This is the 2023 Kia Sportage SX+, the mid-range five-seater SUV for families. The top-spec 2022 model we previously reviewed is very popular with families. Let's jump straight in and see how this 2023 model stacks up as a BabyDrive…
BabyDrive Verdict
Let's start with the child seats. There are ISOFix in the two outer rear seats. They are not within plastic guides but are nice and easy to attach to.
Top tether anchorages are on the back of all three rear seat backs. They are nice and easy to connect through the boot.
For those families that need to, three Infasecure child seats fit really nicely across the back seats. I installed the Infasecure Adapt More Infant Capsule rear-facing behind the driver and the Infasecure Momentum More and Attain More forward-facing in the other seats.
Our family of four found the Kia Sportage very comfortable. We had a child seat in each of the outer rear seats leaving the central seat empty if we had a friend coming for a playdate or I sat in the back with the kids too. We found a 180cm driver could fit in front of the rear-facing Infasecure Adapt More Infant Capsule or taller if it was a forward-facing child seat.
Storage is great in the back of the Kia Sportage. There are two cup holders in a fold-down in the central seat back that will hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup or a kid's drink cup fits too.
Map pockets in the back of both front seats will hold an iPad, and there are hooks too great for holding a school bag. In the back of the central console box is a phone tray, and there are USBC sockets in the side of each of the front seats so rear passengers can charge their devices.
On the back of the front headrests are jacket or iPad holders, which are super handy for families so their kids can watch while driving along!
The rear door bins will fit a water bottle, and there are little handle wells too.
In the front, the storage is good too. There are two cup holders that you press a button so they rotate out in the central console that will hold a reusable or disposable coffee cup and a phone charging tray in front of the gear lever with USB, USBC and 2V sockets.
The central console box is small, and the glove box will hold a wallet and iPad with the manual.
Door bins in the front will hold a small disposable water bottle, and an iPad fits too.
The rear passengers have aircon vents in the back of the central console box so you can keep them at the right temperature all year round while driving along.
The media system in the 2023 Kia Sportage is lovely modern, and easy to navigate.
It has some great Kia features for families, like Quiet Mode, which brings the sound from the speakers to the front of the car when you press it. This is really helpful when your child falls asleep in the back so you can keep listening to your music without disturbing them.
There is a voice memo for making audio notes, and you can change a lot of things in the settings, including sound, which can be helpful with kids who are sensitive to noise.
You can control the climate through the media screen too.
The Sportage has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so you can easily access your phone for music and Apps while driving.
The camera image quality is excellent in the Kia Sportage, and the image is really large on the screen when you are in reverse and you can easily turn the parking sensors off with a button in the central console.
When it comes to storage in the boot of the 2023 Kia Sportage, the boot door opens electronically and with a touch button and closes that way too. There is a retractable roller blind, and the boot floor is nice and flat and carpeted, which is great for carrying dogs or for emergency nappy changes!
For families with two infants, a twin pram fits in the boot of the Kia Sportage with five shopping bags.
The new 6-in-1 Jiffle Wagon fits in the boot of the Kia Sportage in various configurations. The Jiffle Wagon cart fits with eight shopping bags and you can load up to 60 kilos of groceries or baby stuff inside the Jiffle Wagon.
The Jiffle Wagon with the bassinet attachment fits with four shopping bags.
The Jiffle Wagon, with its seat, fits with four shopping bags.
The Jiffle Wagon with the Infasecure Adapt More Infant Capsule installed into the Sportage…
…fits with eight shopping bags.
If your family has a fur baby, you'll need to know a medium-sized dog will fit in the boot of the Kia Sportage.
The drive is great in the 2023 Kia Sportage. There is a bit of a lag in acceleration up steep hills, which could be improved and I found there was a bit of wind and road noise on motorways. The visibility is good out of the back windscreen with three Infasecure child seats installed.
If you want even better visibility, there is a rearview camera view you can turn on in the media screen, which gives you perfect vision at the back.
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The steering is light and the turning circle is good, so it's a great car for around town and is easy to park and maneuver in tight places like school and supermarket car parks.
The Kia Sportage makes a great family car able to hold up to three Infasecure child seats comfortably in the back and two passengers in the front with a good amount of legroom. The drive is good and the media system is modern, easy to use and has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. Boot space is ample for a family with infants and the Jiffle Wagon 6-in-1 pram fits easily in the boot.
The Kia Sportage SUV has a five-star ANCAP crash test rating. It has seven airbags as standard, including dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting (curtain) airbags. A centre airbag which provides added protection to front seat occupants in side impact crashes.
BabyDrive Indepth
BabyDrive Indepth - Storage
How good is the storage in the 2023 Kia Sportage?
In the front of the Kia Sportage, there are two cup holders in the central console that rotate out at the touch of a button. They are well-sized to hold a reusable and disposable coffee cup.
Behind them 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 really miss.
The glove box is a practical size as it will hold my iPad and wallet with the manual.
The weakest link in the Kia 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. The bag hook above each of the map pockets is great for hanging kid's school bags on for drop off. On 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.
Perhaps the most popular storage feature for our kids in the Kia Sportage is the rear iPad holders in the back of the front headrests!
