2027 Kia Sportage -- More Trims With 41 MPG! (What's New for 2027??)

What's going on YouTube? So just last year, the Sportage went under the knife, adding more value, tech, and luxury to this popular nameplate. And now for 2027, Kia continues to evolve the Sportage with some nice improvements, including one that lowers the price of the hybrid. So what are all the changes and how does it stack up against the rivals? Well, let's go ahead and find out. All right, so let's start out under the hood. The Sportage continues to be available with gas, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid options. This year, this is the hybrid, which is a 1.6 liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine with your hybrid electric componentry, making 232 horsepower. It's paired to a six-speed automatic transmission. And new for 2027, almost every trim of the hybrid is available with front-wheel drive, meaning it can get up to 41 MPG combined. Now, the base price in 2027 is around 28,000 bucks. And if you're looking to buy one or any vehicle, we'd encourage you to check out carconfections.com slash newcarquotes to get the best price. Now, of course, we'll take it out for a spin to show you the performance of this hybrid system. But first, we need to take a look at the exterior, discuss some 27 changes, as well as the inside. Now, like we mentioned at the beginning, the Sportage was just updated last year. And with that, Kia kind of changed the design, especially up here in the front, to be a little bit boxier in overall appearance and kind of more like the Telluride model. That being said, for 2027, it does remain the same. You've got a lot of different trim levels. Each one has some different characteristics, but this is the SX Prestige. We've got the gloss black finish through there, some silver accents at the top, as well as down here at the bottom. Now, the lighting is very premium on the Sportage. You'll have standard full LED headlights on all models, but especially if you go for the SX Prestige, you get these really high-end stacked crystal design LEDs. These are projector LED headlights, and they're really, really good at night. We have our daytime running light and turn signal indicator. And then the Prestige also gives you the LED fog lamps. Wheel sizes on the 2027 Sportage range from 17 inches to 19 inches. We've got the 19-inch alloy, of course, with the contrast design. It's got that very geometric look like we've seen on many Kia products. Matching with the gloss black finish, you have gloss black wheel arches, as well as the lower part of the body. And as we move up here to our mirrors, almost every single version of the Sportage will come standard with heated mirrors and blind spot monitoring. If you want power folding, though, you do need to choose a top trim. Now, at the side of the Sportage, overall vehicle length is 184.4 inches. And in terms of design, we have blacked out window surrounds, this unique pillar right here. And we also have roof rails up here at the top. They're gonna be kind of the flush roof rail design for the SX Prestige. Or if you get an X-line variant, that's gonna give you the raised roof rail design to give you that a little bit more rugged overall appearance. You can also get a black roof just on the X-Pro trim levels. Now, as we head around to the rear design, like Drew was mentioning in the front, they did update the overall design last year. So nothing's gonna change in terms of the overall look. However, we do have some really nice details. So we have the spoiler right up here. We have a wiper that's integrated underneath. And then dropping down, we have some really nice taillights. That's one of the updates they made last year is full LED taillights across the entire trim lineups. That includes even the base models. And they have that clear taillight design. Your reverse light's integrated right here. You have a little bit of silver accenting. And as far as your tow capacity, it comes in at 3,500 pounds for gas or 2,000 pounds for the hybrid. Now, in the family space, it's important to have all of your safety systems as standard equipment. That will be the case for the Sportage, including things like adaptive cruise control. You can also get, furthermore, some fancy features on the fully loaded examples like this Prestige, such as Highway Drive Assist 2.0, which will even do some automatic lane changing for you. But guys, I think you'll be very impressed by the level of equipment that you'll find on the inside. But first, if you're new here, we're brothers, and we've been reviewing cars since we were 12. And 16. We started young, and since then, we've reviewed over 2,000 cars at every price point. Ha! No matter what you're looking for, from our long-term vehicle videos to our side-by-side comparisons, we'd love for you to subscribe to be a part of our car confections family. Let's