2026 Kia Sportage Vs Honda CR-V | Hybrid Head To Head

[Music] Just over 6 months ago, we got together some of the country’s bestselling hybrid medium-sized SUVs to find out which one was best. The Hyundai Tucson took out top honors in that comparison. But the market moves quick. We now have a fresh face Kia Sport Tage with this facelifted version. Not only does it have new styling on the outside, but the design has changed inside the cabin with new technology and the allimportant hybrid powertrain is available. across a wider array of model grades as well. To put it to the test, we’re putting it up against the Honda CRV hybrid RS. We’ve been running this car as a long-termer over the past few months, so it serves as a great benchmark for this new fresh face Kia. To put these two cars to the test, we are going to be analyzing the spec details, checking out the value on offer with these two cars, going throughout the interiors, and then as well, we are going to analyze the fuel economy. That is the allimp important factor in hybrid SUVs. Can the older Honda CRV still compete with fresh face competition like this Kia Sportage? Let’s find out. [Music] The two cars that we’ve got with us today are topsp spec model grades. That means while you get everything in the way of flashy equipment, you are paying top dollar for the privilege around $60,000 to drive away. But whereas the previous generation Kia Sportage locked its hybrid powertrain option to the topsp spec offering and only in front-wheel drive guys, this facelifted version has the fuel sipping technology available on a wider range of model grades now including all-wheel drive. It’s smart because so many other manufacturers now offer hybrid technology across an entire model range instead of just one variant. Toyota, for example, only offers hybrid powered RAV 4s in Australia, which goes somewhere to show how important petrol electric cars are becoming in our country. However, one brand that still does reserve the hybrid powertrain for the flagship variant in the showroom is Honda. Unfortunately, the only way you’ll be able to get a fuel sipping hybrid CRV is by opting for the range topping ehv RS model grade. That means you’re paying $59,900 driveway to achieve 5.5 L per 100 km. Though the Kia Sportage GT line frontwheel drive we’ve got on test costs less on paper at $57,370 before on-road costs. It does end up at around $62,800 driveaway in Melbourne. Kia claims 4.9 L per 100 km with the front-wheel drive Sportage hybrid. The Kia Sportage now has more power and torque with 173 kW and 367 Nm compared to the Honda CRV’s 135 kW and 335 Nm outputs. It shapes up as an interesting comparison. Both cars are well specified. However, one is better than the other. On the Honda, the topsp spec RS grade gets you 19-in alloy wheels, leather seats with racy red stitching, adaptive LED headlights, and sporty styling such as bodycoled cladding and black accents. That’s on top of other nicities that you get on lower grades such as a sunroof, power tailgate, 12 speakeraker Bose sound system, and ambient interior lighting. The 18-in alloy wheels on the Sportage Hybrid aren’t as big as the Hond’s, but it goes better by offering a head-up display, ventilated front seats, larger 12.3 in screens inside the cabin, a 360 degree camera, and neat features such as the blind spot view monitor. Honda’s used to do this where it would show you a camera view of the lane beside you when you are merging. However, no longer does this tech appear on its cars. The Kia also has a heated steering wheel, which the Honda CRV misses out on. That does seem like a particularly nasty emission given the topsp spec nature of this car. Overall, it does feel like the Kia Sportage is a better specified model. Let’s talk design. Now, first of all, let us know in the comments down below which one of these two cars you think is a better looking one. In my mind, it’s a Honda because I do like the wide front headlights and the low veilance that does give this thing a very sporty look. Compare in contrast to the Kia Sportage. It does look a little bit more rugged in terms of its styling due to those raised roof rails and the black plastic cladding around the car. Now, in terms of the facelifted Kia Sportage, we’ve got new front headlights that do extend out to the extreme edges of the front fascia and then a more squared off grill as well. Around the rear of the car, there are new tail lights, but overall, they really haven’t thrown out the rule book on this. It does look the same as the predecessor, and I still think it looks futuristic, smart, and a very practical looking car. If you think both of these cars aren’t for you in terms of design, price, features, or otherwise, be sure to check out Drive Marketplace for deals on a range of rivals, including the Nissen X-Tra e- power, Toyota RAV 4 Hybrid, and Hyundai Tucson Hybrid. And if you’re appreciating the detail that I’ve gone to in this review, and trust me, there is plenty to come. Please give me a like on the video and subscribe to see more content like this. In the change over to this facelifted car, Kia hasn’t overhauled the design or the placement of controls. You’ve got a similar design center console and the same panel of controls that switches media playback and air conditioning adjustments. What has changed inside this Kia Sportage is the steering wheel and it incorporates