2027 Kia Sportage Turbo Hybrid First Impressions: A Partner For The Weekend Warrior

It hasn’t been long since Kia gave us our first taste of their new, revived compact SUV with a familiar name: the Sportage, as we have seen through our first short test drive loop in which we were able to gain our first impressions surrounding the car, finally being able to see how it looks, feels, and drives, all in person. 

This time, we managed to get back with Kia for a more intimate time with the Sportage, now through a practical, vacation-esque test loop which greatly encapsulates a drive that the target market of the Kia Sportage may do for their weekend getaway; that is, to take a long drive from the Manila Bay area towards the ever-popular Tagaytay area for a staycation. Except in our case, we took the scenic route through Cavite, both through the coastal route and later on into the winding roads and rolling hills that lead to Twin Lakes, Tagaytay, all in rough, rainy weather to see exactly how the Sportage performs in varying conditions. 

The Drive

We gathered first thing at Seda Manila Bay early in the morning in order to get our briefing on the drive ahead, consisting of a roughly 5-hour loop between there and Tagaytay. And right away, we started our little drive, making our way through CAVITEX as we progressed deeper into Cavite. In this part, we immediately noted the Sportage’s highway driving characteristics firsthand, in which we were pleasantly greeted with a refined, comfortable ride and low road noise, and we even got to test a bit of its ADAS systems through the built-in cruise control; so far so good with the Sportage. 

Of course, it wasn’t all easy highway driving, as we got off through the exit onto the bayan roads of Kawit, where we got into a classic, in-town traffic driving scenario. In our stop-and-go traffic experience, we noted the Sportage’s further comfort and refinement thanks in large part to its hybrid system, which kicks in and out smoothly, helping the car stay quiet with the auxiliary features working to keep comfort inside the cabin. Moreover, as we patiently waded through the traffic and rainy weather, the Harman Kardon sound system kept us well entertained, as we listened to a variety of music genres and went through the audio settings in order to adjust the built-in equalizer to our preference. 

As we progressed closer towards Naic, the scenery became more and more rural, and the roads opened up quite a bit for some spirited passing; this is where we first got to test the in-town overtaking capability of the Sportage from slow to go; in this light, we were pleasantly surprised with the Sportage’s eagerness to go, as the 1.6 liter turbo-hybrid engine smoothly accelerated with no lag as the electric motor assisted in delivering the beefy lower-end punch which the Sportage can give instantaneously. 

While our drive through the top of Naic until Ternate was rather tame and straightforward, it was when we got deeper into Governor’s Drive into the twisties that we got to see the Sportage’s sporting character in a different dimension; this time in terms of handling. As the pace of the convoy rolled through in a spirited case, we swiftly moved through the corners, which we described as having a structure that would sort of fit a rally stage; the Sportage, with its fully independent suspension system, traversed the corners with a graceful stability and surprising levels of grip, considering the road was wet. The Sportage moved through with poise and power as we moved all the way past the iconic Kaybiang tunnel, then back onto another round of twisties as we completed the touge-like portion of Governor’s Drive; the Sportage really showed us its colors in terms of its handling capabilities here. 

Once we cleared the twisties, we drove on into Nasugbu with our convoy into the hilly and remote scenery of the East-West Road, wherein, due to the rainy weather, we were greeted with another surprise: lots of water puddles and slippery mud off-road sections which we had to crawl through one car at a time. While the car took to the deep water puddles with ease, the off-road sections carried with them the challenge of wet mud, which prompted drivers to clear it through a slow crawl. This is where we saw how the Kia Sportage dealt with unexpected terrain during longer trips like these, and luckily it had enough clearance and traction to deal with the muddy and very uneven uphill section, which saw some cars with slipping wheels as they powered up the muddy incline. 

But thanks to its rough road, SUV capability, the Sportage convoy eventually made it through into calmer roads and onto Tagaytay-Nasugbu Road, where we finally made it to our lunch area, and Twin Lakes, where we had our chance to see the cars up close, get our close-up shots, and stay to rest. By this point, it is worth noting the Sportage’s exceptional fuel efficiency, as during the time we had arrived at Twin Lakes, its trip computer read 5.1 to 5.3 liters per 100 kilometers, which translates to 18.8 to 19.6 km/l. These are good fuel economy numbers for a hybrid compact crossover SUV despite the spirited drive. 

The next day, we headed down from Tagaytay and into the bypass roads and provincial highways of Cavite, wherein we got to see more of the design features and really take a good look at the interior and driver-assist systems of the car, as we had no more technical roads to navigate. And as we made it back up through CALAX and eventually SLEX, we got to yet again feel the posh highway ride of the Sportage, this time through a longer highway route compared to day 1. And as we arrived back at Manila Bay, we reflected on our long, scenic southward loop, which really gave us some good bonding time with the Kia Sportage; and after it all, we may have been tired from the photo and media work we did with this beautiful vehicle, but we were by no means tired from the ride. 

Conclusion

In our little getaway drive experience, we got to see the Kia Sportage in all its colors; through the practical lens of highway cruising, then into the everyday challenge of stop-and-go town driving where we got to feel its level of comfort and convenience. Then we got rather lively as we got to experience the Sportage’s passing power and torque, and then its sprightly, nimble, and stable handling capabilities through the twisties; and then, we got to see how the Sportage reacts to unexpected terrain challenges which could come up during trips in a pinch.

And overall, despite the rough conditions, we are pleased to see that the Kia Sportage Turbo Hybrid is certainly up to its mission, as it brings with it its always-ready-to-go attitude in a wide variety of situations, helping truly fit those with an urban-centric lifestyle, but also like to go a little bit on the wild side during the weekend.