2023 Kia Sportage SX+ 2.0L Diesel AWD Review

We are a big fan of the latest generation Kia Sportage here at DiscoverAuto. It’s a polished product with a a long list of attributes to offer mid-size SUV buyers in Australia. We have tested nearly every variant from the base S to the mid-spec SX, the top-spec GT-Line Petrol and its diesel-fuelled brother, the GT-Line Diesel but there’s one left in the range that we hadn’t had our hands on yet. Enter the second-from-top 2023 Kia Sportage SX+, this time fitted with the optional diesel engine. Is it the pick of the lineup? Let’s find out.

The Kia Sportage competes in the ever popular mid-sized SUV segment meaning it rivals the likes of the Subaru Forester, Hyundai Tucson, Toyota RAV4, Mazda CX-5, Nissan X-Trail, Mitsubishi Outlander and many more. With such a long list of rivals, the Sportage needs to be more than excellent to shine, so does it?

Price & Equipment: 8/10

The 2023 Kia Sportage range kicks off at $32,795 plus on-road costs for the manual S, but the SX+ we have here starts from $41,850 +ORC. Add the diesel engine (with all-wheel drive) like the car tested here and that brings the price to $47,250 plus on-road costs (around $51,800 drive away, depending on location).

For the money, the Sportage SX+ is equipped with 19-inch alloy wheels, automatic LED lighting, auto wipers, roof rails, smart keyless entry with push button start, dual-zone climate control with rear vents, faux leather upholstery, a 10-way powered driver’s seat (including lumbar adjustment), heated front seats, a leather steering wheel and gear lever, a 12.3-inch touchscreen with wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio, satellite navigation, an eight-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, an auto-dimming rear view mirror, a power tailgate, a rear centre armrest with cup holders, remote key operation for the front windows, heated and auto-folding mirrors and four USB ports (1 x USB-A and 3x USB-C).

Safety equipment includes seven airbags (including a front centre unit), autonomous emergency braking (AEB) with pedestrian, cyclist and intersection assist, lane keep assist, lane departure warning, blind-spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert (both with braking), adaptive cruise control with stop and go functionality, auto high beam, driver attention alert with leading vehicle departure alert, rear occupant alert, safe exit assist, a reversing camera and front and rear parking sensors.

The sole standard colour available on the Sportage SX+ is ‘Clear White’. ‘Fusion Black’, ‘Jungle Wood Green’, ‘Gravity Grey’, ‘Steel Grey’, ‘Dawning Red’, ‘Snow White Pearl’ and our test car’s ‘Vesta Blue’ paintwork come at a $520 premium and black is the sole interior colour.

The addition of a powered passenger seat, LED tailights, wireless phone charging and wireless smart phone mirroring would go a long way in justifying the price of the Sportage SX+. Spending the extra $5,470 to buy the Sportage GT-Line Diesel ($52,720 +ORC) adds a different design to the wheels, a 360-degree surround view camera, blind-spot cameras, memory for the driver’s seat, an electric passenger seat, projector LED headlights, LED tailights, a panoramic sunroof, alloy pedals, ambient lighting, wireless smartphone charging, a luggage net, a 12.3-inch curved digital driver’s display and ventilated front seats. That’s money well spent, in our opinion.

Direct rivals for the 2023 Kia Sportage SX+ Diesel include the $45,900 Hyundai Tucson Elite Diesel and the $46,880 Mazda CX-5 Touring Active Diesel. Both rivals here are less expensive than the Sportage, but despite that, we think the Sportage looks like good value for money, particularly against the Mazda. While the CX-5 has a heads-up display, the Sportage has a larger 12.3-inch touchscreen, a powered driver’s seat, a hands-free tailgate, a premium sound system, rear occupant alert and an extra airbag.

Performance & Economy: 8.5/10

The standard engine offered on the 2023 Kia Sportage SX+ is a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder petrol unit that puts 115kW/192Nm through solely the front wheels. Optional and fitted to our test car is the 2.0-litre turbo diesel four-cylinder unit that makes 137kW of power (at 4,000rpm) and 416Nm of torque (between 2,000 and 2,750rpm) and is equipped with all-wheel drive as standard. The same engine is used in the Hyundai Tucson, while Mazda’s diesel CX-5 makes 140kW/450Nm (though it has an extra turbo to help out).

While diesel engines are not for everybody – we believe that you have to be doing at least some highway driving to get the best out of them – the engine in the Sportage SX+ is a great offering. It’s smooth and offers effortless power low in the rev range making it feel quite punchy, especially in comparison to the largely gutless 2.0-litre petrol engine in the Sportage range. It’s also not as noisy as other diesel engines and offers a good amount of power when you step on the accelerator pedal.

The sole transmission that is paired with the diesel motor is an eight-speed torque converter automatic, which is as smooth and effortless as the engine itself, and a far better unit than the lacklustre seven-speed dual-clutch automatic that’s used in the 1.6-litre turbo petrol engine. The drivetrain in the Sportage diesel is a very low stress one, nothing is too much for it and it never feels like it struggles (which is more than can be said for the 2.0-litre petrol).

