I hadn’t spent a lot of time in our Sportage, so nicking the keys from its regular keeper for a holiday in Cornwall seemed like the perfect chance to get better acquainted.

Four adults fitted in just fine, but a week’s worth of luggage was slightly more of a squeeze – despite the boot being large for the class on paper at 564 litres, the curves, wheelarch intrusion and reclined rear seats made it tricky to fill all the gaps after some decent-sized suitcases, bags, kites etc. had been inserted.

I’ve always loved the way the Kia looks – its semi-concept car styling – and our fellow holidaymakers agreed:?one family we were with decided that the Sportage is exactly what they want.

Fuel economy greatly impressed (as we’ll get into in a future report), the comfortable drive was a boon and the interior is well-designed and easy to use. The iPod integration worked well generally, but did need unplugging and plugging in again to get it onto the random track selection function every time the engine was turned off.

All in all, I’m a fan of the Sportage, and the car deserves the sales success it seems to be achieving.

Kia Sportage 1.7 CRDi 2
Mileage 4909
Claimed combined
consumption
54.3mpg
Our average
consumption
40.7mpg
P11D price £20,300
Model price range £17,015-£25,745
CO2 (tax) 135g/km (19%)
BIK 20/40% per month £64/£129
Engine size/power 1685cc/114PS
Top speed/0-60mph 107mph/11.9secs
Why we’re running it Can it genuinely take
on Nissan’s Qashqai?
Positive Looks both inside
and out, fuel economy
Negative Boot smaller than
it looks, iPod glitch