By Mark Kleis
Thursday, Jul 29th, 2010 @ 11:00 am

Korean automakers have been enjoying more than their share of the limelight recently, particularly in the U.S. as Hyundai and Kia continue to dramatically revamp and improve their product offerings.

Hyundai first revealed its all-new Tucson subcompact crossover last year as a 2010 model, raising many eyebrows and garnering attention for its dramatic new style and vast improvement in its drivetrain technology. Now, Hyundai’s little brother Kia is up to the plate, swinging a swanky new Sportage that it hopes will be nothing short of a home run.

Let’s take a closer look.

Wait – that’s a Kia?
Yes, it’s a Kia. When driving the all-new 2011 Kia Sportage through the foggy streets of San Francisco, we couldn’t help but notice the gazes of onlookers when they discovered that the sporty, sleek and sexy crossover they were looking at was in fact a Kia. Kia positively nailed the upscale and arguably class-leading styling that makes up the crossover’s exterior.

The front fascia is certainly the strong point of the car, brightly styled with what Kia folks even admitted was an “ Audi -like” pair of headlamps, complete with the LED lighting that has come to adorn every new Audi. These upscale headlamps set the tone for the entire vehicle, conveying a near-luxury appeal and style typically not found on any car in the class, let alone Kia – a brand renowned for its value.

Moving past the headlamps provides for even more surprise and satisfaction – this is no one-hit wonder. The upper and lower grilles share a very Kia-esque shape, which adds to the fluid and well thought-out motion of design.

The stylish lines cleanly swoop along the side of the vehicle as well, managing to convey both a classy and sporty appeal – nose to tail.

Step inside the Sportage
While Leftlane has nothing but praise for the exterior of the all-new Sportage, our experience in the interior was a bit mixed. Kia made it easy to love the exterior styling of the car, but some decisions on the interior have left us a bit puzzled – although not quite disappointed.

For starters, the overall layout of the interior was very well done. Space appears to be well utilized, and given its class, the vehicle was actually quite spacious – particularly with the generous legroom offered in the second row. The dash and instrument panel were simplistic, providing for ample leg room and freed space above the waistline, giving the driver and front passenger room to move around and feel less cramped than what is expected from a subcompact vehicle.

The climate and radio controls were well placed, highly visible, easy to access and very pleasant to look at. Although the high-gloss black piano finish around the climate was a nice touch, we would have liked to have seen it applied to more of the interior – if even in only small sections, providing more continuity. Likewise, the aluminum finish highlights on the steering wheel provided for a nice break from the gray plastic found throughout the interior, but it was only applied elsewhere to the door pull and lock – unlike the Hyundai counterpart which received a more generous helping of this finish. Well, something has to differentiate the two brands that are becoming more alike by the day.

Although the Kia grille shape found on the air vents was a nice touch, it will likely go unnoticed by most, but the overly generous use of hard, untextured plastic stands out. The hard plastics are distracting since they create such a staunch contrast from the nicely crafted leather seats. We don’t expect Bentley -like materials at this price range, but overall the Sportage’s interior was a mixed bag.

The firm leather seats were a little too solid for our posteriors after a several hour drive through Northern California, although we thought their look and feel could have befitted a luxury label.

Sporty in name or execution?
Driving the latest Sportage and comparing it to the previous model would likely make you feel as if you just went from a minivan to a proper sports-minded coupe. The suspension is better tuned, and the drivetrain better suited to the vehicle’s nameplate – something Kia says it paid particular attention to achieving. The drivetrain, like the Tucson, consists of a 2.4-liter DOHC Theta II four-cylinder engine with 176 horsepower and 168 lb-ft. of torque – more than the outgoing 2.7-liter V6 brought to the table.

On paper, the new four-banger sounds almost too good to be true. In practice, we found the Sportage to be very much in line with the rest of the segment – making us wonder where the horsepower went. Although the Sportage’s drivetrain is certainly very competitive for the class, we found that it stopped slightly short of offering a truly sporty appeal.

When attempting to push the Sportage through twists and turns at higher-than-posted speeds, it managed to stay in control, albeit with a bit more body roll and centrifugal pulling than we expected. The new electric steering was very consistent at all speeds and leaned towards heavy – very closer to a natural hydrualic system would feel. Despite the consistent steering, it felt as if it and the rest of the vehicle lacked in giving proper feedback. Although hard to pinpoint, we simply came away feeling as if there was some form of disconnect between the vehicle and the driver.

During our brief initial evaluation drives, we found the Sportage to be a well tuned, comfortable and enjoyable compact crossover that is capable of both delivering the goods as a fun and sexy daily driver and even leaving the pavement on occasion.

We can’t help but think that Hyundai’s more powerful gasoline direct-injected four-cylinder – used in its Sonata – would be a better fit for the Sportage.

Leftlane’s bottom line
The 2011 Kia Sportage is as strong testament to the brand and the vast improvements it has made since its introduction as any Korean vehicle ever launched.

Although the Sportage’s pricing can certainly start to eek into the same realm as larger vehicles (the model we tested carried an MSRP of $29,990), Kia still packs a fairly solid punch of value – particularly at the lower trim levels.

Kia also reminded us that although the models we had to test out were production trim, its new infotainment system – dubbed UVO – was not present and is due to work its way onto the option list in the coming months. UVO should help to provide Kia with an extra boost of fun and technology, much like its similarly-designed Sync counterpart did for Ford .

2011 Kia Sportage base price, $18,295.

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