a design that is seen on newer Kia models in the showroom and it does have sort of a shallow dish to it. So you will find that this central portion it does protrude out quite a fair bit and that does make it an interesting car to drive on the road. And elsewhere in the car, the cabin design has changed with the new dash fascia. And that does incorporate a curved display which does use two 12.3 in screens, one for the driver and one for the infotainment. And it does use that new CCNC infotainment software that is seen on the wider Kia and Hyundai model lineup. I am not a huge fan of this central console design because while it does contain a decent amount of storage, I’ve got dual cup holders here, a wireless smartphone charger, and there are trays and a center console, it does have a weird sort of fake wood grain effect, and that just really doesn’t feel nice in this topsp spec car. One other thing I don’t really love in this Sportage is the twisty gear selector. It does feel a little bit unintuitive to use, and I would much prefer just a regular gear selector like any other car. Speaking of, the new tech presents flash, runs quick, and is easy to navigate thanks to the big blocky icons in the home menu. It contains wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto functionality, plus native satellite navigation and digital AM and FM radio bands. The screen is simple in its design, and it looks visually impressive by way of the big 12.3 in displays. That includes one in front of the driver. Space all around this front row is good, although I don’t think it is to the same extent as the Honda CRV. that does feel a lot more SUV like and it does have a taller driving position and a seemingly taller glass house. However, I am impressed by the design and styling going on inside this Kia here. It feels like they’ve put that much more effort into making this look much more modern and a little bit more tech forward than what is going on inside the Honda CRV. Everything around me in terms of materials feels nice. It’s all covered in soft touch elements and even these seats, they do feel fantastic and they provide a great amount of support from even the underbase and around my thighs and sides as well. Back seat passengers get cup holders in the fold down armrest, map pockets, drink bottle holders in the doors, air vents, and a couple of USBC ports. There are hooks and mounts for storing odds and ends, and the overall ambience in the second row is comfortable. I find that I’ve got a huge amount of knee room behind my own driving position. I’m 194 cm tall, so that is pretty tall. Um, there is great space for my feet to get comfy. There is a pretty small central tunnel, so you’re not really having that encumbering on your space all too much. And then in terms of headroom, I am a little bit constrained by the roof line. I find that I do have to scooch down a little bit to be comfortable, but overall it’s pretty decent. One thing I do want to mention, this is the mainstream category, so materials, they do feel a little bit scratchy and plasticky compared to what you get in the front row, but overall it does very nice for the segment. One thing I don’t like is this seat base. It doesn’t slide on rails, so you can’t go backwards and forwards to extract more space for the boot or for the rear seat passengers here. Some other medium SUVs do that, but this one misses out. But you do get a reclining second row, so you can have that adjustment of the back rest recline there. If you’re a family of four, a big boot is one of the most important considerations when it comes to a midsized SUV purchase. Both of these two cars here come with a power operated tailgate, but it’s only the Kia that comes with a space saver spare wheel. The Honda makes do with a tire repair kit. Now, in terms of outright space, the Kia is better again with 586 L behind the second row. The Honda however is not that far behind with 581 L to the same position. I think overall in terms of usability I do love the low loading floor of the Honda CRV but that is a nice squared off space inside the Kia Sportage as well. Also on usability both cars come with 12vt outlets for power but it is only the Kia that comes with a remote fold release for the second row. Honda has applied red stitching inside the cabin of this sporty RS grade, which is a curious way to go in a hybrid that’s meant to be doing the opposite of setting lap times. In any case, there’s also a black leather seat upholstery, dark headlining, dark aluminum finishes to the inlay panels, and n dials for the air conditioning controls. The Honda’s cabin looks smart and well presented on initial impression. However, it does miss out on a few key emissions when it comes to included items. For this price point, you can expect things like a head-up display, more detailed passenger seat electric controls, a 360 degree reverse camera, ventilated seats for the front row, and although this does have wireless Apple CarPlay, it doesn’t extend to wireless Android Auto. You’ll have to plug in your phone with a cable for that. In terms of overall controls for the driver in the front row, I do like what Honda has going on around the center console compared to the Kia. You’ve got a nice gear selector here. There is dual cup holders, a big sort of tray down here with a integrated wireless phone charger, and a decent size center console box