Kia Sportage 2005 and newer

jchan2 · April 2003

Anybody know anything about the next Kia Sportage? Features? Vehicle platform?

iluvmysephia1 · April 2003

for more information on the next-generation Kia Sportage that is being designed and tested now by Kia Motors in Korea. You will get a good idea there what's going on with it. It is based on the Elantra platform and will be front-wheel drive or even all-wheel drive. It's under development still so the driveline issues could still be tweaked as design continues. It will not be available in 4-wheel drive and it may or may not be available with manual transmission.

carspy01 "'05 Kia Sportage" Mar 13, 2003 3:44pm

bored · April 2003

I was hoping for a REAL truck...

Maybe this isn't the Sportage...

Brenda Priddy hasn't always been correct with her spy photos and stories... also, does anyone really CARE?

jchan2 · April 2003

Are you sure that the next Sportage will not have 4WD? I can understand the switch to a car based platform, but no 4WD! Without 4WD, you will have lost the single reason people buy SUVs over minivans and wagons. Also, the automatic should be tiptronic, like the Hyundai Santa Fe.

carspy01 · April 2003

Thanks, iluv, for sending me the private e-mail to get back on board! I'm just too busy right now to follow everything here, but let me review what I said last year:
1) Hyundai was/is working on the next-gen Elantra-platform, which will be laid out as front wheel 2WD and the permanent AWD-version.
2) This next-gen Elantra will underpin the next-gen Kia Spectra, as well.
3) The "revolution" inside Kia took place by switching the frame-based "old" Sportage to this new platform, i.e. the next Sportage will be car-based as the Honda CRV and Toyota RAV4.
4) There are two rumors out there for Hyundai:
a) a Hyundai version of the vehicle as sub-Santa Fe as the Santa Fe will increase in size for the next generation
b) a Hyundai tall wagon-type vehicle will 2WD and AWD. I did not see anything of either yet.
5) Brenda Priddy's shot of the Sportage is REAL.
6) The Sorento "Sport" (2 door) and pick-up version are still in the planning.
Keep on rocking!!!

jchan2 · June 2003

I like the Sorento Sport idea. Then we could tell the Explorer Sport to get better or to get lost!

csandste · June 2003

Try this:

http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=5839&n=156,- 178&sid=178

libertycat · July 2003

I like the Explorer Sport

jchan2 · July 2003

A Sorento Sport would at least provide some competition for the Explorer Sport. At least improve and upgrade to the 2002 Explorer platform.

robync_03110 · July 2003

"Kia blames the year-long gap between generations on an inability to coordinate the new model with the phase-out of the existing vehicle."

http://waw.wardsauto.com/ar/auto_sportage_makeover_carbased/

anides · July 2003

From Kia's Consumer Affairs Department...

Q.
Will there be an updated 2004 Sportage?

A.
Our current plan is to introduce a replacement for the Sportage vehicle in the 05 model year, with sales likely to begin in the fall of 2004. We have not confirmed that the name of the vehicle will be Sportage as of this time.

bored · August 2003

Well, that sucks. What better name than Sportage?

But you have to admit... the Sportage had a rep as a tough, off-road vehicle, that could also handle the city very well. The replacement is on the new Elantra platform. Rename it, please.

jchan2 · August 2003

Sportage2
Sorento Sport
Imana (I don't know what that means; just sounded nice next to KIA.) (Kia Imana)
How about............
Santa Fe

iluvmysephia1 · August 2003

me that Kia will NOT go to a car-based unitized body like Elantra with it's new 2005 Sportage. They'll stay with the body-on-frame truck-like arrangement they've used from the start(with Ford Motor Co.'s assistance). carspy01-ya out there still?

carspy01 · August 2003

I'm still around but in the background... I only drop by from time to time to read some of the postings, and I just scratch my head and wonder... a bunch of new names on the boards... you can still e-mail me - however, I'm honest, I have waaaay to little time to be in the discussion groups every day....

Well, do NOT buy your next car from this Kia salesman!
The 2005 Kia Sportage should be introduced to the US/Canadian public - hopefully - in Detroit beginning of 2004. It should be on sale shortly after, i.e. spring 2004. It will be car based, i.e. of the "JM"-platform, which is - in other words - and upgraded Elantra-architecture with AWD-option.

iluvmysephia1 · August 2003

comes up from time to time but I knew that it's going to be on a car-based unitized frame of Hyundai's Elantra. Just a short pop quiz for ya...I figured you were still cyber-strolling now and then. carspy01...there's a car maker in South Korea called Proto Motors making a great looking sports car in limited production called Spirra. It is VERY shagadelic. Know anything about this upstart company that has/is assisted/assisting Daewoo-Kia-Hyundai? Don't bother responding if you're busy, man...I'm just curious.

carspy01 · August 2003

Just real quick following link:

http://www.protomotors.com/index_eng.html

Fiddle around there a little, and follow the link "About Proto Motors", which should explain a little bit.

