The NEW 2022 Kia Sportage GT Line is a great five-seater SUV for families. The previous model is very popular with our audience for its drive, price and practicality. So let's see how the new model stacks up as a BabyDrive…
BabyDrive Verdict
Well, I can safely say it will not disappoint, especially in this top-spec GT Line trim! The new Sportage looks great on the outside with its new angular styling and grille design and the interior is just as nice, with a long sweeping combined media and driver display screen that wraps around you for 2/3 of the width of the dash.
One of my favourite new features of the Sportage is the headrests! They have iPad holders in the back of them for rear passengers to watch while you are driving along.
On the sides of the front seats are USB ports so you can charge them while driving too. Also, bag hooks on the back of both front seats are perfect for school bags!
We found the iPad holders double as a jacket or satchel hook for when you don't have kids in the car. (Careful Kia you are heading into Skoda territory with all these handy gadgets!!)
If your family is larger and you need to fit three child seats across, I also tried three rear-facing Infasecure Attain More child seats and they fitted nicely too. We found a 180cm driver could fit in front of them and a 186cm front passenger could sit comfortably too.
Boot space has been increased in the new Kia Sportage and it will hold 16 shopping bags or a twin pram will fit in the boot with six shopping bags beside it.
2020 Kia Sportage
This is a good improvement over the previous model, shown above, would hold 13 shopping bags or a twin pram and three shopping bags.
The rest of the interior storage is quite practical with a good-sized glovebox and cup holders in the front and rear. I am disappointed the door bins are so narrow that I could only just force my reusable water bottle in them, my kids and husbands ones will not fit. Which meant theirs rolled around in footwells and on the back seat, which inevitably ends up with leaks and spills!
The media system is fantastic in the New Kia Sportage. It has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.
Away from your smartphone connection, the system is really lovely and simple to use and navigate and there are some nice features that are good for families. Like quiet mode, which brings the speaker volume to the front. Handy for when kids or passengers are asleep in the back or on their devices.
Another is voice memo, which we love using to record the funny conversations we have while driving along with our kids. I also like it when I'm on my own in the car for recording work reminders.
The reversing camera image is really crisp and clear, it's a nice big image that fills the screen and you can turn the parking sensors off easily in the central console.
There is also a 360-degree camera, which I find really useful when there are kids and pets around where you have parked.
The New Kia Sportage has a rearview camera that you can turn on while driving forwards using a button in the central console, giving you great visibility out of the back when you have passengers or child seats in blocking the view from your mirror.
The New Kia Sportage also has indicator cameras that come up in the driver's display screen, giving you better visibility down the side of the car when turning or changing lanes.
The New Kia Sportage has some great updates, making it a great mid-sized SUV for families. It is nippy and fun to drive with a classic yet modern look and feel inside and out. I found wind and road noise a little loud on motorways but it is easy to drive around town and to park and negotiate in tight school and supermarket car parks.
The New 2022 Kia Sportage SUV has yet to be given an ANCAP crash test rating. It has seven airbags as standard, including a central front airbag.
BabyDrive Indepth
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
How good is the storage in the New 2022 Kia Sportage?
In the front of the new Kia Sportage there are 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 storage area.
Behind that is a compact central console box, with an armrest lid.
In front of the cup holders is a wireless phone charging well with USB, USB-C and 12V sockets.
There is no glasses case in the ceiling of this new model which I do miss but seems to be the case with most new cars.
The glovebox is a practical size as it will hold my iPad, wallet and sunglasses with the manual.
The weakest link in the 2022 Sportage is the door bins. In both the front and rear they are too small unfortunately and will only just hold my small refillable water bottle, I had to force it in and found my kids' water bottles wouldn't fit. In the front, my wallet or iPad would fit too and there are storage wells in all the door handles too.
In the back, there are map pockets on the back of both front seats that will hold but not fully conceal an iPad and a bag hook above them. In the side of both front seats are USB sockets, which are perfectly positioned for charging rear passengers' phones and devices while driving and there is a phone storage shelf in the back of the central console.
My FAVOURITE storage in the New Kia Sportage are the rear iPad holders in the back of the front headrests! Genius!
They also double as a jacket or satchel hook when you don't have kids in the car đ
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.
How big is the boot of the New 2022 Kia Sportage?
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 donât want to move around while Iâm driving such as Tulsiâs lunch bag or her wet swimming gear can be sectioned off in a little well where itâs 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 donât 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 mumâs 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.
