The fourth generation of Kia's compact crossover made its world debut last week at the IAA in Frankfurt, Germany
2017 Kia Sportage
The glitz and glitter of press days at the Frankfurt Auto Show (actually the Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung or IAA – International Automobile Exhibition), is now in the books. And while much of the attention revolved around bits of automotive sculpture most mere mortals can only dream of owning, a handful of those introduced could actually find their way to driveways like yours and ours.
One such vehicle was the new Sportage, the fourth-generation of Kia's compact crossover that will reach dealerships sometime next year as a 2017 model.
Exterior
Up front, the new design is sure to turn heads as both the headlights and grille have been further up the fascia, while the fog lamp surrounds are larger, higher up and more prominent.
The sides are more deeply sculpted, while its hindquarters are dominated by a larger upper spoiler and narrower taillamp housings.
Interior
Inside, the dashboard of the new Kia sports a clean-sheet design with the central instrument cluster angled 10 degrees toward the driver and sporting either a 7.0 - or 8.0 - inch touch screen and large, redundant buttons for many of the infotainment system's major functions.
It also boasts a cargo floor 1.6 inches lower, additional front and rear headroom as well as more front and rear legroom.
Underneath
Based on the same global platform that unpins its Hyundai twin, there's a good chance that Kia's latest CUV will offer the same two engines that reside under the Tucson's bonnet: namely, a standard, normally aspirated, 164-horsepower 2.0-liter four, as well as a turbocharged, 175-horsepower 1.6-liter mill in either FWD or AWD guise.
In addition to those specs, we also know that the wheelbase is up by 1.6 inches, rear overhang was reduced by 0.4 of an inch, while its nose is 0.8 of an inch longer.
Stay tuned
So far, we've only seen the Euro-spec model, but we'll know more in November when the U.S. version of the 2017 Sportage is expected to make its debut at the 2015 L.A. Auto Show, so stay tuned.
Images courtesy of newspress USA
