 What is up you guys, welcome back to another one. If you're new to the channel, I am Gold Penning, I do new car truck SUV reviews on YouTube. And today we are in the brand new 2023 Kia Sportage courtesy of Fred Bean's Kia in mechanics for PA for more information on their inventory. Please feel free to check out the link in the description box below as we are in this one today because this has been completely redesigned for the 2023 model year. It's a very unique look, very nice exterior design. I love the exterior remodel because I think it looks dang good. But anyways, in this video, we will be testing out and going over everything about this one from acceleration to braking, steering, feel ride quality, sound system exhaust clip, all that fun stuff. So having said all of that, what do you guys say? Let's just go ahead and jump right into it. And as always, let's start with pricing. And so as you can imagine, there are a few different trim levels available for the 2023 Sportage. First one being the LX being the one we have today actually starting at $27,205. Then there is the EX for $29,205. X line for $32,005. And then the SX for $32,705. And by the way, the X line comes standard with all wheel drive. All those other prices were standard with front wheel drive but you can add all wheel drive for an additional $1800 then if you wanted to. But powering the beast is going to be a 2.5 liter naturally aspirated inline four cylinder putting out 187 horsepower, 178 pound feet of torque again sent to front wheels or all wheels during eight speed automatic. MPG numbers are going to come in at approximately 22 in the city, 30 on the highway for the front wheel drive, 22 city, 28 then on the highway for the all wheel drive taking regular unleaded fuel. One more thing I wanted to note though, before we do any kind of fun acceleration test is there is going to be both hybrid and plug in hybrid options available later down the line later this year actually. And that's going to be powered by 1.6 liter turbo four cylinder with an electric motor putting out approximately 226 horsepower but that model is not out yet. So we're not going to be review with that one today. So I did just want to make note of that in case you wanted to hold out for 40 miles per gallon in that one. But now having mentioned all of that there is actually a drive mode circular dial directly behind the shifter that's going to give you normal sport, smart and snow adjusting things like the shift points, the throttle response and the steering sensitivity quite substantially as well. So now having got all of that out of the way what do you guys say? Let's go ahead and find a straightaway. Let's put the acceleration here to the test Let's see how quickly we can get our new 2023 Kia Sportage here up to speed. All right, in three, two, one, go. It's not bad. Definitely not the quickest thing in the world but you're not going to have any issues emerging onto the highway either. And this sport mode definitely helps out. You can immediately tell the difference it's holding the RPMs at a much higher level when you have it in that sport mode. So if you do have to merge onto the highway just look into the sport mode real quick and you're not going to have any issues there. Another cool thing I don't think I even mentioned it is the gauges change colors when you put it in sport mode as well to red. So I didn't mention that before so I wanted to mention that too. And not only that, these headrests are super comfortable. A lot of times when you hit the gas your head goes back into the headrest and these are some of the most comfortable headrests even with this being a base model of the Sportage. You don't usually get that in base models you usually get these hard leatherette kind of headrest but these are nice. I really like it but anyways to go along with that acceleration as always braking is equally important. So as expected you will find four wheel ventilated disc brakes coming standard on the Sportage. As far as that braking feel goes it's actually really nice. It's got a firm feel to it. It didn't expect that typically with SUVs you have a much softer braking feel but this one feels perfect quite honestly especially for what it is. It's an excellent braking feel I could definitely tell you that. As far as suspension and handle link goes you will get an independent strut type front suspension in the back independent multi-leg rear suspension. And as far as ride quality goes as we were cruising down these back roads here it's perfectly fine. Honestly I've never had any real issues with Kia and Hyundai ride quality so definitely soaking up the road and perfection is quite nicely. As far as steering feel goes it does adjust pretty substantially dependent upon the drive mode that you put it in. So I love that because it gives you something for everybody. So if you like to have your steering feel put it in that sport driving mode and you're gonna get that. If you wanted it to loosen up a little bit put it in the comfort mode but having said that even in comfort mode it still feels absolutely perfect. So steering feels 100% on point here in the Sportage. As far as cabin noise goes when I was on the highway back there you got a little bit. I mean it's pretty much as expected it's nothing too crazy but there's a little bit of road noise that comes into the cabin but it's nothing that would deter me from buying this. I could say that. So that's perfectly fine. As far as visibility goes I could see 100% move squirrel. I could see 100% perfectly fine on the back. So you're definitely not gonna have any issues there either but that pretty much rounds out the performance segment of this review you guys. So go ahead and take a look at the exterior of our completely redesigned 2023 Kia Sportage. All right so here she is you guys the new completely redesigned 2023 Kia Sportage. I love this redesigned look. This looks so much better. It looks so futuristic and it's like nothing else on the road right now but anyways I digress. Let's go ahead and start up front of the Sportage here. Gloss black front grille will come standard with silver accents. There is that new Kia logo on the front hood then as well. Down below you will actually find some silver skid plates that come standard and that's gonna be for both the front and the back actually. To the sides LED headlights do come standard across the board with LED daytime running lights. You get the automatic feature with that as well along with automatic high beams then as well coming standard for all trim levels. A lot of times that'll be an added feature that's optional on other manufacturers but I love that Kia put them standard on all trim levels. It's definitely pretty nice. LED fog lights coming with the SX Prestige trim level and up and again loving the design of the front end but that pretty much rounds out the front end of the Sportage here. Let's now go ahead and make our way to the side of this one. And so to start up top roof rails do come standard on the X line trim level and up. For your privacy glasses going to come on all trim levels. There is a silver belt line molding if you were to go with the LX or EX trim level. So we do indeed have that with us here