Kia Sportage QL (2015–2021)

What the QL improved over the SL

The QL kept the size and five-door format of the SL but was a much stiffer, more carefully engineered car. Kia's US press material says advanced high-strength steel made up 51% of the body-in-white, against 18% before, and torsional rigidity rose by 39%. The drag coefficient fell from 0.35 to 0.33.

In Europe the body grew modestly: 4,485 mm long against 4,440 mm for the SL, with a 2,670 mm wheelbase, 30 mm more than before. Boot space increased to 503 L. The design was conceived under Peter Schreyer, Kia's chief design officer at the time, and Kia described it as inspired by modern fighter jets. The tiger-nose grille moved into a lower, wider front, with the headlights set higher up the wings.

The QL is the generation that made the Sportage Kia's volume leader. Published sales tables show 138,218 cars sold in Europe in 2016. For the full family tree, see the Kia Sportage hub page, which covers all five generations.

Platform, production and the Chinese KX5

The QL is closely related to the Hyundai Tucson of the same period, internally coded TL. The sister model is covered on our Hyundai Tucson page.

Cars for Europe came from Slovakia, as with the SL, while South Korea, China, Malaysia, Pakistan and Algeria built the model for other markets. In China the car was sold by Dongfeng Yueda Kia as the KX5, which received its own facelift in March 2019 with headlamps integrated into the grille.

All-wheel drive in the US model is the Magna-developed Dynamax system with a 50/50 locking centre differential, and AWD versions there wear a front bumper with a steeper approach angle.

QL engines and gearboxes in Europe

Over its life Europe got two petrol and four diesel outputs. Outputs are quoted in kW first, with the metric PS figure from the European sources; torque is shown only where a source confirms it. Depending on the engine, European cars had front-wheel drive or permanent all-wheel drive.

The 1.6 GDI is the simplest version. mobile.de lists it at 11.5 seconds from 0 to 100 km/h and 182 km/h (113 mph), with 159 g/km of CO2. The seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox was paired with the 1.6 T-GDI and the 141 PS diesel.

North American cars were different. They used a 2.4-litre petrol engine with 135 kW (181 hp) or a 2.0 turbo with 179 kW (240 hp) in front-wheel-drive form, both with a six-speed automatic. Those figures are SAE horsepower.

The 2018 facelift and the mild-hybrid diesel

Kia facelifted the European QL in July 2018. The changes were visual and mechanical: a new headlight signature, a chrome strip running across the tailgate around the number plate, reshaped bumpers with new auxiliary lights and rear lamp surrounds colour-matched to the lights.

The technical headline was a 48 V mild-hybrid system on the 2.0 CRDi, marketed as EcoDynamics+, together with a new eight-speed automatic for the 2.0 CRDi. Engines were updated to Euro 6d-TEMP from July 2018. Kia's 2018 announcement of the updated Sportage covered the changes at the time.

The North American update came later, in mid-2019 for the 2020 model year, with redesigned headlights and bumpers and a new S trim between LX and EX.

QL dimensions and capacities

The table shows a European 1.6 GDI with front-wheel drive. Other versions differ in kerb weight and towing limits.

Combined consumption for the 1.6 GDI is listed at 6.9 L/100 km (40.9 mpg UK); across the range, mobile.de quotes 4.2 to 7.6 L/100 km.

Crash tests: Euro NCAP, ANCAP and IIHS

Euro NCAP rated the QL five stars in 2015. Detailed percentages for that test are not confirmed by an official source we could open, so only the star rating is given here.

In Australia, ANCAP's 2016 test recorded 13.62 of 16 points in the frontal offset crash, full marks in the side and pole impacts and an Adequate pedestrian rating. In the United States the 2017 Sportage was an IIHS Top Safety Pick, with Good ratings in both small-overlap tests, the moderate-overlap test and the roof test. Weaker results were Marginal in the updated side test and Poor for headlights.

Each of these results applies to the QL only. A Latin NCAP zero-star result from 2021 concerns a Korean-built version with two airbags and no stability control tested for Latin American markets, not the European car.

QL reliability: TÜV and ADAC findings

German inspection data favour the QL. The Auto Bild TÜV Report 2020, as reported by dpa in December 2019, rated it better than the SL. The weak points it named for both generations were:

• axle suspension, flagged above average from the first inspection;
• brake discs, flagged more often from the second inspection;
• oil loss, a common finding;
• the parking brake, criticised in all model years.

On the positive side, drive shafts, steering, brake lines and the exhaust system rarely caused failures, and rust did not raise the defect rate. ADAC breakdown statistics showed younger Sportage model years doing better than older ones, with 2015 registrations performing well.