as well. Honda’s 9-in infotainment system seemed large for its class when it was first fitted a few years back, but it’s now well and truly outgunned by several rival SUVs who simply offer larger systems. Compared to the Kia, it simply doesn’t cut it anymore. In terms of functionality, Honda’s infotainment software is great. It’s simple to switch between menus and functions thanks to the big blocky icons on the main screen, while shortcuts are available down below for cycling through features. There is satellite navigation, wireless Apple CarPlay, and digital radio as highlights. However, the emission of wireless Android Auto is a miss. In front of the driver, you’ve got a 10.2 in digital instrument cluster, which does have a good amount of adjustability. You can change information between the two dials in front of the driver. However, it does miss out on the blind spot view monitor that that Kia Sportage gets. Cabin materials are nice enough for the segment, but don’t exactly raise the benchmark. There is a soft touch dash covering, squishy door card tops, and matte black plastic covering the center console area. There is a pair of USBC ports in the back to charge devices, as well as mat pockets, big bottle holders in the doors, a pair of cup holders in the fold down center armrest, and two air vents. Back seat bandits get a huge amount of space inside this second row here. It is quite similar to the Kia Sportage and that’s no bad thing. There is a huge amount of clear air between my knees and the seat back. There is a huge amount of room for my boots and then there is no central tunnel to speak of. So that is great when you are trying to fit three people on the back bench here. One thing I do want to call out is like the Kia, this does not have a sliding second row base, but it does have a reclining second row. So you can adjust that as necessary. Now, one area where I don’t think this CRV does as well as a Kia is headroom. Now, there’s a weird bulge in the headlining here due to the sunroof on this spec grade. And it does mean that I am hitting my head in the roof. And if you are tall like me, that is one thing to consider. But overall, it is quite spacious in the back here. And there is enough adjustability for your kids and family. We are talking hybrids, so fuel efficiency is one of the key selling points of these two cars. The Kia has the edge in terms of what the brand claims it does. 4.9 L per 100 km compared to the Honda which is rated at 5.5 L. Over the course of a week spent driving on freeway, urban roads, and inner city commuting, the Honda and Kia ended up line ball in regards to their fuel use. 5.6 L per 100 km. This is about the efficiency you can expect from the rest of the segment, too. We’ve regularly seen numbers in the high fires when it comes to hybrid medium SUVs. It just so happens that these two are dead even when it comes to fuel economy, at least on this occasion. I have been spending a lot of time with this Honda CRV hybrid, and for the most part, I’ve been super impressed with the way it drives every day. Add on to that, I’ve actually taken this car further a field on a few road trips and around some twisty bends and the like, and I found it’s actually a keen steer as well. Honda certainly has put a little bit of Type R DNA, it feels like, beneath the substance of this CRV. And it does feel quite active in the way it delivers power and at the same time it just overall feels very engaging to drive. It does have a decent amount of compliance and you don’t get shocked as you go over things like speed humps or train tracks. This car really just eats up most of the imperfections in the road and it just smooths out that driving experience for a nice everyday comfortable driving character. I have found in my experience that the hybrid system in this CRV RS grade, it is very good. It will remain quite quiet for the most part, only sort of becoming a little bit loud when it really needs to top up the energy in that electric battery, but overall you do have a subdued noise coming from under that bonnet, and you don’t have that much in the way of intrusions coming inside the cabin. Talking about the powertrain, this Honda CRV has a 2 L non-turbo 4-cylinder engine. So, it does lack a turbocharger compared to what you do get in the Kia Sportage. And as a result, it is down on outright outputs. The Kia Sportage does beat it on power and torque. And it does feel like this car you do have to lean into the throttle to get the outputs that you really need. But that said, the ECVT transmission, the single speed unit, it is good for most circumstances and it is quick to react. So, if you do want to make your Honda CRV hybrid driving experience that little bit more sporty, there are a few driving modes that you can cycle between using this switch on the center console here. You can cycle between eco, sport, and normal. I have stuck it into sport mode before, although I haven’t found that it changes that much. the transmission becomes a little bit more perky to throttle inputs and you do feel like you are getting a little bit more steering weight, but overall I’ve just been keeping the car in normal mode and it’s been proving fine. Both of the cars that we are testing are frontwheel drive and in the time that we’ve spent with this CRV, I haven’t really noticed that it needs an all-wheel drive powertrain. For the most part, you