FAMILY CAR REVIEW: 2020 Kia Sportage GT Line

How good is the storage in the Kia Sportage? How big is the boot of the Kia Sportage?

The Sportage has two cup holders in the central console that are well sized to hold a reusable and disposable coffee cup and behind them is a small rubber-lined well.

Behind that, is a compact central console box, with an armrest lid.

There is a cordless phone charging well in front of the gear lever that has two 12V sockets and a USB port.

There is a lined glasses case in the ceiling too.

The glovebox is a great size. It would hold my iPad and wallet with the large manual.

The front door pockets will hold a large refillable water bottle and there are little storage wells in the door handles too.

In the back, there are net map pockets on the back of both front seats that will hold but not conceal an iPad and a USB and 12V socket on the back of the central console box.

There are two cup holders in the back, in a fold-down armrest in the central seatback. They will hold a reusable and disposable coffee cup.

The door bins will just hold a large refillable water bottle, a 600ml bottle fits much better and there are also little storage wells in the handles too.

Storage is excellent in the boot for one of the smaller mid-sized SUVs out there.

The boot space and its functionality are really important. I like to have a big boot space and little side wells or areas I can divide things into. So something I don’t want to move around while I’m driving such as Tulsi’s lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where it’s not going to spill or get squashed by the rest of the things in the boot.

Hooks for securing shopping bags to are also favourites of mine, I like being able to secure the bag containing more fragile things like eggs so they don’t move around on the journey.

I measure the boot space in freezer shopping bags, prams and dogs. Not because I think all there is to a mum’s life is food shopping, prams and dogs. (Although it can feel like it sometimes!!) But because these are visually mesurable items we can all associate with. For me, the car company boot measurement of litres is not an amount I can easily visualise and 400L in one car may differ in usability to that in another due to the configuration or shape of the space.

The boot of the Kia Sportage holds thirteen shopping bags from empty, that's one more than the VW Tiguan, and the same as the Mazda CX-5 and Honda CR-V.

A Duet twin stroller fits with three shopping bags.

The tandem pram fits with six shopping bags.

The Urban Jungle single pram fits with six shopping bags around it.

The Nano compact stroller fits with nine shopping bags beside it.

You could fit a medium-sized dog in the boot.

The boot opening is nice and wide, great for lifting prams in and out of and the floor is nice and flat and even, great for dogs and for an emergency nappy change on the boot floor!

How noisy is the Kia Sportage? How good is the media system in the Kia Sportage?

The Kia Sportage does have announcements for “school zone ahead” and lots of other warnings of this ilk. It's difficult to complain about something that is there for child safety however… I'm going to!! I find them a bit annoying!! And the “ding dong” sound it makes before these announcements is just like the one in Aldi when they open a new checkout lane!

The media system is great in the Kia Sportage, the split home screen makes it really easy to select the function you want while driving…

…and the options are really easy to use and navigate.

It does have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as well.

The reversing camera image is a little bit pixellated but it is a nice big image that fills the whole media screen.

You can turn the sensors off with a button, down in the central console.

Becoming a parent I soon realised there are some noises and sounds I feel are unnecessary and I could happily live without if it meant my baby stayed asleep!!

That often the distraction of my screaming, distressed baby is more dangerous when driving than not having a lane departure warning for example.

If it is the lane departure warning beeping that creates distress with my baby then which is safest?

It’s where I think we need to be able to strike a balance and choose when we can mute the warnings or swap them to a vibration in the steering wheel or flashing light perhaps?

A lot of these noises come with the increase in technology and especially linked to safety features and alerts. For me these all have their place.

Another thing I have realised is I spend my time in a lot more places where small children roam, parks, beaches, play gyms, swimming lessons, daycare centre etc. I have become more aware that when I’m reversing or manouvering in the car parks I have to tripple check for small children running around behind me or being in my blind spot when reversing. For this I LOVE reversing cameras, I just don’t like their beeping sounds!!

I have become so much more aware of safety and potential accidents or hazards since having a child and so I love the peace of mind that I get from the cameras and sensors combined with my own vision from windows and mirrors as I don’t trust cameras alone.

There are some great family-friendly features within the media system. In the Sat-nav you can turn the guidance volume up and down easily on the left of the screen.

You can also set it so you can use the volume controls on the steering wheel to do the same thing.

I find on most journeys when I use sat nav I only need directions for the last part of the journey. I know how to get to the area I am going and then it’s just the exact address I need help with. Because I need to input the address before I head off I found myself on most occasions when you can’t mute the sat nav voice having to listen to all the directions, which disturbs your concentration, any conversation in the car at the time or more importantly my sleeping baby! So being able to mute the sat nav voice until you reach the part where you actually need it is gold!

You can also alter the speaker sound position through the media screen so that you can move the sound away from bub in the back or put it solely to bub in the back if you don't want to listen to The Wiggles for the 9000th time.

You can lock the doors and windows from the driver's door control panel.

The indicator is not too loud and would not disturb a sleeping baby in the Kia Sportage.

The windows and doors in the Kia Sportage close relatively quietly and are not baby waking.

