Powertrains and Performance

Kia Sportage / Reviews / 2008 Kia Sportage / Powertrains and Performance

Two engines are offered on the Sportage LX: a 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder (140 hp and 136 pound-feet of torque) and a 2.7-liter V6 (173 hp and 178 lb-ft). The Sportage EX comes standard with the V6. The inline-4 can be had with either a five-speed manual transmission or a four-speed automatic, while the V6 is automatic only. One may also choose front- or all-wheel drive in either trim.

We timed a Sportage V6 at 10.7 seconds from zero to 60 mph, about a second or so off the quicker four-cylinders in the segment and more than three ticks off the class hot rod, the RAV4 V6. Fuel mileage estimates for a 2008 Sportage V6 with AWD are 17 mpg city and 21 mpg highway, a few mpg under the class average. The four-cylinder gets only a few city mpg better.

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    Door locks
    Operating door locks from outside the vehicle • Turn the key toward the rear of the vehicle to unlock and toward the front of the vehicle to lock. • If you lock the door with a key, all veh ...

    Brakes and clutch
    Checking brake/clutch fluid level Check the fluid level in the reservoir periodically. The fluid level should be between MAX and MIN marks on the side of the reservoir. Before removing the res ...

    Transfer case (4WD)
    Checking or changing transfer case fluid Have transfer case fluid checked or changed by an Authorized Kia Dealer according to the Maintenance Schedule at the beginning of this section. Use only ...