Comfort/Involvement Index: 2012 Kia Sportage SX Turbo

Reviews I By Winding Road Staff I April 21, 2012

If you’ve been reading Winding Road, you have probably seen our Comfort and Involvement Index. If not, here’s a brief primer: The Involvement Index quantifies the amount of man/machine involvement demonstrated by each tested vehicle. The overall score, based on a 100-point scale, gives a great approximation of how much fun a vehicle is to drive, overall.

The Comfort Index measures overall vehicle comfort—in driving character, wealth or paucity of luxury and technology features, fit and finish, roominess, etc. The overall score, based on a 100-point scale, gives a great approximation of how comfortable a vehicle is to drive.

Too add a little bit of detail to each score, we show “star scores” (between zero and five stars, with five being the best) for more granular categories within the larger frameworks of Comfort and Involvement, too.

Then, to round out each listing, you’ll find a quick blurb summarizing all of the scores for the car, and our experience of it.

We’ll be updating you on new entries to our indices as we drive/review the vehicles (and will eventually get around to putting all of these scores on WindingRoad.com). In the meantime, if you’d like to see the full (huge) list of every score, check out the latest issue of the magazine.

Car: 2012 Kia Sportage SX 2.0T

Involvement: 71

Variety: **

Controls: *

Drivetrain: **

Handling: **

Character: *

Involvement Notes: Sportage is a good name for this CUV. Its turbo motor feels very peppy, and it responds crisply to inputs. A little more steering feedback would be good. The ride is firm, but compliant, marking a nice balance between the average crossover and something more.

Comfort: 73

Visibility: **

Space/Seating: **

Ride/Handling: **

Acoustics: **

Controls: **

Comfort Notes: Available heated front seats and cooled driver’s seat are a nice surprise. Interior feels fresh and quality without feeling (or actually being expensive. At the rate cabins are improving on affordable crossovers like this, though, the Sportage’s charms won’t last forever.

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