2026 Kia Sportage

The Kia Sportage is the brand’s best-selling model, and it’s easy to see what attracts so many buyers to this compact SUV. First, it’s attractive, with a design that automatically makes it stand out. Yet the merits of the 2026 Kia Sportage go way beyond skin deep. This SUV is packed with technology, boasts an unbeatable warranty, has among the most cargo room in its class, and has easy driving manners. All of these traits enable the Sportage to be an overachiever.

Also available is the 2026 Kia Sportage Hybrid and 2026 Kia Sportage Plug-in Hybrid, which we review separately.

We’ve logged hundreds of hours driving and evaluating this generation of compact SUVs, including the Kia Sportage.

The Kia Sportage gets a freshening for the 2026 model year that brings a new front end design with a broader grille and the brand’s “star map” lighting and amber daytime running lights. Inside, all models now come standard with a 12.3-inch touchscreen. Also along for the ride: adaptive cruise control with stop and go becomes standard, Over-the-air updates are available, the smart key and rear USB-C charging are now standard, and so is forward and reverse park distance warning. All-wheel-drive models now get modes for snow, mud, and sand.

While even the base LX is nicely equipped, for our money, we’d step up to at least the EX or the popular X-Line trim. Moving up just one trim level to the EX brings features like a 10-way power-adjustable driver’s seat, dual-zone climate control, blind-spot monitoring, wireless phone charger, panoramic sunroof, and auto-sensing windshield wipers. That’s a whole lot of stuff for just $1,800 more. Moving to the X-Line brings standard all-wheel drive, darkened aesthetics, and opens the door for further options.

At its starting price, the Sportage continues to undercut competitors like the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, and is in line with rivals like the Chevrolet Equinox, Nissan Rogue, and Kia’s cousin, the Hyundai Tucson.

With 187 horses at your command, the Sportage’s horsepower numbers are typical for its class. And like its competitors, that power is enough for the everyday tasks most drivers will be doing in their Sportage. It’s eager around town, adept at getting up to speed on the highway, and quick to shift thanks to Kia’s use of an 8-speed automatic transmission, rather than the continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) commonly found in rivals.

For adventurous buyers seeking to travel beyond the asphalt, the Kia X-Pro Prestige benefits from all-terrain tires along with standard all-wheel drive.

We’ll also take a moment to praise Kia’s adaptive cruise control system, and rejoice that it is now standard in all 2026 Sportage models, just as it is in rivals like the Honda CR-V, Toyota RAV4, Subaru Forester, and Mazda CX-5. We’ve tested them all, and always appreciate how easy it is to engage Kia’s system and how well it works. This is all the truer in SX, SX Prestige, and X-Pro Prestige models, whose systems also incorporate navigation to anticipate changes in road geography.

Fuel Economy

The 2026 Kia Sportage is estimated to return 28 mpg combined for front-wheel-drive models and 26 mpg for all-wheel-drive variants. Those numbers lag the Honda CR-V’s mpg by two miles each and trail the Nissan Rogue up to 5 mpg in both configurations. Of course, if you want a more efficient Kia Sportage, you can look to the Kia Sportage Hybrid that earns up to 43 mpg combined, or the Sportage Plug-in Hybrid that can travel up to 34 miles on battery power alone. The all-new 2026 Toyota RAV4 will come standard as a hybrid, though fuel economy estimates remain unreported at this time.

Although a member of the compact SUV class, the Sportage is heading toward midsize territory. Its spacious cabin either matches the ever-popular and well-regarded Honda CR-V or slightly outdoes it. The 2026 Sportage only improves for even buyers looking to spend the least amount of money, as the generous 12.3-inch touchscreen is now standard on the base LX trim, which formerly housed an 8-inch unit.

Overall, we’ve found the Sportage’s interior to be one of the most impressive in its class. From the slightly curved panoramic screen that spans the dash and the layout of buttons and controls to available upscale features like ventilated front seats, almost everything works cohesively and intuitively. It also boasts a fair bit of ingenuity. For example, when not being used to hold drinks, the center console’s cup holder area can transform into a storage place for larger items.

Then there’s the one control that can adjust either the audio volume or the cabin temperature, depending on which function is selected. We applaud the idea and the intention of keeping things as tidy as possible, but we’d gladly accept dedicated controls for each function because we don’t want to think about those modes when driving.

In the back, there’s a generous 41.3 inches of rear legroom, and the rear cargo area is 39.6 cubic feet behind the rear seats. When the rear seat is folded, it expands to a truly impressive 74.1.

It seems we’re in a golden age of compact SUV design. All that designed-by-committee stuff seems behind us, now that we have striking lookers like the current Kia Sportage. This year, the front end design gets a modest tweak that really works, broadening the grille to give the 2026 Sportage a wider stand and more pronounced presence. Also new is the daytime running lights that have changed from a boomerang shape to more sophisticated pattern that rises, angles, then swoops back again, like a fancy numeral seven. Tucked between the angles are Kia’s signature “star map” lighting treatment of LED clusters. We dig it.

Dual displays
Now standard on all models, these 12.3-inch screens (one for the driver, one for the infotainment system) are set into a single panoramic unit and contribute to the Sportage cabin’s contemporary feel.

Wireless charging
Standard on the EX trim and up, we simply like the convenience and the tidiness.

Drive Wise
This is the name of Kia’s set of driver aids. We’ve noticed how well things like adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping assistance work in the Sportage, as they do across the company’s portfolio.

Powered tailgate

Standard in the EX and higher trims, this power tailgate comes with programmable heights and can open automatically when it detects the key nearby.

Harman Kardon audio
Standard from the SX trim level and optional in the X-Line trim, we’re always happy to see — and hear — a Harman Kardon system. They’re often found in BMW vehicles, so that’s how posh Kia can be.

Blind-Spot View Monitor
Coming in at the SX Prestige level and optional in the X-Line, this adds real-time video down either side of the Sportage (depending on which direction the turn signal is going), giving drivers a greater awareness of traffic when chasing lanes or turning.

The regular Sportage SUV (not the hybrid or plug-in hybrid) employs a 2.5-liter 4-cylinder engine making an adequate 187 hp and 178 lb-ft of torque. This engine is connected to an 8-speed automatic transmission. Front-wheel drive is the default setup; all-wheel drive is either optional or standard in the X-Line and X-Pro versions.

5-Year/60,000-Mile Warranty

Kia offers unbeatable warranties. New-car coverage is five years or 60,000 miles, whichever comes first (a typical warranty here is three years or 36,000 miles). The powertrain warranty lasts 10 years or 100,000 miles, much better than most competitors.

Safety Ratings

This generation of Sportage has been made a Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), the institute’s second-highest accolade. Standard safety features include forward collision warning with pedestrian/cyclist detection and lane-keeping assistance. Last year’s model also scored a 5-Star overall rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), a score we anticipate the 2026 model to also receive.