Pretty soon, people are going to suffer from Korean car envy, as the 2022 Hyundai Tucson will burst onto the scene, looking like a computer-generated design that you can afford. Fortunately for fans of the Kia brand, it too will add a new model, the 2022 Sportage.
To be honest, we're quite happy with how the current Sportage turned out. Sure, the taillights look a little cheap, but that front end is pretty close to a Porsche Cayenne look on a budget. And it seems that the replacement model will continue the tradition of European inspiration.
This time, it's shaped a little bit like the Lamborghini Urus, sporting a pointy nose and headlights forming a Y-shaped symbol together with the main grille, similar to the Sian's. We haven't featured that many spy shots of the SUV, but there's a steady stream of renderings coming from Korean YouTuber Gotcha Cars.
He's got a trademark style of working with inverted colors and overlaying the features on top of an existing design, which in this case is the Sorento. It's amazing how realistic this Photoshop creation looks. Or is that Paint Tool SAI?
With this sporty front end, it would be a shame not to have a performance model or at least a Sportage GT powered by the 2.5-liter turbo engine. The segment is becoming increasingly competitive, and we see potent turbo engines not just on premium CUVs like the BMW X3, but also the Mazda CX-5 and even the smaller CX-30.
Sadly, the main engines for the Sorento are going to offer less than 200 horsepower. We're talking about the new 2.5-liter and its 1.6-liter turbo counterpart, which could be offered as an "Eco" option. Even the European models are likely to drop the diesel act and adopt hybrid powertrains instead, as seen in rivals from Honda or Toyota.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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