With baby asleep you can get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy. The same for the windows their mechanism is not too noisy and I didn’t notice them having a loud opening or closing sound.

With baby asleep you want to be able to get in and out without worrying the doors will be too noisy and wake Bub up!

An alarm did not sound when I came to a stop, took off my seatbelt and opened the door with the engine still running.

Since becoming a mum I spend A LOT of time parked up somewhere with a nice view while my daughter is asleep in the back! If it's hot I need to leave the engine running and the aircon on but I do like to get out and drink my cuppa tea in the fresh air while enjoying the fact my limbs are free from said dangling child!!

SO this is a very important test as I have found that sometimes I have been held hostage by a cars BEEEEPING alarms when I have taken off my seatbelt or opened the door while the engine is still running!! (I only stand outside the car, I am not a bad mother!!)

How many child seats fit in the Kia Sportage?

The Kia Sportage can fit three child seats in the back! It has ISOFix points in the two outer rear seats, they are not within plastic guides and are easy to connect to.

There are top tether anchorages on the back of all three backrests, they are within plastic guides and are nice and easy to access through the boot and connect to and the seatbacks come forward easily to post top tether straps through.

Fitting child seats in the Kia Sportage is relatively easy. I could fit three child seats in the back with a bit of a squeeze.

It is a more spacious fit with two child seats but I did find I could only just fit between the two child seats and I'm 162cm and my shoulders were very compressed.

With a forward-facing child seat, we found a 184cm driver could fit in front.

With a rear-facing child seat installed a 170cm driver could fit in front.

Posting bub into their child seat is fine from inside and outside the car and there is room to feed bub in the back with only one child seat installed.

Australia being a country of weather extremes blazing sun and torrential rain means you may find it easier to put bub into their seat from inside the car. If it’s hot you can get the aircon going, cool the car down and not stand out in the heat with the door open while you fasten them in or shelter from the rain and not get soaked yourself whilst you’re doing it. So it is important to test whether bub can be easily installed from either direction.

The seats in the model of Kia Sportage we tested are cream leather with perforated central panels which would be tricky to keep clean with kids and the perforations would trap all their crumbs and spills!

How comfortable is a Kia Sportage?

The seats of the Kia Sportage are comfortable in the front.

I found I couldn't wear a ponytail while driving though!

I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get it just right too… said no new mum ever!!!

The steering wheel is fully adjustable in/out and up/down and the cruise controls are on the right side of the steering wheel. They are very easy to use and I found the adaptive cruise control was nice and accurate in the Kia Sportage GT Line.

There are four air-con vents across the front dash. One either side of the media screen, and one at either end.

There are air vents in the back of the central console box which is great for keeping rear passengers cool in the Australian summer. The driver can reach the from the front too.

The controls for the air-con are centrally located on the dashboard and easy to reach and use while driving.

Visibility was good out of the driver's side and rear of the Sportage!

One thing I have noticed since being a mum is I hate it when I reach a destination or get home from being out and Tulsi has either done really well in the car or she is screaming her head off and I have done really well to keep it together for the entire journey (usually the latter!!) and it takes 10 minutes to park the car! It can be really stressful. Usually I dread when we drive big cars and utes as they tend to take longer to park in our tight apartment block carpark, the little Kia Sportage was quite easy and enjoyable to drive and to park!

Visibility is good for rear passengers too, the rear windows are large enough allowing them to see out and a lot of light inside the car so it does not feel cramped in the back.

In the back, the ceiling lights a tucked in behind the handles above the rear doors. I couldn't reach them from the front.

The handles above the rear doors on either side in the back are perfect for hanging a baby toy from.

I often will reach back to turn on the interior light if I am driving at night time, I find my little girl gets less distressed traveling at night that way. It helps if I can reach the interior light from the drivers seat so I can turn it on and off whilst driving. I often find my daughter will need it on as we start our journey in the dark but once she falls asleep I can turn it off.

It is also useful when there are lights situated above the doors where the handles are usually positioned. These are good for when putting baby into their child seats when visibility is poor, so you do not have to reach across them to a light situated in the ceiling centrally etc.

The Kia Sportage got a 5-star ANCAP safety rating in 2016. It was awarded a total score of 34.62 out of 37. For the frontal offset test, it scored 13.62 out of 16 and for the side impact test it got the maximum 16/16 and 2/2 for pole test and pedestrian detection was rated acceptable.

The Sportage has six airbags as standard. Driver and front passenger frontal airbags, front side airbags and side head curtain airbags.

The Kia Sportage comes with anti-lock braking system (ABS) with brake assist system (BA) and electronic brake-force distribution (EBD) with traction control system (TCS), hill-start assist (HSA), auto-dimming rearview mirror, lane-keeping assist system (LKAS), autonomous emergency braking (AEB), forward collision warning (FCW), driver attention alert, high mounted rear stop light, high beam assist (HBA), dusk-sensing automatic headlights, projector front fog lights, door open warning and speed sensing auto door lock as standard.

Some of these safety features are also features that drive me crazy as a mum! Like the lane departure and forward collision alert or the parking sensor beeping sound.

I want all the safety technology AND to be able to mute the sound when Tulsi’s asleep!