Kia Sportage vs. Hyundai Tucson: What’s The Difference?
2019 Kia Sportage by Vauxford — CC BY-SA 4.0
SUVs come in a wide variety of stylings, with many popular brands pushing their large, three-row SUVs first and foremost. What if you want an SUV on the smaller side, though? If so, don’t fret, as there are still plenty of great options for you. Two of them are the Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson, as both are great, modern SUVs that aren’t too big. Here, we’ll tell you all you need to know about the Kia Sportage vs. Hyundai Tucson to ensure you get the best SUV for you.
A Brief Overview
The Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson are both small SUVs that seat up to five and come standard with a great suite of features. There honestly isn’t a huge difference between them when it comes to safety and technology, but the Sportage is a lot more powerful and has more advanced features when you go for the top-level trims. Your decision here will likely come down to whether you want to spend a bit more on the Sportage’s offerings or save some and go for the Tucson. Either way, you’ll have a great car on your hands.
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Specs
Power isn’t always a huge priority for SUV drivers, but the difference in power between a Kia Sportage vs. Hyundai Tucson is rather large. With the Tucson, you get to choose between a 2 Liter, four-cylinder engine with 161 horsepower and a 2.4 Liter, four-cylinder engine with 181 horsepower. You’ll also get the choice of two engines if you purchase a Sportage, but both are more powerful than the strongest Tucson engine. Your options are a 2.4 Liter, four-cylinder engine with 185 horsepower and a 2 Liter turbo, 240 horsepower engine. If performance is the name of your game, then the Sportage has a huge advantage over the Tucson.
Both the Kia Sportage and Hyundai Tucson seat up to five people and have ample cargo space. There’s very little difference between them in this area, as the Tucson offers about 62 cubic feet of space when all the seats are down and 31 cubic feet behind the back row seats when they’re up. In comparison, the Sportage will give you roughly 60 cubic feet of space with all seats down and just under 31 cubic feet behind the rear seats, making any difference between the two vehicles here minuscule.
Safety and Reliability
If you’re looking for a small SUV, you’re probably looking for safety above most other things. Surprisingly, this likely won’t affect your decision between a Kia Sportage vs. Hyundai Tucson too much as they fare very well against each other in the safety realm. Both cars include excellent safety features such as blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, and lane-keep assist. The Sportage does have downhill brake control and stability control, though, so if you really want those features, then the Sportage might be your best bet.
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Gas Mileage
Given the fact that both of these SUVs have multiple drivetrain and engine options, declaring one car as the winner in the fuel economy piece of the Kia Sportage vs. Hyundai Tucson competition is difficult.
The fuel economy you’ll enjoy with the Hyundai Tucson depends greatly on the type of engine you get as well as the drivetrain. The 2 Liter, 161 horsepower engine will return about 23 miles per gallon in the city and 28 miles per gallon on the highway for Front Wheel Drive models, and about 22 miles per gallon in the city and 25 miles per gallon on the highway if you go for All Wheel Drive. As for the more powerful 2.4 Liter, 181 horsepower engine, you can expect to get roughly 22 miles per gallon in the city and 28 miles per gallon on the highway if you get Front Wheel Drive, and about 21 miles per gallon in the city and 28 miles per gallon on the highway for All Wheel Drive models.
The base, 2.4 Liter engine in the Kia Sportage has excellent fuel efficiency, getting an approximation of 23 miles per gallon in the city and 30 miles per gallon on the highway in its Front Wheel Drive models and about 22 miles per gallon in the city and 26 miles per gallon on the highway for All Wheel Drive iterations. These numbers drop a bit further if you get the 2 Liter turbo engine (which is to be expected given its incredible performance), falling to about 20 miles per gallon in the city and 28 miles per gallon on the highway in Front Wheel Drive models and roughly 19 miles per gallon in the city and 24 miles per gallon on the highway in All-Wheel Drive models.
Technology
You’ll get great tech with either SUV, making this a murky category for the Kia Sportage vs. Hyundai Tucson debate. The Tucson comes equipped with an infotainment system that has a 7-inch touchscreen, Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, and an audio system with six speakers. The Sportage has a similar infotainment system, with the only major differences being that the touchscreen is 8 inches, and the audio system is from Harman Kardon, a renowned audio brand. As you move up the trim levels in each of these vehicles, you’ll find that their technology improves at the same relative pace throughout, keeping them in line with each other. The base Sportage might be a tad more robust than the Tucson, but overall, they’re essentially the same in terms of technology.
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Price
In the event that none of the other differences between a Kia Sportage vs. Hyundai Tucson sway you much, their respective pricing just might be what seals the deal. The difference starts out relatively small, with a base level Tucson starting at around $24,700 and a base Sportage starting at around $25,100. As you move up the trim levels for each, though, the gap steadily increases. Looking at the most expensive trim levels, the top Tucson trim costs approximately $34,400, whereas the top Sportage trim costs about $36,200. Of course, at this point, you’re getting incredible features and power with the Sportage, but if this doesn’t matter to you, you might want to consider saving money and getting a Tucson.
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