2017 Kia Sportage EX AWD Update 5: So Many Features!

You’ll get more than you expect with the 2017 Kia Sportage when it comes to features. And that’s the way it should be, as Kia has increased consumer buying consideration with bolder designs and great value. Our $32,595 2017 Sportage EX AWD is as loaded as it gets for the naturally aspirated model, but there’s value below $30,000, too.

Take the 2017 Sportage EX. Before options (including $1,500 for all-wheel drive), that trim costs below $27,000 yet throws in a bunch of useful and cool content such as the polished 18-inch wheels on our long-termer, leather seats (heated in front), a power driver’s seat with power lumbar support, and hands-free keyless access. Not to mention there’s also the drive-mode select system, which is on every 2017 Sportage, and the automaker’s basic five-year/60,000-mile warranty. Keep in mind that although the EX’s standard 7.0-inch touchscreen doesn’t fill the dash quite as nicely as the 8.0-inch unit in our loaded EX tester, it offers Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which translates to a handful of great features, including a free navigation system anywhere your compatible iPhone or Android phone has a signal.

Our Sportage EX is equipped with the $1,500 all-wheel-drive system as well as two packages. The first, the $1,900 EX Premium package, adds a panoramic sunroof I love sharing with passengers, although I do sometimes wonder whether the feature will lead to interior creaks down the road. Other package features include blind-spot monitoring (good to have, but the warning chime is too loud), rear cross-traffic alert (fantastic), power-folding side-view mirrors (makes the car feel upscale), an auto-dimming rearview mirror, a heated steering wheel, and LED interior lights. It’s a reasonable price, but what bugs me is that an automatic emergency braking system isn’t offered on any 2017 Sportage below $31,000. Helpful active safety technologies can subtly keep the vehicle in its lane or apply the brakes if an obstacle ahead is detected, and some consumers might not realize how helpful they can be. The 2017 Toyota RAV4 includes these features as standard on every trim, but that crossover doesn’t offer the base Sportage EX’s features list at the same reasonable price.

Once you’ve selected the EX Premium package, the EX Technology package becomes available. For $2,800, you get the automatic emergency braking system, a lane departure warning system (it warns but doesn’t actively get the crossover back into its lane), a navigation system on an 8.0-inch screen, and a Harman Kardon sound system. A small spare tire is also added, as are very helpful front and rear parking sensors, an eight-way power front passenger seat, and ventilated front seats. Those last two are options you can’t find at any price on some other crossovers, but I wouldn’t miss the package’s smart power liftgate. Without having to wave your foot around under the rear bumper, simply stand behind the power liftgate for a few seconds, and it opens automatically. The feature is helpful, but it also takes a little while for it to work. If you frequently have your hands full of stuff for your kids or products from a home improvement store, you might find this feature more useful than I have.

I’d also prefer if the hands-free keyless access system didn’t require pushing a button on the nicely sculpted door handle to unlock before opening the door. Other systems, such as the ones used by Honda and Toyota, avoid this step—just put your hand on the door handle with the key in your pocket. Considering the Sportage already welcomes me by automatically unfolding its power side-view mirrors and illuminating LED puddle lights as I approach, making this change would be great.

Even so, there’s plenty to like about the Sportage’s feature set. It’s unlikely that any car you want will offer every feature you want at the price you want it, and with that in mind, this Kia performs respectably when it comes to content.

More on our long-term Kia Sportage right here:

• Arrival
• Update 1: Feed Me!
• Update 2: Apple CarPlay and iOS 10
• Update 3: Staying Safe
• Update 4: Slow and Efficient, but…

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