longer than usual, NQ5 is sporty, youthful, fun to drive, yet comfortable and capable of soaking up even the harshest of road conditions,” he said. 

“While it’s a high bar, I’m confident it will be an even better ride than its predecessor.”