2025 Kia Sportage Road Test and Review
By Brady Holt
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The car that's impossible to ignore.
When we have a press car, we take plenty of pictures. So many in fact, a lot get left out of the review. To no fault of their own, they just seem a bit redundant, or perhaps they detail an aspect of the vehicle we didn’t discuss in the review. Here’s a collection of these images, along with snippets from the review. Photos by MyRide Staff
The interior design is straight throwback to 1969, and as a classic gear head, this interior makes me feel right at home. I love the style and fit and finish, but the quality of materials inside lets me down. Aside from the steering wheel, center armrest and seats, there are few places you can touch or tap in the interior without a clunk. There’s a massive expanse of hard plastic, making this otherwise great interior feel a bit sub-par in our $31,450 tester.
From merely sitting in the car, our Search Engine Marketing Analyst, Ellerton Whitney commented, “Better than the Rubbermaid Grand Am interiors of yesteryear, but still not up to snuff with the competition.” He went on to say that the styling is “too retro”, and was particularly irked by the odd placement of the door lock button on the center of the dash.
Sarah Fairfield, our Web Content Specialist, thinks the interior is “too retro to the point of compromising practicality.” She went on to point out that the OnStar buttons on the rear-view mirror took up far too much space considering the already limited visibility from the windshield and hood and that entrance to the rear seat is difficult due to the cumbersome two-step process of moving the front seat out of the way. She also commented that the embroidery of the transformers logo on the center armrest (part of the $995 Transformers Edition package) seemed low-quality.
A lesser known fact about the optional Bluetooth in the Camaro is A2DP stereo audio streaming. No, not a new Star Wars character, A2DP lets you connect your A2DP Bluetooth device to a compatible stereo to listen to audio wirelessly over Bluetooth. That’s right, no USB, no headphone input (though the Camaro has those too), pure wireless goodness. My Motorola Droid was paired within minutes (tap the AUX button, hit the menu button, select the option for Bluetooth audio, follow the familiar pair process), streaming Pandora Internet Radio over the speakers with quite acceptable sound quality. A connection through the headphone jack might have yielded slightly better sound quality, but man is it cool to get in and out of the car without having to plug your phone in (unless maybe to charge).
The optional 9-speaker Boston Acoustics sound system cranked out the jams with aural splendor. Easy to tune to meet any sound preference, this is an impressive system. The best part is GM’s method of letting all band presets (AM/FM/XM) live together in harmony on three master sets. AM talk radio can be on preset 1, XM Hair Nation on preset 2, FM 106.7 KROQ LA on preset 3, no need to change bands or preset sets. All included with the 2LT trim that rings in at 26,875? Bargain.
300 horsepower is no lie, the 3.6-liter direct injected V6 in the Camaro flat-out goes like stink. Torque is bountiful, throttle is linear, but the exhaust note wheezes of faux G37. Yes, the only complaint with the V6 under the hood is the lame exhaust note that groans with every downshift and tickle of the throttle. Fuel economy is impressive though, rated at 18 city/29 highway by the EPA. Which are impressive numbers for such a rambunctious wheezer.
The 6-speed automatic transmission feels like it was born conjoined with the engine, as perfect acceleration is but a simple, although sometimes sluggish, downshift away. Rarely hunting for the right gear, the transmission and engine feel like two units working as one. When the road gets sporty, the paddle shifters (buttons, actually) mounted on the back of the chunky steering wheel let you dictate which gear is best, only overriding your command if the tach needles starts bouncing off the rev limiter. However, given the perfect symbiotic relationship of the engine and transmission, you’ll actually get a more rewarding driving experience leaving the gear shift in D.
The four-wheel independent suspension helps the Camaro handle surprisingly flat for a 3,700+ lb. car. Grip is certainly adequate, and the steering precise albeit numb. The awkwardly large horizontal spokes on the steering wheel make for a never quite perfect hand grip, and overall, the Camaro’s handling can be equated to a video game: very predictable, though lacking driver involvement.
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