Kia Sportage: Winter Car of the Week

The Kia Sportage is an excellent choice if you want a reasonably-priced, reliable family car that can cope with slippery conditions, and it also comes with the peace of mind of a seven-year/100,000 miles warranty.

The Sportage may be a road-biased SUV – which is more at home on tarmac than off it – but it can be specced with four-wheel drive. And, while it might not be as able off-road as cars such as the Land Rover Discovery, the Sportage can handle snowy road conditions, as well as being a lot cheaper to buy and run than the Land Rover.

The Kia has plenty of grip to be reasonably fun in the corners and, although the suspension can be bouncy, it’s also a comfortable cruiser on the motorway. The pick of the bunch is the 2.0-litre diesel - it has enough power to keep the Sportage feeling relatively nippy while returning economy of 50mpg.

The Sportage is a practical car, with plenty of room for adults in the back and a 564-litre boot. The back seats also split 60:40 to offer a decent 1,353 litres of load-lugging capacity, and there are plenty of cubbyholes dotted around the cabin.

It is worth noting that the Sportage has just had a refresh for 2014, so it gets subtle new looks, Flex Steer across the range – which allows you to adjust the weight of the steering – and tyre pressure monitors that will alert you to a puncture. Selected models also get kit such as a heated steering wheel, electrically adjustable driver’s seat, and a revised sat-nav system.

The Kia Sportage range starts at £17,495 for the 1.6-litre GDi petrol, while the cheapest 2.0-litre diesel is the KX-1, which costs £21,495.

For more information on the Kia range, visit the Carbuyer Kia reviews page.