1995 Kia Sportage (Reaction) Motorweek Retro Review

This weeks Motorweek Retro Review Reaction is the 1995 Kia Sportage!
A cute little 'ute I liked when it was released, it was the first Kia/Hyundai product I remember thinking "hmm, that's a real option".
For extended family, they had one and it held up mostly reliably for many years.
While I think it looks a bit crude and unfinished, and the interior is cheap, there's a place for cheap and reliable.
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[@scott8919]

I knew a family who had THREE of these. The mother drove a red one, the daughter drove a black one, and the father painted his camo.

[@blue_lancer_es]

They couldn't compare with the crv rav4 or escape because they didn't exist yet. At least in the US market. People forget that this was one of the sub compact suv pioneers. Also this can go offroad and is quite capable. Maybe could be compared to the sidekick.

[@joshuaberkov6704]

Just FYI, the Escape didn't come out until 2000, which is why they were comparing this to the Explorer.

[@Zomby1Woof]

My Dad had one of those in red. He had asked me about Kia. I really didn't know much about them as they were new to the USA. I told him Kia was a K-mart" car. Anyway, he liked that it had a ladder frame chassis, it served hi m well and I don't think he ever had any major problems with it. Next he got an Isuzu Rodeo which served him well for a long time too until it got totaled.

[@bextar6365]

Good-nuff for the price back then. would sell well even today. Most don't need a luxury barge for basic daily transportation..

[@jeffking4176]

I was the first one to buy a Kia Sportage in 1995- the ‘96 model year [ from the first truck load] in Naples Florida. Impressive little truck. Over designed and over built purposely. They won a lot of Rallies/hill climbs. It was on a full ladder frame so it really was more in the category of the Suzuki Vitara, and Daihatsu Rocky, than the car based Rav -4. Especially with 4 wheel drive. It was a tough little trucklet. They reworked the Mazda based engine, and the 4-wheel drive system [ chain driven, very similar to the old International Scout. Full 4 wheel drive. I took mine off road-ing , many times. Definitely not the Rav -4. 🚗🙂

[@johnnymason2460]

This Sportage was a true off-road vehicle. I would consider the 1997 version with dual airbags and a knee airbag. The Sportages after this one were and still are crossovers. By the way, the Ford Escape didn't appear until 2001. This Sportage would have compared more to the Jeep Wrangler, Suzuki Sidekick, and Geo Tracker.

[@carlmontney7916]

I haven't owned this generation of Kia, however, I have owned a couple later generation ones and will provide my thoughts on those. I owned a 2012 Sportage and currently own a 2014. So far both have been fairly reliable vehicles. No major problems The features for the price was my main reason when I purchased them. There is a surprising amount of room for passengers and cargo. Easily enough room for me, my wife and our child to pack up and go on any kind of a trip. Lots of room in the cargo area for suitcases. One of the things that I really liked about the 2012 I had was it had a vent for the air conditioning that went into the glove box with a slider to turn it on or off. Since I lived in Arizona at the time that was a nice spot to store something if you were worried about it melting. Sadly the 2014 does not have that feature. I wish it did. It IS however lacking in a couple areas. The interior is not up to the same quality standards as you would see in other import vehicles. Seats are uncomfortable if you have to pull an 8-hour stretch driving. You definitely need to stop get out, and walk around a little bit. The lumbar support area and the bottom cushion towards the back of the seat is not supportive enough. Also, the vehicle needs a lot more sound deadening material in it as road noise is in my opinion VERY excessive. Major buffeting with rear windows down. The four cylinder GDI engine has more than enough power to move the Sportage along with quite a bit of zip. Engine noises are high but not overly bad. City gas mileage could be way better. Mine gets anywhere from 14 to 16 around town with A/C on which honestly for a small vehicle like this is pretty miserable. In fact, Kia got nailed for misrepresenting their mileage figures on many vehicles. On the highway though, it's another story entirely. On a recent cross country trip to Arizona from North Carolina I averaged right around 38 to 40 miles to the gallon on the highway. That's pretty good mileage for any gasoline vehicle. Would I buy another one? To be honest I'm not sure. I would like something around the same size but with a lot nicer interior and a lot quieter as far as road noise goes. I will also add that Kia can be difficult to work with. Regarding warranty on certain items. I have the 10-year 100,000 bumper to bumper on my 2014 and I had an issue that Kia refused to cover for me under warranty. It is the rubber covering that goes over the steering wheel. It is started to develop some cracking on the back side of it and has broken loose from the frame where you can feel the looseness when you're driving it. I was surprised that they would not replace that under the warranty. The dealer said I could call Kia and possibly they would cover it. As of this time I have not done that. I may just take it to an upholstery shop and have a leather wrap done on the steering wheel. It's a decent car overall but you have to always remember that at the price point it sells for you're not going to have everything.

[@AllCarswithJon]

Thanks for the in-depth thoughts on the vehicle. That mileage surprises me... both the low city and that amazing highway mileage! My Accord gets about 38-40 on the highway so for the Kia that's really good!

[@carlmontney7916]

@@AllCarswithJon yeah, I can't figure out why the city mileage is so much lower than the highway mileage. I know that Kia has an eco mode switch on it, but I have never found that it really made any difference as far as mileage goes. I do like the styling of this generation of Kia portage. Although I feel they're probably do for a major overhaul soon since the new ones are the same body style and 2011 was the first year for the body like I have.

