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| The Kia Sportage is one of only a handful of 'true' off-roaders in this size and price class. Main competitors in this sector include the popular and capable Suzuki Vitara and the Mitsubishi Pajero iO. What distinguishes these three from the crowd is the fact that they have low range transfer cases and full box section ladder frame chassis. The 'soft roaders' generally don't have either and generally only differ from normal family cars by the fact they have some sort of all-wheel traction system and sometimes a little extra ground clearance. These are great for wet roads, a day trip down an unsealed road or firm gravel track and even a reasonably firm beach but rarely anything more. Kia Sportage Sportage is offered in Australia with one engine, the proven twin cam 16-valve 4 cylinder 2.0 EFi. Sounds more like a car engine ? Dead right as it is the same 'FE' series engine fitted to the popular Mazda 626 for many years. It features a slightly redesigned cylinder head and ignition mapping for improved emission and torque characteristics and adaptation to a 4x4 set up but is essentially the same Mazda engine. It's 94kW and 175Nm put it ahead of many similar sized car engines until fairly recent times and even now is still well in touch with its competition. As I've found with my own Kia, small changes and improvements do make worthwhile increases in both power and driveability. As other pages on this site tell you, exhaust and filter upgrades are a good start without any major work involved, right through to more serious work such as ECU upgrades, cylinder head porting and camshaft reprofiling. A well maintained Sportage can easily see 10% output improvements with the more basic work before the cylinder head or ECU needs to be looked at. The introduction of the Sportage in the early 90's saw it quickly rise in popularity in Australia and be one of only a couple of rivals against the Suzuki Vitara. However not many made it off-road and lack of aftermarket accessories limited useful modification. Excellent pricing and equipment levels have seen the Sportage remain popular ever since. Criticisms included some build quality issues in early pre-97 models and the painful and heavy spare wheel carrier that had to be disengaged via a locking pin and swung out before the tailgate could be opened. Try opening that on a hill or sideways cambered slope. These quality issues seem to have been largely overcome and doubt there would be any more issues than the industry average. Even after 80,000km and 3 years of goods service my Sportage remains rattle and squeak free and looking in 'as new' condition. Thats not bad considering it does 'go bush' and three kids regularly inhabit the back seat. The introduction of the 'longbody' variant in mid 2000 saw the runout of shortbody models for $22,222 on the road no matter what the model or spec which was great if you could find one fully optioned at the showroom. The longbody is a 'one model fits all' affair with very few options with the exception of transmission and colour and can be had for between $24000 & $26000 depending on where you look on the day. With a few 'must have' additions including 30" tyres, King springs, tints and rustproofing, cargo barrier, roof rack nudge bar, UHF and driving lights you've got a 'ready to go west' capable and spacious off-road vehicle for around $30,000. There is no other similar prices vehicle on the Australian market with the same interior space, equipment or capability this side of $45,000. Guaranteed. Next step up would have to be a 2.7 Toyota Prado, Nissan Pathfinder or the like. Newcomers such as the Hyundai Terracan and Kia's new Sorento would probably scrape in slightly under but not much mileage has been put on these models, so long term longevity and all around 'real world' capability is still an unknown at this point. The 'new' Sportage is identical to that of old, apart from minor cosmetic and engine updates (ie ignition mapping and cylinder head) but the big news was the rear end; the 300mm (12") extension saw a massive increase in cargo space that rivals many medium and large 4x4's. The extension saw the spare wheel carrier removed and the spare placed in a well underneath the floor which doesn't infringe on departure angles. Upward opening tailgate is very useful in the wet and speakers mounted in the ceiling above the door facing forward mean you can still hear the stereo even with a load in the back. The Sportage won't win too many drag races but will hold its own considering its substantial mass (the penalty for seperate chassis design) and engine size. It has to be stirred along with the gears but the revvy and willing 2.0 is very capable when called upon. Highway cruising is quite relaxed though like always overtaking large trucks has to be planned carefully especially when loaded up. Fuel economy is up to the driver more so than most vehicles. Brisk driving will see less than 400km from 55 or so litres (from the 65 litre tank) but with more casual driving can just as easily see closer to 500km or more from the same 55 or so litres. Mitsubishi Pajero iO The baby Pajero has never been popular in Australia and is about to be dropped from the range to be replaced (?) by the 