learn a lot and have some fun with all the latest cars. All right, now let's move to the inside. First, here is our Kia key fob. It's the brand's typical fob design. You have a smart entry system as standard on all models. Available remote start, and the top trim here even comes with Smart Park. Now, as we walk up to the vehicle, it'll center approach and fold the mirrors outward. You can just grab behind the handle to unlock the door. And just like with the exterior, Kia refreshed the inside of this last year. So we've got a pretty modern look with the rest of Kia's lineup. And let's jump into some individual details. So as far as the seats are concerned, you will start out with a cloth seat. You move up to a Syntex, which is a faux leather, and then you have premium Syntex on your top trims. That's what you're looking at here. So we have perforation running throughout. You even have this cloth accent up here at the top, and then color contrast accenting down the side. Overall, it's a very comfortable and nice-looking seat. You will find power-adjusting seats on all but the base LX with two-way lumbar support. And as we turn over here to the memory seats, this is something I want to talk about for 2027, because the mid-level X-Line, which is a very popular trim choice in the Sportage lineup, is getting a new option this year. It's called the Tech Package. One of the technologies that that includes is memory seating and also the Harman Kardon audio system you see there on the door trim. So those are two of the big benefits that you can now add to the X-Line this year. Well, let's go ahead, climb inside. Closing up the door, let's look around at the cabin materials. So over here, we've got a leatherette with a stitching detail. We have the light gray leatherette through here, then a soft-touch plastic at the top. The upper dashboard is finished entirely in a soft-touch plastic with a stitching detail. We have kind of a faux brushed aluminum to the center, a little bit of piano black through there, and then they also finished the entire center area with the brushed aluminum look, which I definitely like instead of a piano black. There is no padding along the console, but build quality is really good. Let's fire it up with the push-button start. And now we can jump into some individual features and details. We will start with the gauge cluster. So there's a full digital option, which is what you're looking at here. There's also a partially digital option for your lower end examples. This is actually also part of the X-Line technology package I was mentioning earlier because you get the full digital display on that, and you also get the blind spot camera system that you see right there. Up at the top, though, if you want a head-up display, which is a pretty rare feature for the segment, that is only on the SX Prestige. Pulling back to the steering wheel, we've got the kind of squared-off Kia design with just two spokes. It is manual tilt and telescoping, and on the Prestige trims, you get steering wheel heating. Let's take a look at interior storage. Of course, having a lot of space is very important for a vehicle like this, and inside the center console, you will find quite a few donuts, nine donuts to be exact, so not quite the dozen donuts some of the rivals can. Definitely hit the dozen donuts, but they've really cut out the lid, so it kind of snaps around those donuts, which accommodates more than you would think. Now, in front of that, you have more storage, or you have the pop-out cup holders. You can slide back that, and most trims will come with a wireless phone charging pad as well as some additional USB connections. As we move back to the shifter, gas models will come with a traditional shifter. This hybrid gives you the electronic style. Twist to D for drive. Go the opposite way for reverse. Here's our 360-degree camera system. Again, this is another feature reserved for your top-end trim levels or also the X line with the new technology package. This will give you the ability to see the vehicle in 3D as well. Press the P there for park. You also have an electronic parking brake behind that. Now, off to the side of the shifter, you'll see an array of buttons. Most trims will come with standard heated seats. If you want seat ventilation, that's included just on the SXP models. And then let's talk about the general climate controls. You can see right there, we've got a dual-zone automatic setup that's on all but the gas LX trim level, and you can adjust the temperature with these knobs. The rest of the controls are gonna be inside of the touch display. Now, you probably have seen this by this point since this vehicle's been out for several years. It does have a multi-function version of the climate control so you actually click that and this suddenly becomes the volume knob. Now, with the audio systems, you have