iluvmysephia1 · August 2003

I just wanted to see if you knew anything different than what's on their website. If they could make a car like that for $30,000(which I heard from one poster on Edmunds.com)it would be amazing. RWD, mid-ship engine, great power specs, great looks and very light body. Not a BRAND NEW car company, either, though fairly fresh. Interesting read if anybody's interested in them.
Check out the link in the above post to head there.

jchan2 · August 2003

Kia promised the Sportage for 04. then again, GM promised Fuel Cells for 1975.

iluvmysephia1 · August 2003

with Hyundai. These can get muddled as the information is popped around to and fro don't'cha know! hjr2 intially reported that Proto is working with Hyundai on developing a new sports car(Proto working on the body of the car)and the price being around $30,000. Until I learn more(the feelers are out for information!)I'm not gonna comment anymore on that subject...especially in this thread. OBTW-Proto Motors of Korea is still making their own car called Spirra-they've released quite a bit of information on their website about it but as far as exporting it here we're as clueless as....as..umm...as those who think that Chevy will not offer a Cobalt blue color on thier new Chevy Cobalt Civic-Corolla fighter due out in the next few years. Now back to our regularly scheduled show...Kia's new Sportage due in the fall of 2004 as a 2005 model that WILL be plopped on an Elantra base.

carspy01 · August 2003

That is not quite correct. "Kia" (Who there? Which Kia? Iluv's Kia-car-salesman???) did in fact never make an announcement like that. Customers might see a first glimpse of the new "Sportage" (name is not even confirmed) next month in Frankfurt. The vehicle should be introduced begin of next year in Korea, which is, if I am not completely wrong, 2004.

iluvmysephia1 · August 2003

(which may or may not be called Sportage by the way!)is that the new SUV(smaller than Hyundai's Santa Fe)will offer an optional 2.7L V6 engine AND optional all-wheel drive. I believe carspy01 HAS mentioned the all-wheel drive option before but I'm just re-iterating it. Otherwise your new Kia Sportage replacer will feature front-wheel drive. Gone is the old rear-wheel drive that my Sportage runs on now with shift-on-the-fly 4-wheel drive available at your whim. Whoo-hoo carspy01 we're learning more all the time! The U.S.release should be in the fall of 2004 as a 2005 model-year product.

carspy01 · August 2003

but it's coming earlier... :-)

iluvmysephia1 · August 2003

will be here in the States earlier is not bad news it's good! My Sportage is great right now but it's fun to look down the road at what you might want to pull the trade-trigger on later and this new small SUV from Kia and Hyundai's Tiburon GT V6 are at the top of my list(actually the Tib's at the very top)right now. The front of this SUV looks handsome but only makes me want to find that actual SUV and rip the cover off the front to see it better! ARGGH!! =;)

carspy01 · August 2003

http://www.thecarconnection.com/index.asp?article=6329

Have fun.

jchan2 · August 2003

What's with the KM name?

carspy01 · August 2003

It's not a name - it's only an internal platform designation within Hyundai and Kia, usually two letters. Example: The former "Kia GH"-concept was the Hyundai XG-architecture. Now, the "Kia GH" is better known in its product version as Opirus/Amanti.

jchan2 · September 2003

Kia promised a Sportage after a one year hiatus. Then again, if you still want a sportage, my local dealer still has three left from 2002. My Saturn dealer has a left over 2002 Saturn SL.

kia_lemon · November 2003

Just lemon lawed my 02 Sportage. 6 times the breaks have failed. 2 master cylinders and 6 set of rotors and pads. Glad to be out of this POS.

Kirstie_H · November 2003

Every model has its share of lemons. Every single one. A brand cannot be characterized by a single person's experience!

jchan2 · November 2003

Any more info on this car, or is Kia taking the Honda route? Holding all info until the last minute?

iluvmysephia1 · November 2003

Sportage(possibly another name!!) under development to report on. I did read recently that Kia will export it to the U.S.in 2004 sometime, look for it in the spring or early summer of 2004. It will be sold as a 2005 model.It will be FWD with a unitized body s/as the Hyundai Elantra and AWD will be an available option. It will have a 2.0L I-4 cyl.engine and a 2.7L V6 will also be available. Also, it will be offered with an automatic transmission and a 5-speed manual transmission. It will debut at the Detroit Auto Show in January of 2004.

jchan2 · November 2003

The local dealer still has some left over 2002 Sportage SUVs. That means either the Sportage was a slow seller or the dealer didn't do a really good job of selling them.

bored · November 2003

I'd go with the latter. Another prediction is that the dealer was probably pushing people to buy the Sorento.

rctennis3811 · November 2003

no, im not saying that Kia's new SUV will be bad..its just that if they want to start off great with this new SUV, they should rename it! why? when a lot of people hear the name Sportage, they think "wow! that car was bad quality". kia should DEFINITELY rename this SUV, especially since their quality rating has been going way up!

