The 2010 Kia Sportage can be had with one of two engines and a choice of front- or all-wheel drive. LX base models get a 2.0-liter four-cylinder that puts out 140 hp and 136 pound-feet of torque. A five-speed manual gearbox is standard and a four-speed automatic transmission is available as an option. Those in search of better performance can step up to the LX V6 or top-of-the-line EX, both of which are powered by a 2.7-liter V6 that's good for 173 hp and 178 lb-ft of torque. The four-speed automatic is the only transmission offered.

In our tests, a V6-powered Sportage took 10.7 seconds to accelerate from zero to 60 mph. To put that number in perspective, that's about a second slower than the quickest four-cylinder crossovers and more than 3 seconds off the time set by the segment-leading RAV4 V6.

The Sportage's powertrains are also substantially less fuel-efficient than those of its competitors. EPA estimates range from 20 mpg city/25 mpg highway and 22 mpg combined for the front-wheel-drive, four-cylinder model to 18/23/20 for the all-wheel-drive V6.