a wide assortment of them depending on which trim level you choose. But if you want the Harman Kardon, again, you can get the X line with tech package, or you can also get one of the higher-end examples like SX and SX Prestige. Let's give it a sample. Overall, sound quality of this system is certainly pretty good. Within this segment, this is one of the better sounding sound systems, in my opinion. All right, let's turn our attention to our main infotainment system now. So, this does come standard with the 12.3-inch display on all trims, even the base models. Also included within that is wireless Apple CarPlay and Apple CarPlay Pro. You can see that that's what I'm in right now. The rest of the system is going to be Hyundai and Kia CCNC, and you do have built-in navigation. Up at the top here, you have a manual dimming mirror actually on all trims. You can actually option on an auto-dimming one if you prefer. And then I'll slide back the really fast-moving sunshade for the panoramic sunroof. As you can see, the front panel opens up, and of course, this is gonna be reserved for your upper-end trim levels. So, let's talk about the rear seats in the Sportage. First and foremost, I wanna talk about space figures. So, what we're looking at is 41.3 inches of legroom and 38 inches of headroom. Compared to most of the main rivals, that's actually larger than something like a Toyota RAV4, and Kia is claiming that it's pretty much class-leading. That and the Honda CR-V are going to be pretty much your largest options that you can get. Now, of course, I brought along the official car confections ruler. The reason I do that is to get a realistic knee-room figure for you, and indeed, that figure is backed up. I'm 5'9", and we are looking at a really good 10 inches of additional knee-room. Also, my feet can easily slide up underneath of the seats. Speaking of the rear seats, these are very comfortable rear seats, and I also really like the headrest, and we also have the ability to recline a really good distance as well. Now, folding down the center armrest, we have two cup holders inside of here. We're not done yet when it comes to features, though, because we have vents right here in the center section, two USB ports, one in each seat back, and then you also have this little storage cubby down below. You can use this as a little hook. You can also use the back of the headrest as a hook as well, and if you look over at the door trim, you'll notice that we have heated back seats. That's going to be a feature that's just on the Essex Prestige Hybrid models, so for whatever reason, if you get the gas one, you don't get that feature, but overall, really nice door trim and a lot of features here in the rear, including bottle storage down in the very bottom. Walking up to the tailgate, as long as you choose, one of the higher-end examples, you will get a power hands-free one. That's going to be the Hybrid EX trim and above for this particular powertrain, and let's talk about overall cargo capacity, so 39 cubic feet of cargo capacity is what you're looking at behind the second row of seats, and if I fold those seats down, which, by the way, they do fold 60-40 split, and there are handles to easily fold them from the cargo area. That is a nice benefit. We're going to have a maximum of 74 cubic feet of cargo capacity, which is also a really, really good figure, guys. Compared to most of the main competition, it's not the class leader. The Honda CR-V's slightly bigger, but this is one of the best in the entire segment. Now, speaking of all the options in this segment, it's very competitive, and we'd encourage you to check out carconfections.com slash vehicle rankings. The reason you should do that is because we've gone through and looked at every compact SUV on the market, things like the RAV4, and we've ranked them in individual categories like cargo capacity, interior luxury, technology, powertrain choices, value, and you can sort the list based on the categories that are most important to you to really make an informed buying decision. Like I said, this segment is super competitive, so you'll definitely want to do yourself a favor and check out that on our website. Now, let's go ahead and get our car confections measurements here in the cargo area. So, cargo length behind Drew's driving position is 76 inches. From behind the second row of seats, you can expect about 39 inches of length, 42 inches wide, and the height on this is going to be about 29 inches tall, so the height's going to be a little bit smaller than some of the competitors, and then the load-in height is coming in at a pretty solid 30 inches. Now, underneath the floor, let me lift that up. Surprisingly, you will find a spare tire. That's something that especially a lot of the hybrid options do not include in the segment, as well as a 12-volt outlet. Well, guys, here we are behind