jchan2 · November 2003

has plenty of Sorentos and is attatched to dealers selling Tributes, Xterras, CR-Vs and Vitaras.

nlminkie · December 2003

on this website i saw some new pictures

www.wforum.com/waf/posts/33208.shtml

greetings

nlminkie

npaladin2000 · December 2003

Hmm...not bad looking. The C-pillar is awfully thick though..D-pillar too; looks like the rear side windows might not be worth a whole lot. Mostly the front end looks like a Ford Escape or Honda CR-V, but the sides look more like a Hyundai SantaFe...slightly anyway.

jchan2 · December 2003

not bad looking, but if you add some Sorento wheels it'll look like a mini Sorento! The Santa Fe wheels make it look more like a Hyundai than a Kia.

iluvmysephia1 · December 2003

that front end is very nice looking and the back looks somewhat like a Sorento but actually looks better IMO. That treatment in front with the headlamps looks great. Nice find getting those pictures! The thing about this "Sportage" that may or may not be called Sportage is that it departs from the long-time Kia mini-SUV tradition of ladder-on-frame construction and is FWD. It uses an Elantra frame and is of unibody construction and part-time AWD will be available as an option. I've also found some hints that they will offer a 5-speed manual transmission, which is essential for the real driving experience. Bravo Kia!

jchan2 · December 2003

has anybody predicted the following:

Release Date
Trim Levels
Transmission choices
Colors
Prices
Interior Colors

rctennis3811 · December 2003

If you ask me, it's OK. I don't exactly favor the front-end a.k.a. Escape-esque. The side looks exactly like the upcoming Chevrolet Equinox, which is a good thing. But then the rear lights aren't that great. It doesn't blend as well as the Equinox. Overall, the Sportage looks to be promising, as long as it gets a good crash test rating I'll be happy.

Oh yea, change the wheels...too Santa Fe-esque.

jchan2 · December 2003

bet that the wheels will be more Sorento like and that the wheels were there to try to confuse people to think it was a tricked out Santa Fe.

mvaldivi · December 2003

Would anyone know whether the new Sportage will feature a side-opening gate or lift-back? It appears will be a lift-back gate (center mounted handle on picture). Can anyone corroborate? Thanks!

jchan2 · December 2003

like a liftgate to me, although a side gate wouldn't be bad.

airdale73013 · December 2003

I found this site today while searching for information on the new 2005 Sportage or whatever Kia decides to call it. Lots of good information here.

jchan2 · December 2003

welcome!! Hope you find lots of info on the site- it's really pretty helpful. (to me, at least)

iluvmysephia1 · December 2003

thread I'll just about guarantee it you'll know MORE than your Kia salesman! I have grilled many a Kia salesman while browsing different dealer's lots and the salespeople don't know all the details we learn here on the Net. They won't admit it but you'll see it's true! This new Kia SUV looks good to me and I'll continue to perk up my ears to any new info.as it becomes available. Bring any new info.here about this unibody SUV everybody! BTW the '01 Sportsman is running like a champ! And I'm not gonna start singing the Seger tune "Like a Rock!" Talk about overdoing it Chev...glad they're finally onto a new ad slogan tune.

kiasport · January 2004

Has anybody checked out this owner loyalty program? It only applies to certain years. Right now if you own a Kia that is a model year prior to 2001, you do not get any loyalty bonus for buying another Kia. Basically, past 3 years even the manufacturer does not want their own cars. Try talking to Consumer service agents on the phone and you get rhetoric run around. Nice company.

iluvmysephia1 · January 2004

one of the negatives regarding buying one is the resale value being low. It's just a plain fact but I am one who CAN get the owner loyalty rebate so I don't feel as irritated about it. I have seen how my Kia dealer will sweeten the deal enough for you if you're a repeat customer and you want to trade in on a new Kia. You will be upside down if you don't put enough cash down or just outright buy your Kia with cash, though. Some of your last car's loan can get tacked on to the new purchase loan but you will pay for that eventually. Just a plain fact. So, the point I'm getting to is this: Kia also has to sell your trade-in and they know they can't get top dollar for them. You'll get their version of the "customer rep" runaround as stated in the post above. Knowing the Kia brand, though, as a buyer of their cars I feel that this is a good thing. You can score a great deal on a used one(though I have bought both of mine new and enjoy the Long Haul Warranty as a result). Kia is fixing the quality "issues" and the new crop of Kia's are generally better-built than the older Kia's(Sephia, Sportage)that you'll read the quality stories of. The fixes on my two Kia's have all been covered by the Long-Haul and both vehicles have been good, efficient ones. I would not sway anybody away from buying a Kia.
Anybody heard anything new about the new-gen Sportage? Will they install CVVT engines in the new Sportage and Hyundai Tuscon?

jchan2 · January 2004

Anybody heard any news lately?

Optima-
The one thing that's turning me off from this car is fuel economy on the V6 model. If they could raise it to about 24 MPG, I'll be back.

Kia Sportage 2005 and newer

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