The claimed average fuel consumption figure for the Sportage SX+ diesel is 6.3L/100km and with a mixture of motorway and urban driving, we managed to see an average of 8.0L/100km. In comparison, the 2.2-litre twin-turbo diesel in the CX-5’s claim is 5.7L/100km and we’ve seen consumption of 7.5L/100km in our testing, making it a touch more efficient – but also more powerful too.

Ride & Handling: 9/10

The Sportage is one of our favourite mid-size SUVs to drive, and even riding on the large 19-inch wheels that the SX+ comes standard fit with, it still rides very well. There is a great balance between ride comfort and handling ability with the suspension having been tuned for Australian roads. We were very happy with the damping and ride quality of the Sportage, even as far as to say that it rides better than the equivalent Toyota RAV4.

Underpinning the 2023 Kia Sportage is the same ‘N3’ platform that is also under the Hyundai Tucson. This is a very good thing as both cars are keen handlers when shown bends. They are obviously no sports car but can very much hold their own in the twisties. The steering is also well weighted and offers a good amount of feel. The road noise on the Sportage is well suppressed as well – there is not much road noise or tyre noise and the active safety systems are well tuned too.

Interior & Practicality: 8.5/10

One of the larger changes of this new model Sportage compared to its predecessor is the interior – the previous model’s interior was definitely more conservative looking, but the new model has been drastically modernised with an expansive layout, airy feeling and tech-heavy features.

The materials in the Sportage SX+ are a definite step up on the entry-level Sportage models. The hard trims around the centre console would be much better for your legs if they were covered in a soft faux leather trim, but the other materials – soft touch plastic on the doors and dashboard – are generally quite good, though not quite to CX-5 levels. The synthetic leather seats are very comfortable and offer a great amount of support, which is helpful for longer trips.

Centre of the Sportage SX+’s interior is a huge 12.3-inch touchscreen that features wired Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, digital radio and satellite navigation with live traffic updates. It’s a great system with excellent colours, a crisp screen and really easy menus. It’s a shame that it doesn’t have wireless phone mirroring unlike the smaller screen in the base model Sportage S, but we think it’s best in class and it adds a lot to the cabin experience.

The part-digital driver’s display dials in the Sportage are a little odd and take some time to get used to. The eight-speaker Harman Kardon sound system is very good and much more powerful than the ‘JBL’ systems found in upper-spec Toyota RAV4s.

Getting into the rear of the 2023 Kia Sportage is easy as the doors open nice and wide. There is also plenty of room in there with even taller adults being able to comfortably sit behind one another with excellent knee, foot and headroom. As far as amenities go, there are rear air vents, door bins, a centre armrest with cupholders, map pockets and two USB-C charging ports mounted in the rear of the front seats. There are two ISOFIX points too, and three tethering points as well.

The boot of the 2022 Kia Sportage SX+ measures 543-litres with the rear seats up and a huge 1,829L with the rear seats folded – that’s just bigger than the RAV4 (542L) and Tucson (539L), and a lot bigger than the CX-5 (432L). The boot also features a few tie down points, remote releases for folding the rear seats, under-floor storage, a full-size alloy spare wheel and a 12V socket. In this segment, it doesn’t get easier for practicality than the Sportage.

Service & Warranty: 8.5/10

Like all other new Kia products, the 2023 Kia Sportage comes with a seven-year/unlimited km warranty which is superior to its competitors’ five-year/unlimited km terms. If you service your Sportage at a Kia dealership, you can earn up to eight years of roadside assistance as well, which is more than two years more than rivals. 

Servicing the Sportage SX+ diesel occurs every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first. The cost of servicing the Sportage over the span of five years or 75,000km is a pricey $2,478 ($495.60 per service). This is a lot more expensive than the $1,875 which it costs to service the Hyundai Tucson diesel – which has the same engine – and the $2,214 it costs to service the Mazda CX-5 over five years, though keep in mind the Mazda’s shorter 10,000km service intervals if you drive more than that annually.

2023 Kia Sportage SX+ Diesel DiscoverAuto Rating: 8.5/10

There is no getting around that the 2023 Kia Sportage SX+ is a fantastic option for those looking at the mid-sized SUV segment. It offers a good amount of equipment, great safety features, a practical interior and a nice driving characteristics to make it a great all-rounder. Pairing this with Kia’s excellent 2.0-litre diesel engine makes the Sportage an absolute dream in this segment, with none of the drivetrain drawbacks that we’ve seen in both the 2.0-litre naturally aspirated and 1.6-litre turbo Sportage models.

It’s not all good though – the purchase price could be lower, it could be much cheaper to service and we would like to see little things like wireless smartphone mirroring added to the standard equipment list but would this stop us considering what is otherwise a great SUV? Absolutely not, and we think that the Sportage should be at the top of your test drive list if you’re after a mid-size SUV.