Photo: Kia
Redesigned from the ground up, the 2023 model year Kia Sportage failed to score the much-coveted Top Safety Pick+ award. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, only the top two trim levels were designated Top Safety Pick. Lesser versions miss out because their headlights don’t live up to the nonprofit organization’s expectations.
Be that as it may, the automaker couldn’t miss the chance to pat itself on the back. "Kia’s longest-running nameplate continues to evolve into something greater with each generation, with the fifth generation delivering more of everything – especially safety – for today’s savvy, adventurous, and eco-conscious compact SUV buyers,” said Steven Center, COO at Kia America. “These latest TSP designations are proof positive of that.”
If equipped with the LED reflector-type headlights, everything from the LX to the X-Pro trim level is “poor,” according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Inadequate visibility on both sides of the road on the straightaway and inadequate visibility in all cornering tests are noted for the low beams. The high beams faired a little better, but not good enough.
Upgrading to the SX Prestige and X-Pro Prestige, customers are treated to LED projector-type headlights that couldn’t do better than “acceptable.” This rating applies to the child seat anchors as well because the lower anchors are located too deep in the outboard rear seats. As fate would have it, the all-new Sportage aced every single other test, including the all-important crashworthiness tests. The nonprofit organization has also acknowledged front crash prevention in both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian scenarios, rating the active safety system “advanced.”
The redesigned Sportage is the eighth Kia vehicle to earn either a 2022 Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ award. The lesser accolade has also been bestowed upon the Telluride, Sorento, Seltos, Carnival, and Soul. The K5 and Stinger qualify as TSP+. For some reason or another, Kia would like you to believe that it’s nine vehicles in the attached release, for it considers the combustion-engined Sportage altogether different from the hybrid.
If equipped with the LED reflector-type headlights, everything from the LX to the X-Pro trim level is “poor,” according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Inadequate visibility on both sides of the road on the straightaway and inadequate visibility in all cornering tests are noted for the low beams. The high beams faired a little better, but not good enough.
Upgrading to the SX Prestige and X-Pro Prestige, customers are treated to LED projector-type headlights that couldn’t do better than “acceptable.” This rating applies to the child seat anchors as well because the lower anchors are located too deep in the outboard rear seats. As fate would have it, the all-new Sportage aced every single other test, including the all-important crashworthiness tests. The nonprofit organization has also acknowledged front crash prevention in both vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-pedestrian scenarios, rating the active safety system “advanced.”
The redesigned Sportage is the eighth Kia vehicle to earn either a 2022 Top Safety Pick or Top Safety Pick+ award. The lesser accolade has also been bestowed upon the Telluride, Sorento, Seltos, Carnival, and Soul. The K5 and Stinger qualify as TSP+. For some reason or another, Kia would like you to believe that it’s nine vehicles in the attached release, for it considers the combustion-engined Sportage altogether different from the hybrid.
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