'softroad' Outlander. Originally available with a 1.6 or 1.8 4-cylinder engine this was later replaced with a 2.0 in a bid to boost its image. However it was dearer and smaller than the longbody Sportages and lack of cargo space ruled it out as a practical family getaway vehicle. However for a weekender for a couple of people to get away in is as capable as anything else in its class with a full chassis and low range transfer case. I looked at one when in the market for a new 4x4 but lack of cargo space and that horrible carpeted dash board just killed that idea. Suzuki Vitara Vitara is the old man of the block and is certainly the most popular small 4x4 in Australia today. The huge range of aftermarket enhancements on top of already enviable all round ability make it a popular and practical choice for young singles and couples. Over the years a range of body styles and engine options have been available including 1.6, 2.0 V6 and most recently 2.0 twin cam engines as well as 2, 3 and 5 door bodies as well as the famous Vitara soft top. The Vitara expanded its appeal to include families with the launch of the Grand Vitara 5-dr and is perhaps the closest competitor to the current Sportage. Available in both 2.0 4-cylinder and 2.5 V6 engines it is touted more as a luxury on-roader with leather seats (etc) which are factory options. It is certainly smoother and more refined in V6 guise than the Sportage but has a price to go with it and still lacks decent cargo space though not as lacking as the iO. Ground clearance is limited and the abundance of aftermarket enhancements seem to have skipped the Grand Vitara altogether. The Vitara XL7 was released last year and is basically a stretched Grand Vitara complete with 3 rows of seats, and stroked out 2.7 V6 engine. Its ruled itself out of the small 4x4 class because of its leap into a whole new class of competition and the unusually long wheelbase makes it a poor choice for anything rougher than a gravel track. Relatively high fuel consumption has been noted by many road testers perhaps due to the engine working hard to pull such a large vehicle around with a wheezy auto under it. Remember that most 7 seaters have 3.0 + engines that don't have to be worked to do the job at hand. Popular 'small' soft roaders include : Subaru Forester & Outback, Honda HR-V, CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Land Rover Freelander, Daihatsu Terios, Hyundai Santa Fe (4 cyl), Nissan X-Trail and the recently launched Mitsubishi Outlander. The Subaru is quite unique as the manual trans versions are available with a low range transfer case which helps with steep hills though the lack of clearance and seperate chassis still rule them out of anything rougher than a gravel track. Some of the older Subaru utes and wagons have been modified with high lift suspension kits and have a reputation for being extremely durable off-road. Boxer engines have an excellent rep though high servicing and repair costs are inherent with the hard to access boxer configurations. Honda has recently dropped the HR-V due to slow sales which isn't surprising since the CR-V isn't much dearer and is certainly a better car. I use the term 'car' since thats exactly what they are. While they seem to have more underbody clearance, they don't. I've seen several hung up on their low hanging rear suspension which is prone to being torn away on soft sand tracks or small obstacles. They don't feature a proper all wheel drive system either; they are front wheel drive only engaging the rear wheels via a fluid coupling that requires the front wheels to spin before being engaged. In soft sand and even on wet road surfaces it engages far too late to be of any use. However on road they are among the class leaders. The 'older' 2.0 engines are an exellent powerplant as are the newer 2.4's fitted to current models though aren't as smooth as the old 2.0. On Fraser Island in 2002 we were held up by a CR-V on a basic sand track. The track was a bit on the soft side but nothing difficult though the soft sand 'hump' in the middle of the track was snagging the underside causing the CR-V to skate along. The low hanging rear suspension arms were ploughing through the sand obviously hindering the CR-V's progress as well as collecting branches and debris. Eventually it was forced off the track. Toyota's RAV4 has been around for a few years now and although Toyota generally have a good reputation for four wheel drives (think Hilux or Landcruiser) the early RAV's were bad new. Ongoing mechanical problems particularly with the differentials and transmissions were a major headache but seem to have been sorted in the last few years. RAV's up until a couple of years ago were very similar to the Daihatsu Terios in ability as they both featured full time all wheel drive with a central differential lock, though no low range or separate chassis. The diff lock allowed the front and rear wheels to be locked together giving improved traction should one end lose grip. Far better than CR-V's and surprisingly effective particularly in sand. However the current VVT-i RAV's no longer feature the diff lock and is only marginally better of than the CR-V in ability. Both CR-V and RAV4 now have road orientated independent front and rear suspensions though