the wheel of the 2027 Kia Sportage, and this test drive we'll be discussing quite a lot, as you can see on the screen right now, but first and foremost, we need to go ahead and start with a hard acceleration. All right, there's a nice little acceleration up to about 60 miles per hour. So, like we mentioned, there's a spec dump. Sportage continues to be available with three different powertrains, so you can kind of pick whatever matches best with your lifestyle. This is the hybrid version, which is increasing a lot in popularity. It's a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine. With your hybrid electric componentry, it makes 232 horsepower, so it's a nice step up in terms of power over top of the traditional gas option. It's also a little bit quieter as you are accelerating, and we'll talk about it later, but of course, you get a big bump in fuel economy. Absolutely. So, overall, we've lived with this hybrid system for a full week in the past, and we've been very impressed with it. I like the quietness of it, like Drew was saying, that all-electric torque that gets you off the line. For the refresh, they give it a little bit more power as well. The zero to 60 is 7.4 seconds for this hybrid, so that's a pretty good zero to 60 for the segment, and it's definitely a big upgrade over the standard gas option, which goes zero to 60 in 9.1 seconds. That's gonna be a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine, 187 horsepower on board with that, so if you're one of those people that is very anti-hybrid and doesn't want the hybrid option, Kia will sell you one of those, so that's a nice benefit for those of you that really don't like hybrids, but the 9.1 second to 60 is definitely quite a bit slower than this hybridized version. There's also a plug-in hybrid as well for those of you wanting the maximum efficiency, and that makes 268 horsepower in a zero to 60 in seven seconds. Yeah, nice electric torque. Now, let's talk about the other element of the powertrain. It's the transmission. This actually comes with a six-speed automatic transmission, so as we pointed out in the past, that's one of the things that kind of distinguishes Kia and Hyundai hybrid systems from a lot of the competition, which use eCVTs, so if you like that more conventional feel, you will like this transmission overall. Obviously, it's a six-speed, so it's not super fast, and there's not a ton of gears to choose from, but it gets the job done just fine. Yeah, and as far as the gas model, that has an eight-speed automatic transmission, and their power is routed to the ground via the front wheels or optional all-wheel drive. Drew mentioned this is the spec'd up, but one of the main changes for 2027 that I think is a really big benefit is the fact that you can get front-wheel drive, hybrid S and EX trim levels, so that does mean that that kind of reduces the price point for those two very popular trim levels by about $1,500, and in addition to that, it's also going to get you a better fuel economy, so for those of you that want a lower price and also to get better efficiency, so that's kind of a win-win in that category if you don't need all-wheel drive, that is a new option for 2027. I think that's a really good move by Kia. Speaking of the fuel economy, it comes in at 41 miles per gallon for a hybrid front-wheel drive variant, so those new two trim levels can get that 41 MPG, and the all-wheel drive, like what we have today, is sitting at 35 MPG, so it is a pretty big difference between front-wheel drive and all-wheel drive in terms of hybrid fuel economy. The gas versions are 26 and 28 MPG combined. All right, but we have turned out on our designated strip of road to get things like our sound level reading, so once we get up to 55 miles per hour, we'll see how quiet this cabin is compared to the numerous rivals. We have it on fan speed one, and all of our vented seats are powered off. 55.3 decibels is what we are sitting at as our sound level reading. I don't have to sit here and guess how it compares to the competition. I can actually find that at carconfections.com slash sound level readings, where we posted all of the competition and their sound level readings. That does mean it's not the quietest option in the segment, but it is one of the quieter choices that is for sure. We've seen that kind of in the past several Kia Sportages that we've tested out. One of the quieter options, like a Honda CR-V's definitely gonna be on the louder end. The Toyota RAV4 is a little louder as well. This is definitely a pretty quiet and premium experience. Speaking of that, as we hit this bridge abutment, excuse me, in the road, I wanna talk about ride quality. As I said at the very beginning of this video, we've actually spent a week with Kia Sportage, not too long ago, and before that, even more time with it. This has really great ride quality. That's