This is a guest post, written by our daily reader JoshyLofty. He came across the facelifted version of Kia Sportage that was parked at the local mall. He grabbed his mobile phone with integrated camera and took some images for us.
I took some great pics today of a brand new Sportage LX AWD model this morning @ a local mall. I called the dealership I used to work at (Southwest Kia/Hyundai) and asked a friend of mine I worked with if they had any of the new bodystyles and she reported they’ve only seen pictures but not the actual car.
What else was weird was there was a lot of plastic on the interior you can see a little in the interior pic. I don’t know for sure if this was a tester or what because the car had no cladding or covers outside.
The rear end definitely had the new rear, a slightly changed & sculpted bumper and taillights were the imediate giveaways. The tails had a while backup and turn signal with the turn signal sporting an orange bulb. The front looked VERY much like the Rondo in person and had a more rounded front reminiscent of the Spied Sorentos and Rondos alike.
Another interesting tidbit was the sunroof. It had a LARGE sunroof rather than the older small ones. It wasn’t a “skylight” sunroof but more of something found in the latest model BMW X5 and Mitsubishi Montero Limiteds.
The interior was slightly changed and I noticed a first in the Sportage. “Infinity” was written on the stereo along with “MP3, MDA, & 6DISC”. I also counted 9 speakers with one being a subwoofer in the rear. The windows, however, were too dark to get a good picture. The dash looked the same with minor changes (I used to own a Sportage so i noticed this right away) to shape and material looked of higher quality. This car did not have leather.
Related link: Find more information and some great official images of the 2009 Kia Sportage here.
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August 20th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
I’m polish Kia dealer, if you want to see more real pix - plz give mail,. I’ll send you some
August 20th, 2008 at 3:45 pm
Kate,
Just curious about the interior, is the arm rest sitting low again or have they changed that? Seems like the number one concern when I have a customer come and and look at the 08 Sportage’s.
Thanks
August 20th, 2008 at 3:55 pm
Inside they changed only audio (factory+usb; earlier in polish we used Clarion radio), steering wheel have better leather and…thats all. Arm rest sitting is the same.
August 20th, 2008 at 3:56 pm
I would like to thank you JoshyLofty for your nice report. I sent you an email, but it had a delivery problem, so it returned back…don’t know why,. Again, thank you!
August 20th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
check it :http://www.kia.pl/sportageFL_galeria.htm
August 20th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Apparantely we will get a 136 HP 2.0CRDI in Belgium (to avoid extra taxes)
August 20th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
136HP? in Poland we have 150HP 2.0 CRDi Sportage 09′
August 20th, 2008 at 5:14 pm
Is it just us here in Michigan that find the lowered arm rest annoying? I mean what was the logic of getting rid of the pop up like the 07’s had?
August 20th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
We have had one sitting in our showroom for a month
August 20th, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Really? Williams, the biggest Kia dealership in Michigan doesn’t even have any yet! Unless you are not talking about Bay City, MI.
August 20th, 2008 at 9:48 pm
Oh, you are in Canada. Yes, Canada already has it, the USA doesn’t
August 20th, 2008 at 11:15 pm
what do you think about sportage fl? I prefer last edition, from KMSlovakia. This one isn’t so pretty for me…
August 21st, 2008 at 8:51 am
Personally I prefered the dark headlight units as wel…
August 21st, 2008 at 9:40 am
Agreed. I like the 1 bar grille. Much more sophisticated. Is it just me, or are the tailpipes closer together??
August 21st, 2008 at 5:33 pm
sumthin else is that this is a 4cyl. model and has dual exhaust.
August 25th, 2008 at 8:39 am
Well, I’ve already seen a couple of 2009 sportages on the road and there’s a red one parked outside my building. The one I saw on the road didnt have a V6 badge so it was obviously a 2 litre model and IT HAD DUAL EXHAUSTS! This means both engines get dual exhausts. the armrest hasnt gone any higher though. its still that single level storage box. I like the console in My 2007 sportage with 2 level storage and a sliding armrest that raises up a bit as it slides out. Is this one really AWD or just the automatic 4WD system. How would Kia add AWD to a facelifted model. Drivetrains arent usually altered in facelifts.
August 26th, 2008 at 3:28 am
it said “AWD” on the back.
August 26th, 2008 at 5:23 am
National Rent-A-Car in Las Vegas, NV, had about 6 2009 Sportages ready for renting this past weekend, both four-cylinder and V6 models.
August 26th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
Kias for rent. There arent any rent a car bussineses here [UAE] that rent Kias
August 29th, 2008 at 10:59 am
I picked up my Pewter Beige 09 Sportage FL 2.0CRDI 100kw last night, just as about 80 other dealers in Belgium…
Actually on the interior there aren’t many changes. On the outside it looks more potent!
August 29th, 2008 at 11:14 am
tell me if there are any changes in fuel consumption
August 29th, 2008 at 11:20 am
That’s nice. I’m interested in the engine. It has 10 hp more power now,right!? What’s the difference in power compared to the “old” one?
August 29th, 2008 at 11:30 am
O wait a min… Bornloser got the CRDi engine. I wanted to know, the consumption of the petrol engine. anyway…
August 29th, 2008 at 11:37 am
In Belgium we have the CRDI 100kw (136HP) and 110kw (150HP).
The car only has +/- 250 Kms so it’s a bit early to talk about differences performance or feul economy-wise..
August 29th, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Other things I noted:
Front passenger seat does not fold down anymore
Cup holders at the back of the arm rest disappeared…
Collegues pointed out the engine was less noisy
August 29th, 2008 at 1:00 pm
Front passenger seat doesnt fold? Now I’m mad. could you give me the site address for Kia belgium?
August 30th, 2008 at 10:34 am
It’s still adjustable/reclines, but it does not fold down anymore as featured on the “old” sportage…
its just kia dot be