older RAV's has solid rear axles. The Daihatsu Terios is often written off as an off-roader. Despite its small size it will go a lot further that you might imagine. I know; I took one to Fraser Island and went a lot further than many larger 4x4's. It's full time all wheel drive system with centre diff lock, limited slip rear diff, reasonable ground clearance, light wieght, small size and revvy 1.3 engine made it an angry little truck especially on sand and clay. However no good on the rough stuff. They're well made though a little small and feature solid rear axle which gives good articulation on rough surfaces. Incidentally Daihatsu is now owned by Toyota. Land Rover Freelanders are an odd one. No low range and no chassis yet are available with such devices and 'HDC' or Hill Descent Control which is odd since this allows far simpler (and safer) descent of steeper descents. My question is why would you fit this to a vehice that can't get back up the hill ... ? Build quality has been a long running issue with all Land Rovers and is being addressed by new owners, BMW. Resale is one of the worst in the class and Land Rovers in general have a long way to go before build quality (and resale) improve. Mitsubishi Outlanders are new so not a whole lot has been written about them yet but being Mitsubishi should be well built as is the case with most things Japanses these days. They're touted as being well equipped and amongst the most spacious but the old ex-Magna 2.4 single cam engine is tragically underpowered in such a big vehicle. Remember those rattling timing chains in old Sigma and Magna's ..... ? Time will tell. The 2.4 has about the same power as the Sportage 2.0 but isn't particularly revvy or torquey and has a whole lot of weight to pull about. Worst still it's only available in automatic and no low range and pushing a power-sapping permanent four wheel drive system. Forget even the beach in this one and stick to the local shopping centre or picking up the ruggies from school. Don't expect to get there in a hurry though. Hyundai released the Santa Fe only a year or so ago and now owns Kia though most Kia owners would never admit to it. The Santa Fe is available in both 2.4 4-cylinder and 2.7 V6 at 106 & 132kW respectively and though I could be wrong, are automatic only. The torquey V6 is great in the sand but the engine air intake inside the guard (!!!) is proving a problem for anybody trying even a shallow water crossing. Hyundai refers you to the terms of the factory warranty and the owners manual if you have a terminally irrigated engine. There is no low range or seperate chassis either. The 4 cylinder is a slow seller locally and may well be dropped from the showrooms in time. Nissan X-Trail newcomer has caused a stir in the softroader fraternity that is competing with the best sellers head to head. It's powerful and torquey 2.5 litre 4 cylinder engine, distinctive styling and interior featuring (love it or hate it) centrally mounted instrument binacle make it the prime choice for people who want excellent on road manners but some sort of realistic recreational off-road ability. Powerful engine make it a good choice for even soft sand and 'on demand' four wheel drive system is a far more capable version of the CR-V's hopeless set up with the addition of the dash mounted four wheel drive dial selector as used in the bigger Pathfinder. Pricing puts it smack in the middle of current market leaders, Subaru, Toyota and Honda. A couple of 'has-beens' include the Russian built Lada Niva and the Suzuki X90. The Lada has always been given a bad rap for poor build quality, severe rust problems and poor equipment levels. However they were in many ways a pioneering true 4x4 years ahead of their time in many aspects. They were amongst the first to have full-time four wheel drive (including central differential) and a monocoque design (no separate chassis). They also have low range and excellent ground clearance though are manual only. The 1.6 & 1.7 carb & EFi engines were basic and underpowered but were reliable and though the whole lot squeaked and shook was basically bulletproof at least til the rust took hold. At least there are no shortage of parts from the wreckers. Lack of automatic transmission, air conditioning and quality dealer back up here in Australia saw the capable Niva shrink away to oblivion though there is a fiercely loyal Lada following out there. The Suzuki was just plain embarrassing and had very little to offer over a trail bike with a carry rack. Two seater only with that dicky boot and the front end that was a refugee from a Mazda 121. It did have low range and slightly better ground clearance than a family sedan though that targa roof was definitely 'groovy' and possibly the only redeeming feature in the sales brochure. The boot was tiny as was cabin space though looked bigger with the roof off. So-so 1.6 engine hauled it around at a leisurely pace but was definitely only a Suzuki Mighty Boy on steroids. What were they smoking when they came up with this one ... ? It became a novely 'fun mobile' in the newspaper ads and I think more were given away in cheesy chick magazines and FM radio competitions than actually sold from dealerships, |
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