A twin pram fits with six shopping bags, whereas only three fitted in the old model.
The tandem pram fits with seven shopping bags.
The single pram fits with seven shopping bags around it.
A compact stroller fits with ten shopping bags beside it.
You could fit a large-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!
There is a 12V socket on the left wall of the bot and a spare tyre underneath the boot floor.
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
How noisy is the New 2022 Kia Sportage? How good is the media system in the New 2022 Kia Sportage?
The media system in the new Kia Sportage is part of a long sweeping curved screen that incorporates the driver display too.
It is a lovely big screen with a really nice media system that is very easy to use and to navigate.
It has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto so you can easily access your phone as well as its messaging, navigation and media apps while driving.
There are some great features that families will like; voice memo is fantastic for making yourself reminders or work notes and recording the funny conversations you have in the car with your kids.
Quiet mode lowers the speaker volume and brings it to the front, great for when kids fall asleep in the back or are on devices.
The New Kia Sportage has a really clear reversing camera that fills the whole media screen.
There is also a 360-degree camera which you can move around with the touch screen. I really like this when there are kids or animals around so you can see clearly around the whole outside of the car when manoeuvring.
You can turn off the parking sensors with a button in the central console.
You can also turn on the rearview camera while you are driving along so you get a lovely clear view out of the back, great for better visibility when you are full of passengers or child seats in the back.
The Sportage also has better visibility down the sides of the car with the indicator cameras that appear in the driver display screen.
The New 2022 Kia Sportage does have a few warnings and beeping sounds that can be disturbing and annoying for drivers or passengers whilst driving along. Beeping for being over the speed limit, announcements for “school zone ahead” and lots of other warnings of this ilk. These can be turned off in the media screen. It's difficult to complain about something that is there for child safety, however… I'm going to!! I find them a bit annoying when they interrupt something I'm listening to or wake up my sleeping child!
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?
Itâs 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 Iâm 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 donât 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 donât trust cameras alone.
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 2022 Kia Sportage.
The windows and doors in the Kia Sportage close 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 didnât 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!!)
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
How many child seats fit in the New 2022 Kia Sportage?
The 2022 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.
Three Infasecure child seats fit nicely in the back of the 2022 Kia Sportage. I fit three Infasecure Attain More child seats rear-facing or forward-facing across the back row.
Or two rear-facing Infasecure Attain ore child seats with a forward-facing Aspire More booster seat. With this forward-facing child seat, we found a 186cm driver could fit in front.
With a rear-facing child seat installed a 180cm driver could fit in front. Or a 186cm front passenger.
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 itâs 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 youâre doing it. So it is important to test whether Bub can be easily installed from either direction.
I tested the top-spec GT Line version of the 2022 Kia Sportage, which has perforated leather seats and suede panelling. These could be tricky to keep clean with kids and the perforations could trap all their crumbs and spills!
BabyDrive Indepth - Drive & Comfort
How comfortable is the New 2022 Kia Sportage?
The seats of the Kia Sportage GT Line are very comfortable in the front. They have electronic adjustment and you can save two seating positions.
They are heated and cooled in the GT Line model I tested.
I found although the headrests are not adjustable I could wear a ponytail while driving!
I had spent hours styling my hair this morning to get it just right… 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 to be accurate in the New 2022 Kia Sportage GT Line.
There are five air-con vents across the front dash. Two underneath the media screen and two on the front passenger side and one at the end of the media screen.
There are air vents in the back of the central console box which are great for keeping rear passengers cool in the Australian summer. The driver can reach them from the front too.
The controls for the air-con are centrally located on the dashboard and easy to reach and use while driving, as well as being adjustable through the media touch screen.
Visibility is very good out of the New Sportage, even when loaded with rear passengers and child seats.
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 Bub 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 Kia Sportage was quite easy and enjoyable to drive and to park!
The rearview camera makes it even better…
…as does the parking and 360degree camera.
The handles above the rear doors on either side in the back are also 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 New Sportage has seven airbags as standard; driver and front passenger SRS airbags, centre side airbag (front), front side SRS airbags and curtain SRS airbags.
Note: Trailer stability assist (TSA), blind-spot collision avoidance assist (BSCAA) with rear cross-traffic collision avoidance (RCCA) and high beam assist (HBA)Â come on all variants except the manual S and SX models.
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 Bubâs asleep!
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