[@r.w.b.7683]

The Russians love them for off-roading. It's the first generation with body on frame. It's like a modern day. Samurai

[@PearComputingDevices]

I agree with your take on this. I thought of Kia as a slightly nicer Geo Tracker. I was impressed with the price. Kia is kinda known for value. But it's definitely not a Toyota or Honda for that matter. I do love the looks of the mid 2010's Sportage. Would I own one? Maybe, but probably not. Given the used car prices might as well pay a little more for something far more better. I seen it as a 'good enough' product and nothing more. Thats usually the case with Kia as a whole. You don't buy them because of their quality or even looks as much as practicality and price. Kia has improved a lot since the first generation here but for the most part I believe that's still the case. Kia offers and exceptional value for the price point.

[@melvinjacobs2328]

I had a 1992 Sportage and loved it. The car was reliable, and the style was great.

[@johnnymason2460]

The Sportage did not exist in 1992.

[@jameshastey3058]

While the 4x4 Sportage had more power than it's closest competitor at the time (the 4 door Geo Tracker), it was also cheaper - both in price and build quality. A comparable 4 door Tracker (introduced in 1996) would cost $16K - the same as the Sportage, and the Tracker had (and has now) a better reputation and dealer network when it comes to reliability and quality. An interesting bit of info is that the Sportage was based off of the the Mazda Bongo cabover microvan and used Mazda derived engines and drivetrains.

[@AllCarswithJon]

That's really interesting, thanks for sharing! I had no idea (nor had I ever heard of the Mazda Bongo) and if you've got any resources that go more in-depth about how the Bongo "platform" became a Sportage, let me know. Other than wikipedia saying it started from the engineering platform and shared engines and transmissions... no real information on how a cab-over became a "wagon". Thanks again.

[@johnnymason2460]

​@@AllCarswithJonThe mention of the Mazda Bongo is not surprising. Before Kia was eventually bought by Hyundai, it had more of a relationship with Mazda and Ford. I remember seeing pictures of the Mazda Bongo. It's probably possible now to import versions of that microvan according to the 25 year rule.

[@earlscheib7754]

I'm very familiar with the Hyundai and Kia products. The first generation Sportage was a Mazda designed engine with a Aisin automatic transmission, its chassis was a Mazda Bongo van. The first generation Sportage was body on frame and actually saw military service. The only other small SUV that was body on frame was the Suzuki Vitara/ chevy tracker. The RAV 4 and CRV were car based unibody designs. Kias other offering the Sephia was a Mazda protege built under license. When kia was bought by Hyundai they cut ties with Mazda/ Ford and their vehicles were platform shared Hyundai which were largely based on Mitsubishi engineering.

[@jasonbostrom2165]

Actually this is really closed to the Sidekick/tracker competitor. Shortage was a body on frame construction just like sidekick. I can’t remember if Crv and rav4 was out yet but those is fwd unit construction. Btw would’ve been surprised what these things can do with that short wheel base going off road.

[@johnnymason2460]

The RAV4 came out in 1996. The CR-V came out in 1997.

[@thatraymond]

They're talking about the Explorer because the Escape didn't come out for another 5 years in 2000.

[@vaccinatedanti-vaxxer]

Looks like a mini Isuzu trooper to me. I think Kia debuted in US market with spectra, shortage and Sephia. This was back when hyundai and Kia were not the same company but competitors.

[@johnnymason2460]

The Spectra didn't arrive until years after the debut of the Sephia and Sportage. It was just a 4-door hatchback version of the Sephia at the time.

[@ChrisGuiver]

I'm in Melbourne AU, and I say Sportage just as your people from the *frozen* North do... I wonder how far South you are? as I believe even those down in Tasmania AU also pronounce it Sportage those in your frozen North. :)

[@roketfingers]

do the 2001 ford escape!

[@lawrencelin272]

it's a rugged off-roader with ladder frame and t-case built off Mazda's Bongo kei van/truck platform not an italian sports car that costs 300x more, so why does it need finesse? it should look brutally purposeful and Kia has managed to hit the mark quite well look at every other car designed in the late 80s early 90s, ofc the interior has aged like poop in the 90s always thought wow that looks like a cheap fun, wish we could still have sidekick/vitara & competitors still with us today you had a wrangler yet dont believe spare on the rear? i wish real SUVs still do this

[@davinp]

The interior does look cheap. The Korean's build quality is not as good as the Japanese meaning they are less reliable then Toyota and Honda

[@drewchristy]

Looking back on it, it looks like it could have been an Isuzu model. Like a mini Trooper. Jon, what are your thoughts on the new Sportage compared to rivals like the CR-V, RAV4, etc.?

[@mybigfatpolishlife]

They keep mentioning the explorer because the escape wasn't sold until 2001 or 2000

[@melvinjacobs2328]

Correction, 2002

[@melvinjacobs2328]

For the price point, you're looking for ellegence?

[@hotelworker812]

Kia has always come across as not great but not terrible either, just kina "meh"

[@runoflife87]

Nice CUV even if very basic. Back in the days this was the best foreign jeep-like car in former USSR.

[@666cemetaryslut]

This is a true SUV, bud. Body on frame and a proper 4WD system.

[@runoflife87]

@@666cemetaryslut no that capable off-road though.

[@johnnymason2460]

​@@666cemetaryslut Exactly! Sportages after this generation were and still are crossovers(CUVs).

[@sponk2112]

I think "blobby" might be the word you're looking for regarding styling. Kinda unformed. Maybe not. 😀

[@AllCarswithJon]

It may not have been "the" word I was looking for, but it certainly fits!

[@vassa1972]

Never liked it

[@blue_lancer_es]

When you talk about it looking kinda like the x3 i chuckled. The x3 didn't exist so that means the x3 looked like a kia? I have 2 sorentos 1st gen and the styling in those are blatant ripoffs of the mercedes ml and Lexus gx and rx. Gotta love early 2000s korean cars. The xg350wanted to look like a jag and the sonata to an extent. But the optima wanted to be a cadi. 🥹

[@666cemetaryslut]

Looks like a poor man's Pathfinder