one of the strong suits of the Sportage. It does a great job of soaking bumps as you hit them in the road. The seats are super comfortable. This is not really a sporty option. It definitely doesn't have the dynamics that a Honda CR-V or Mazda CX-5 has, but overall, the comfort side, they did a really, really good job on if that's what you're concerned with. Now, the handoff between the electric power and the gas motor are very smooth, and let's talk about the slam dunk and air ball for today. I'll begin with the slam dunk, and that is the value and the 2027 changes. This vehicle has always made such an insanely strong argument when it comes to value. You just get so much for such a good price. You know, we're driving around in the fully loaded model, and Mason's about to talk about pricing in just a second, but it's not a very different price than what we paid for our mid-level Toyota RAV4, so you really just get a lot more for the money here with the Kia Sportage, and then for 2027, I like that they're adding the additional options, such as that tech package on the mid-level X-Line, so you can get even more for a better price. Absolutely. Now, on the flip side, our air ball today is just going to be a few things inside of this cabin of the Sportage. It's hard to really find things to pick apart, but we do not like the dual-function climate and audio controls. That is something that, you know, in the recent Kia products, they have gotten rid of, but this is, you know, one of their older products. It still has it. It's confusing to use while driving. I really dislike using that. Also, I will point out the storage inside this cabin is less than a lot of the main competitors. We actually just spent a week with a Honda CR-V we own a RAV4, so, you know, those two direct rivals have a lot better cabin space and ergonomics, so that's also starting to show its age a little bit. So we start out around $28,000 as a base price for 2027, and you can see the full lineup of prices on the screen right now. There are quite a few powertrains and also quite a few trim levels. Now, we have probably one of my favorite configurations. This is the 27 Sportage Hybrid SX Prestige all-wheel drive, which starts at a little over $40,000 after we add in $200 of floor mats, $1,495 destination. We are sitting at $42,385 as tested today, which is a pretty good value for this segment. If you're curious as to where it's assembled, that is going to be in Korea for this specific model. However, I do want to point out one of the 2027 changes is that they will now be building the Sportage Hybrid in Savannah, Georgia, so it will actually be made in the U.S. as well. Now, if you're looking to buy a Kia Sportage or any vehicle, we'd encourage you to check out carconfections.com slash new car quotes. The reason you should do that is because we have a tool on our website that will connect you with local car dealers in your area to get you the best price. It's also going to give you access to invoice pricing information, which is a great tool to use if you plan on doing some dealership negotiation. There's even things like a monthly payment calculator, so if you want to find all of that, you can find a link to that down below in our video description, as well as a pinned comment at the top of this video. But what about Kia's resale reliability and warranty? First up, let's talk about resale value. Kia as a brand is rated at 49.02% of estimated retained value after five years and 60,000 miles, and after 10 years and 120,000 miles, 21.13%. Now, it's worth noting that those are right at the industry average for all vehicle brands. However, it will be less than some of your main competitors, such as Honda, Toyota, and Mazda. Now, we also have reliability information with our combined reliability index. With the latest data, Kia is rated above the overall industry average against all other vehicle makes. Now, if you'd like to learn more about our resale values, reliability data, or our methodology, you can find all of that on our website, carconfections.com. When it comes to your warranty, Kia does give you a really good one. It is a five-year, 60,000-mile basic warranty, a 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain. However, you do not get any complimentary maintenance. And guys, that's all for our in-depth review of the 2027 Kia Sportage. If you enjoyed hearing all the 2027 changes that we covered in this video, we'd appreciate you subscribing down below and becoming a part of our car confections family. We strive to provide you all with the latest and greatest reviews to make an informed buying decision. So if that helped you out, please subscribe down below. Also, if you're already a part of our family, thank you so much for your continued support. You make this all possible. We'll catch you next time as we sample more of the latest automotive delicacies.