2023 Kia Sportage First Drive: Singin' in the Rain

Auto123 gets in a first drive of the 2023 Kia Sportage.

Victoria, BC – Shockingly, the revised new 2023 Sportage is bigger than its predecessor. Given the trend in recent years in the SUV segments (and among cars, for that matter), that’s not shocking at all, actually. It’s just keeping with the times. Bigger is better, as they say.

Kia Canada invited us recently to a springtime jaunt across Vancouver Island to find out if the new Sportage, still a compact SUV the last time we checked, despite its growing dimensions, really is better. By the way, to give you an idea, the new Sportage is roughly the same size as the old-generation Sorento, the midsize SUV that sits above it in the Kia lineup.

The Sportage is available as of now or will be as of a few days from now in two configurations: strictly gas-powered and hybrid. There is also a plug-in hybrid variant, which may be the most intriguing option in the end, but unfortunately that one is only coming to market later on this year, likely in the later part of summer. So patience.

There was no hybrid version on hand for our test drive, alas, so it was into regular ICE Sportages (X-Line versions) for all of us on a rainy day on Vancouver Island – another shocking surprise, right there.

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