They also double as a jacket or satchel hook when you don't have kids in the car 😉
There are two cup holders in the back of the Kia Sportage, in a fold-down armrest in the central seatback. They will hold a reusable and disposable coffee cup and a kids drink cup fits too.
How big is the boot of the 2023 Kia Sportage?
When it comes to storage in the boot of the 2023 Kia Sportage, the boot door opens electronically and with a touch button and closes that way too. There is a retractable roller blind, and the boot floor is nice and flat and carpeted, which is great for carrying dogs or for emergency nappy changes!
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.
A twin pram fits in the boot of the Sportage with five shopping bags.
The single pram fits with seven shopping bags beside it.
A compact stroller fits with eleven shopping bags beside it.
The new Jiffle Wagon 6-in-1 pram fits in the boot of the Kia Sportage in various configurations. The Jiffle Wagon cart fits with eight shopping bags, and you can load up to 60 kilos of groceries or baby stuff inside the Jiffle Wagon.
The Jiffle Wagon with the bassinet attachment fits with four shopping bags.
The Jiffle Wagon, with its seat, fits with four shopping bags.
The Jiffle Wagon with the Infasecure Adapt More Infant Capsule installed into the Sportage…
…fits with eight shopping bags.
If your family has a fur baby, you'll need to know a medium-sized dog will fit in the boot of the Kia Sportage.
There is a 12V socket on the left wall of the boot and a spare tyre underneath the boot floor.
BabyDrive Indepth - Noise
How noisy is the 2023 Kia Sportage? How good is the media system in the 2023 Kia Sportage?
The media system in the Kia Sportage is part of a long sweeping curved screen that looks great and incorporates the driver display too.
It is a lovely big screen with a really nice media system that is very easy to use and navigate.
It has Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, so you can easily access your phone and Apps.
There are some great features that families will like; 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 sound controls are great for customising volumes throughout the car, including volumes in the car being quieter at the start of your journey often when you are concentrating coming out of your garage or driveway and need to concentrate.
You can control the climate through the media screen too.
The Kia Sportage has a really clear reversing camera image that is nice and large on the media screen. 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.
The Kia Sportage does have a few warnings and beeping sounds that can be disturbing and annoying for drivers or passengers while 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?
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.
You can lock the doors and windows separately from the driver's door control panel.
The indicator is not too loud and would not disturb a sleeping baby in the 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 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!!)
BabyDrive Indepth - Car Seats
How many child seats fit in the 2023 Kia Sportage?
The 2023 Kia Sportage can fit three Infasecure child seats across the back seats! 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 clearly labelled, 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.
With the rear-facing Infasecure Adapt More Infant Capsule installed behind the driver, we could fit a 180cm driver. With forward-facing child seats behind the driver, we could fit a 186cm driver.
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.
I tested the SX+ model of the 2023 Kia Sportage, which has perforated leather seats. 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 2023 Kia Sportage?
The seats of the Kia Sportage SX+ are very comfortable in the front and back.
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 Kia Sportage.
There are five air-con vents across the front dash. Two underneath the media screen, 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 Sportage, even when loaded with rear passengers and three 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 visibility even better when driving.
The handles above the rear doors on either side of 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.
BabyDrive Indepth - Safety
The 2023 Kia Sportage has a five-star ANCAP safety rating. Scoring 87% for both child occupancy protection and adult occupancy protection.
Of the Child Occupancy testing, ANCAP reported:
In the frontal offset test, dummy readings indicated GOOD protection for all critical body areas of both child dummies, apart from the neck of the 10 year dummy where protection was rated as ADEQUATE.
In the side impact test, protection of the head of the 10 year dummy was ADEQUATE while that of other body areas of both the 6 year and 10 year dummies was GOOD.
The Kia Sportage is fitted with lower ISOFix anchorages on the rear outboard seats and top tether anchorages for all rear seating positions.
Installation of typical child restraints available in Australia and New Zealand showed most child restraints could be accommodated in most rear seating positions, however the Type A capsule could not be correctly installed in the centre and outboard rear seating positions, and one of the selected Type B convertible seats could not be correctly installed in forward facing mode in the centre seating position.
The New Sportage has seven airbags as standard; Dual frontal, side chest-protecting and side head-protecting (curtain) airbags are standard. A centre airbag which provides added protection to front seat occupants in side impact crashes.
The Kia Sportage comes with anti-lock braking system (ABS), autonomous emergency braking (AEB) – car-to-car autonomous emergency braking (AEB) – VRU, autonomous emergency braking (AEB) – junction assist, blind spot monitor (BSM), child presence alert, electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), electronic stability control (ESC), emergency brake assist (EBA), emergency stop signal (ESS), fatigue reminder, fatigue monitor/detection, forward collision warning (FCW), lane departure warning (LDW), lane keep assist (LKA), rear cross-traffic alert (RCTA), secondary / multi-collision brake, speed assistance – auto/intelligent speed limiter, speed assistance – manual speed limiter and speed assistance – speed sign recognition & warning as standard on all variants.
Note: Adaptive cruise control (ACC), autonomous emergency braking (AEB) – backover and reversing collision avoidance (camera) are not available on the base variant but standard or optional on higher variants in Australia.
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 Bub’s asleep!
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