| 2011 Kia Sportage vs 2010 Honda CR-V | March 9, 2010 | AUTORIVALS.NET |
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| With the release of the new Sportage, Kia is rounding out its lineup with fresh, attractive, and exponentially better vehicles. Kia's new look started with the Forte, then the Sorento, and now the Sportage is benefiting from Kia's new Chief Designer, Peter Schreyer. The new Sportage looks tougher yet more sophisticated than it ever was but is up against stiff competition. Honda's compact crossover, the CR-V, is the reigning SUV sales leader and recently received a modest update. Although it's doubtful the Sportage will overcome the CR-V, there's no doubt that it'll come closer than before. | ||
| 2011 Kia Sportage | vs | 2010 Honda CR-V |
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| Even though the Sportage has Kia's
family styling, I can't help but get the feeling that the CR-V
played a part in the design. The styling cues are obviously from
other Kia's (most notably the new
Sorento) but the bulbous shape is more than similar to the
CR-V's shape. That's not a bad thing though as it's more
muscular than other compact crossovers. The front fascia gets
Kia's new face as seen on the Sorento, but might even be better
looking. The headlights are lined with LEDs, a styling cue
synonymous with Audis which isn't that surprising now that Kia's
chief designer used to be Audi's chief designer. Changes to the CR-V are yawn-inducing but why mess with success? A new grille, bumper, and hood freshen up the front fascia to give the CR-V a slightly cleaner look. Only CR-V owners will probably take notice though. The fat bottom lip bumper is left intact which looked unusual back in 2006, but now is an ordinary sight. The CR-V looks a bit more rugged than the Sportage, but the Sportage looks arguably more upscale now. |
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| Kia calls the Sportage's front fascia a "tiger face," whatever that means. Regardless of what it's called, it works. Kia's new corporate grille leads nicely into the LED-lined headlights and topped off with a subtlety sculpted hood. The lower air intake flanked by the expanding fog light housings looks better on the Sportage than the Sorento due to it being painted black for a unified, single-piece look. The smoother front end gives the Sorento a lower drag coefficient of 0.37 than the previous generation (Cd 0.40). | ||
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| The Sportage is longer and wider
than the previous generation but manages a substantial 200 pound
weight loss. It looks sportier than before, better matching its
suggestive name. The steeply raked windshield leads into a
sloping roofline which ends in an oversized C-pillar. An extra
window behind the rear doors is missing but according to Kia,
it's proportions define "the entire look and feel of the car."
It also allows the C-pillar to be "reversed," as in flow
rearward unlike the CR-V, which gives rear passengers an
unobstructed view. Kia says Just the right amount of chrome is
used to outline the window to give a modest but elegant look. The CR-V's unusual, curved window silhouette remains unchanged from before. It's one of the few styling elements that really help it stand out from the crowd though. It be interesting to see if it makes it to the next generation but I'd prefer to see something like the jagged beltline seen in the Odyssey concept. |
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| The Sportage's fenders are boldly
flared with a concave design in the doors, another new Kia
trademark design. The rear also gets an indentation across the
middle which helps give the rear fascia a more dynamic look,
along with a moderate top-mounted spoiler. The raked rear gives
the Sportage a sportier look but sacrifices cargo space which is
now less than before. The CR-V's liftgate on the hand, has a bulge coming outward instead surrounding the license plate to keep the rear looking interesting. New 10-spoke wheels were added for the 2010 model year instead of 7 from before. |
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 The outline of the Sportage's rear is curved more and almost resembles the Infiniti FX with similar angular taillights. Rearward visibility is sacrificed for visual appeal as the rear window is short and wide. It angles at the bottom though to somewhat parallel the taillights. |
 The CR-V's rear looks busy compared to the Sportage. The flanking taillights, which are a CR-V trademark, are extra long and beginning to look outdated as they were left out of the list of changes that were made. The bumper is new however with painted surface that now encompass the reflectors. |
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| The Sportage's interior is kept
simple with a rather ordinary design. The one highlight might be
the vertically narrow center console which expands similar to
how the front fascia's lower grille does. As with most Kias,
there's a lot of bang for the buck with features including
USB and iPod
connectivity, available 7-inch LCD, navigation, Bluetooth, voice
recognition, Xenon headlamps, rearview camera, and even a engine
start/stop button. New safety features are added as well
including Hill-start Assist Control, Downhill Brake Control and
an Emergency Stop Signal system along with the usual Electronic
Stability Control. Not much is new with the CR-V's feature list except USB connectivity, auto on/off headlights, vanity mirror lights, and a digital compass. Exciting, isn't it? At least you still have the previous options available such as navigation, voice recognition, rearview camera, Bluetooth, etc. but you'll have to upgrade to the EX or EX-L to get them. |
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PROS +Sportier, brawnier, richer +LED-lined headlights +Looks even better than the Sorento CONS -Cargo capacity is reduced -Rearward visibility is hindered |
PROS +Unique styling cues +King of SUV sales CONS -Only modest updates -Needs a V6 |
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| Video Source: carsuk.net via YouTube | Video Source: KBB.com via YouTube |
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