Close your eyes and try for a moment to picture the Kia Sportage. Tough isn't it? I write about cars for a living and my recall is patchy. It's like trying to remember how an old song goes with a different track playing in the background. Try as I might, I keep coming up with either a previous generation Toyota RAV-4 or a Suzuki Grand Vitara. The Sportage itself slips from the memory as if it were coated with so much Teflon. In a bid to make the Sportage more memorable, Kia went back to the drawing board and returned with the current facelifted version.

The underpinnings of the Sportage are the same as those of Hyundai's Tucson 4x4 which is no great handicap. In fact, the Kia inherited a decent tarmac biased chassis with either two-wheel-drive or part time four-wheel-drive and some modest off road ability - a perfect set-up, in other words, for the target market. Kia's credibility when it comes to building 4x4s has been boosted enormously by the excellent Sorento family 4x4 and the smaller Sportage augments this reputation. It's a vehicle with a very different focus to its predecessor. That car was surprisingly capable off-road but felt unsophisticated on it. The current car is at its best on the tarmac with a modicum of ruggedness thrown in for light off-road jaunts, which is just how British buyers like their compact 4x4s. With tweaks to the styling introduced on the latest car, it looks well capable of making an impact.

Power is supplied by one of two engines - a 2.0-litre petrol unit or a 2.0-litre CRDi diesel. Of the these units, the petrol has fractionally more horsepower with 140bhp to the CRDi's 138bhp but it's the oil-burner that feels more forceful with 305Nm of torque between 1,800rpm and 2,500rpm. This slug of pulling power arrives all at once so smoothness and flexibility aren't particular strong points of the CRDi engine but it feels significantly more muscular than the petrol which delivers 184Nm at 4,500rpm. The 0-60mph times say it all with 13.8s and 11.3s managed by the diesel and petrol respectively. The diesel is available with an automatic gearbox.

"Low pricing and generous specifications have got Kia where it is today"

Show the Sportage a straight, well-surfaced road and it serves up a good standard of ride comfort and refinement. In the past, the problems tended to start when the going got twisty or the surface deteriorated. The recent facelift aimed to address this however and the current models feature revised dampers as well as a tweaked power steering system. The ride has grown firmer and that helps the Sportage resist body roll when cornered vigorously it's also less liable to become unsettled over bumps in the road. The more accurate steering makes it easier to position the car too but the driving experience still lacks the polish of the best compact off-roaders. The 16" brake discs produce secure stopping power and the part-time 4x4 system produces an abundance of grip in the wet.

The exterior styling is neat without offering too much in the way of signature detail. The chunky wheelarches give the car a rather over-inflated look but the overall effect is not unpleasant. It just blends into the background a little. The latest cars can be identified by their single bar through the grille plus the reshaped headlamps and bumper but it's still nothing very dramatic. Inside, the seating was remodelled to give increased comfort and the indicator stalk is now where it should be, on the left side of the steering column. The Sportage was launched before the cee'd redefined the standard of build quality we could expect from Kia but it's still acceptably solid. Low grade plastics let the side down in places but the controls are very straight-forward to use.

The Sportage adopts a few MPV-style practicality features. The rear seat cushion and the backrest are a case in point, adopting Kia's 'Fold and Dive' system. Whilst it may sound like a tactic taught by Argentinean football coaches, it is in fact a method of creating a spacious, square-sided and completely flat cargo area. The front passenger seat backrest can also be folded flat to house extra long loads and at the back there's even a flip-up rear window which means that items can be dropped into the luggage area without having to open the tailgate. Not that opening the tailgate is overly difficult. Unlike many compact 4x4s, the Sportage is big enough to keep the spare wheel in its proper place - under the luggage bay floor - instead of mounting it on the rear tailgate. This means that the tailgate is pleasantly light to open and doesn't whistle at motorway speeds - a problem that afflicts cars with hatch mounted spares.

On the right of the steering wheel assembly are the switches for the four-wheel drive system but only if you've gone for one of the four-wheel-drive models. The entry-level Sportage derivatives use a conventional 2WD set-up and even the more expensive 4x4 versions send power exclusively to the front wheels until slippage is detected. Then power can be redirected aft to maximise grip.

Pricewise, the Sportage significantly undercuts the Hyundai Tucson that it shares its underpinnings with. The line-up opens with the XE which still has 15" alloy wheels, a CD stereo, remote central locking, air-conditioning, front, side and curtain airbags, the 60/40 split rear seats and ABS with EBD. Next comes the XS and the range-topper is the four-wheel-drive only TITAN. At this level, you get ESP, an electric sunroof, heated seats and privacy glass. Prices start at £13,995 for the XE 2WD and the TITAN 4WD model with the diesel engine is still only £19,195.

The compact 4x4 sector has exploded of late with virtually every mainstream manufacturer having cobbled together an entrant of some description. Despite the improvements made, the Sportage still campaigns at the lower end of this market offering value for money and lots of equipment in a competently engineered package. With most of the entrants into this sector aiming quite a bit higher than the Sportage, it could easily carve out a profitable niche for itself by undercutting the major players and appealing to family buyers on a budget.

Sportage diesel buyers expecting to recoup the extra outlay they've made to upgrade from the 2.0-litre petrol engine through lower fuel costs are likely to be disappointed. There's actually very little difference between the two powerplants in terms of economy. A four-wheel-drive petrol model will return around 34.4mpg and an equivalent diesel manages 39.8mpg. Pair the diesel with its optional automatic gearbox and the difference is less than 1mpg. Emissions too are broadly similar with 194g/km from the 4WD petrol car and 187g/km from the diesel.

On the used market, its low key image and the glut of compact 4x4 alternatives doesn't help the Sportage hang onto its value but Kia's excellent warranty package will help in the short to medium term. Buyers get full cover for seven-years or 100,000 miles. It's about as good as the industry can offer and puts mainstream rivals like Ford and Vauxhall in the shade. This promise of trouble free motoring will be enough to tip the balance for many potential customers.

Making an impact in today's overcrowded compact 4x4 sector is always going to be difficult but Kia's Sportage goes about the task in an unassuming way and deserves some success. Low pricing and generous specifications have got Kia where it is today and the Sportage combines these reliable basics with a practical interior to make itself a sound choice for family buyers. The engine range is workmanlike with none of its constituent units rising above the mediocre but revisions have enhanced the driving experience and the Sportage does a passable impression of comfort and refinement without embarrassing itself through the corners.

With other mainstream compact 4x4s growing progressively bigger and more expensive, the Kia Sportage has remained close to its roots at the lower end of the market sector. Even the latest facelift has done little to enliven its appearance but the Kia appeals on a different level to the fashionable offerings at the opposite end of the compact 4x4 spectrum and there's something to be said for keeping things low key in the current anti-4x4 climate. With its industry-leading warranty and strong value proposition, the Sportage is an uncomplicated sort. It should prove that there's a ready market out there for an average compact 4x4 at an eye-catching price.

TOP 3 SPORTAGE DEALS

The results below show the top SPORTAGE deals on buyacar

	Kia Sportage 2.0 CRDi XS [138] 5dr Off Road
	ETR	Mthly £280	Saving £1,916	Price £15,974
	Kia Sportage 2.0 CRDi XE [138] 5dr Off Road
	ETR	Mthly £247	Saving £1,901	Price £14,489
	Kia Sportage 2.0 XE 5dr 2WD Off Road
	ETR	Mthly	Saving £1,917	Price £12,073

typical 10.45% APR

PCP finance quote over 48 months,  10,000 miles pa,  deposit of £1000