are getting away from a set of traffic lights without sort of spinning up the wheels even when it is wet. So, there is good traction from this Honda CRV. [Applause] [Music] Compare and contrast to this Kia Sportage. Now in this generation in its facelifted guys, it arguably makes the most sense it ever has. The headline is the fact that the hybrid powertrain is available on a wider array of model grades throughout the range. So that means if you aren’t buying a topsp spec flagship model grade like we have on test today with the CRV RS and this GT line grade, it means that you can get into a hybrid powered medium SUV for a much more affordable price. So to have that sort of parody of model grades with hybrid powertrains in the Kia Sportage is really really cool and a point of difference. Now, the driving experience in that Honda CRV is largely good. And this, it sort of just turns everything up a little bit more to 11. It’s so much more comfortable on ride comfort and compliance. When you do go over speed humps, it really just sort of attacks it with a deaf hand, and you don’t really feel that much impact and intrusion coming inside the cabin to a higher degree than the Honda CRV. And things like the noise and vibration reduction are done to a much higher degree. So, top marks to Kia for making this Sportage the best it has ever been. Under the bonnet of this Kia Sportage hybrid is a 1.6 L 4-cylinder turbo petrol engine, which does have that turbocharged addition over and above the Honda CRV. So, it is nice to have that sort of extra power, extra torque, and it makes this car a little bit easier to drive every day. Now, one thing I mentioned earlier is the fact that this steering wheel, while the steering weight is light, it is a little bit weird in the fact that it does have a protruding sort of central portion here, which you will sort of just have to come to terms with in terms of grip. But overall, it’s a nice steering wheel to hold. Just one of those things that you do have to get used to. But well and truly, this Kia Sportage has that much better ride comfort and road holding ability than the Honda. It might be a little less sporty on outright driver feel, but every time you are driving this around town, it is comfortable, it is quiet, and you are getting that much more of an insulated experience. One thing this Kia Sportage has over and above the Honda is a normal six-speed automatic transmission, and it works really well. It shifts at the right times, it’s smooth, and overall, it just gels with the driver that little bit better than the Honda CRV, which it’s CVT is good. However, it is not a six-speed automatic transmission. So, while that Honda might feel a little bit more engaging to drive and it might be a little bit better for drivers among us, this Kia Sportage, it does that much better in terms of vibrations, noise, ride comfort, and it also has more outputs under the bonnet. So, big ticks for the Kia all around. As I said in the outset of this video, we have been running this Honda CRV hybrid over the course of a few months as part of a long-term Tesla. And in that time, we have found plenty of things to love about the Honda CRV hybrid in its topsp spec RS specification. Not only is a hybrid system quite efficient, we’ve been seeing about 5.6 L per 100, but it’s also nice and quiet. You don’t get that much vibration, and it actually remains quite a fun car to drive. That is over and above things like the interior, which is very practical and hugely spacious. The big thing with this car, however, is the spec emissions. And when you are paying top dollar for a medium hybrid SUV, this car, it kind of does fall up short. You really do miss some of the things that the Kia does pick up. Not only is this car more refined to drive and the cabin, it does feel that much nicer and newer than the Honda CRV. Throughout the interior, not only does a Kia Sportage GT line present that much better in terms of styling, but the functionality is a heap better as well. Add in the fact that it does feel a little bit bigger in the second row and then you are getting a little bit more boot space and it does feel like the bigger and more practical car of the two here. It might not come with a sporty ride experience of the Honda CRV, but for most people, this car will be driven around town and that is where you want comfort. When you add up everything that we’ve considered with these two cars, you simply get more for your money with this Kia Sportage. We’ve been comparing medium hybrid SUVs today, but if you’re in the mood to go fully electric, we’ve compared four of the best medium electric SUVs on the market. So, go and check out that comparison up here. [Music]

Hybrids now come in all shapes and sizes, but medium SUVs are where the real battles are fought. We’ve analysed two high-spec favourites to find the right one for your family.
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Read Full Story Here: https://www.drive.com.au/reviews/2026-honda-cr-v-hybrid-vs-kia-sportage-hybrid-comparison/

00:00 Introduction
01:05 Pricing & Specifications
03:52 Design
05:00 Kia Interior
07:17 Kia 2nd Row
08:25 Boots
09:09 Honda Interior
11:12 Honda 2nd Row
12:12 Fuel Comparison
12:50 Honda On-road Driving
15:24 Kia On-road Driving
18:00 Summary

#hybridsuv #Drive #CarComparison #besthybridsuv
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