Engines

Manufactured at Kia’s world-class facility in Slovakia, the all-new Sportage will ultimately be available in Europe with a wide choice of engines.  At launch this summer, the engine line-up will comprise 2-litre diesel and 2-litre gasoline engines – with smaller capacity engines (a 1.7-litre diesel and a 1.6-litre GDI gasoline unit), to follow later this year, reducing the new model’s base-line CO2 emissions to less than 140 g/km.

Diesels demonstrate Kia’s world-class engineering

Making its premiere in the new Sportage, is a 2.0-litre version of Kia’s next-generation ‘R’ family diesel.  All-new, the ‘R’ family diesel engine first appeared in 2.2-litre, 197 ps form, in the new Kia Sorento last year when it was highly praised – confirming that Kia’s engineering capabilities are indeed world-class.

The R2.0, which is expected to prove the most popular engine choice with new Sportage buyers in many European countries, generates a maximum of 136 ps and 319 Nm of torque from just 1,800 rpm.  As well as guaranteeing strong performance, the new diesel enables the Kia’s compact SUV to deliver highly-competitive fuel economy and emissions figures.

Later this year, a new 1.7-litre version of Kia’s ‘U2’ diesel will become available.  Designed and engineered at Kia’s R&D Centre in Germany, this 115 ps engine meets Euro 5 emissions regulations and is cleaner, quieter and more fuel-efficient than previous U2 engines.  It has been developed for optimum driveability, with more than 90 per cent of the maximum torque available from just 2,000 rpm.

Gasoline engines blend power with economy

Now fitted with upgraded electronics and low-friction components, Kia’s revised 2.0-litre ‘Theta II’ gasoline engine delivers more power, improved durability, enhanced refinement and reduced fuel consumption and emissions.

This four-cylinder 1998 cc powerunit has dual CVVT (continuously variable valve timing for both the intake and exhaust valves), four valves per cylinder and features weight-saving, all-aluminium construction with a cast aluminium block, cylinder head and sump.  Fitted in new Sportage, maximum power is 163 ps, with 195 Nm of torque at a modest 4600 rpm.

Later this year, new Sportage buyers whose priority is fuel-economy will be able to order Kia’s 1.6-litre Gamma petrol engine fitted with GDI (gasoline direct injection) technology.  Producing a highly competitive 140 ps, the arrival of this engine marks the first appearance of GDI technology in a Kia vehicle.

GDI lowers emissions while raising power and torque outputs and improving fuel economy.  The typical range of benefits include delivering 7% more torque at low revolutions, 12% more torque at high revs and 10% better fuel economy overall – compared to a conventional engine of a similar capacity.

Start/Stop available for two engines

By the end of 2010, Kia will be offering its fuel-stretching Start/Stop system as an option on the new 1.7 diesel and the new 1.6 GDI engine.  Start/Stop automatically switches the engine off whenever the vehicle is stopped in congested city driving and instantly restarts the engine when the driver selects first gear.  Combined with other technologies, Start/Stop helps to significantly reduce fuel consumption and tailpipe emissions.  

Several innovative fuel-saving technologies are fitted to the new Sportage as standard, including a gear-shift up/down indicator (on all manual models), an ECO indicator to encourage economical driving (on all automatic models) and a power-saving alternator management system.

New Kia Sportage / Powertrains  (Available at launch)