2005 Kia Sportage Preview

ANAHEIM, Calif. - One of the first so-called "cute-utes" on the market when it debuted in 1995, the Kia Sportage beat most of today's pint-sized SUVs to the punch. The primary difference between the Sportage and subsequent entries in the class lay in vehicle construction - the Sportage was a traditional body-on-frame boulder basher like the Geo Tracker and Suzuki Sidekick, while vehicles like the Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 were smooth-riding "soft roaders" that spawned an entirely new segment of SUVs that looked like trucks but drove like cars.

That first Kia Sportage did not drive like a car. Though stylishly designed inside and out, the Sportage was a truck under its shapely skin, and an underpowered one at that. Still, the original design lasted eight years thanks to low prices and burgeoning interest in small SUVs, put out to pasture only when the Kia Sorento debuted for 2003.

This January, the Kia Sportage returns following a two-year hiatus, riding on the same platform that underpins the new Hyundai Tucson SUV. Hyundai, Kia's parent company, donated a heavily modified Elantra sedan foundation for the purpose of constructing the new Sportage, which with unibody construction and a four-wheel-independent suspension is built more like a car than a truck.

Two trim levels are available: LX and EX. Every 2005 Kia Sportage comes well equipped from the factory, including side-impact airbags, side-curtain airbags, traction control, stability control, and four-wheel-disc antilock brakes with electronic brake-force distribution. Power windows, power door locks, cruise control, privacy glass, a roof rack, and 16-inch alloy wheels wearing 215/65 tires are also standard.