today but if you were to go with any of the other trim levels you're actually going to get gloss black windows around so a little bit of a differentiation there. Raise suspension coming with the X line and X pro so any trim level with an X in it essentially. Silver trim found on the lower portion of that side profile that definitely looks nice. Body colored power adjustable side mirrors coming standard they will be heated coming standard for all trim levels across the board as well. With LED integrated turd signals if you were to go with the EX trim level and up so I can't show that to you guys unfortunately but floating roof line is found towards the back on that C pillar back there. Then take a look down at the wheel setup it's going to differ pretty substantially amongst the trim levels here. 17 inch silver alloys for the LX 18 inch machine finished alloys for the EX 19 inch gloss black alloys for the X line 18 inch matte gray alloys for the SX trim levels and then 17 inch black alloys with BF Goodrich all terrain tires kind of the off road tires there for the X pro trim level. So that about rounds out the side profile. Listen I'll go ahead and make our way to the back. All right and so but now since we are around back of this one rear spoiler with an integrated brake light all the way to the top just below that rear window wiper LED tail lights coming standard for all trim levels across the board. Gotta love that new style key a logo back there as well. You do have a little bit of added silver trim on the rear bumper there as well. And just below it all I think you guys know what we have to do next as always here is that exhaust clip. All right and so now since we are around to the back of the Sportage when it comes to opening that rear tailgate it is a power tailgate if you were to go with the X line trim level and up. As far as cargo capacity goes once opened up that's gonna come in at 39.6 cubic feet behind that second row. If that was not enough space that second row does fall down bumping that up to 74.1 cubic feet that is substantially more than the previous generation. So well done Kia for that. There is some cargo lighting back there of course as a 12 volt power outlet. There's a rear cargo cover available grocery bag hooks. And if you lift up underneath of that cargo floor you will find a spare tire down there as well. But then making our way up to the rear legroom that is coming in at 41.3 inches insanely impressive for rear legroom. Even in an SUV for reference I mean even six feet tall this is how much space I had in that second row there. Rear center armrest with cup holders does come standard rear ventilation then as well. And if you were to go with the EX trim level and up you will also get rear USB charging ports back there then as well. But then making our way to the front seats manually adjustable claw seats coming with the LX that's what we have today. EX trim level is going to add 10 way power driver seat with two way power lumbar and heated front seats then as well for that EX trim level and up. Syntex upholstery coming with the X line, SX and X Pro trims. Eight way power adjustable front seat coming with the Prestige trim levels. Ventilated front seats then coming with the X Pro Prestige. As far as seat comfort goes honestly it was amazing. And part of the reason is because of the super comfy headrest like I was mentioning to you guys. So definitely no issues with the seat comfort even with our bottom trim level even with the cloth seating. So wonderful seat comfort I gotta say. Then take a look at the steering wheel. It is tilt and telescoping. It is leather wrapped for the EX trim level and up and heated for the EX trim level and up. You typically don't find a heated steering wheel on one of the bottom trim levels. So well done Kia yet again beating out the other manufacturers on that for sure. Then make your way to the startup. Let me start by showing you guys the key here and typical Kia fashion. You have all of your buttons located on the side of the key lock of course being that giant button towards the top. You got unlocking that button to unlock the rear hatch as well. But essentially it is all keyless entry where they push button start if you go with the EX trim level and up. Otherwise it is going to be a traditional key start. So all I'm going to do here simply put my foot on the brake and turn the key. And this is one of the best parts now of the new Sportage 12.2 inch digital cage cluster coming standard for every single trim level across the board. Even our bottom trim level that we have here today. What's even cooler why I like digital gauges is because they're pretty customizable. For example, when you change the drive mode it's going to adjust the color of the gauges up there which I think is super cool. You can't get that with traditional analog gauges that you typically get on bottom trim level. So well done Kia you absolutely crushed it there. Also of course you have all your basic information outside temperature, how many miles you have left until you hit empty. Basically everything else you would expect to find on a digital gauge cluster. Then make your way to overall interior quality, panoramic sunroof for the EX trim level and up. Overhead sunglass holder LED interior lighting for the EX trim level and up. And that EX trim level and up is really where you kind of want to be at to be quite honest because wireless phone charger, dual zoom climate control all that is with the EX trim level and up. You will get alloy foot pedals if you were to go with those X Pro trim levels. Dual cupholders of course found in the middle there and there's a little bit of added storage just behind those cupholders which I kind of thought was pretty cool and a decent amount of space within the center armrest. So as far as overall interior quality goes it's finished like I would expect it to be. So personally I didn't have any issues but then taking a look at the infotainment screen now eight inch color touchscreen display coming with the LX trim level only. So that's what we got here. But again, if you were to go with the EX trim level and up you will get a 12.3 inch color touch screen display. Either way you still get Bluetooth and audio streaming you still get Android auto Apple CarPlay factory navigation system coming with the SX trim level and up. There is also a quiet mode which shuts off the rear speakers and limits the front speakers so that if you have children sleeping in the back they're less likely to wake up. I always find that feature pretty cool. There's a voice recorder as well in the infotainment screen. So if you didn't want to forget something just record your voice and then you can play it back at a later date. Of course you have your radio information up there as well. So by the way when it comes to the sound systems six speakers for the LX, EX and X line and then for the SX trim level and up you will get an eight speaker Harman Kardon sound system with 400 watts but it's not the one we have today unfortunately since we have the LX trim. So having said that, I do believe you guys know what we have to do next. Let's go ahead and turn on the radio see what we got playing today and let's test out the clarity of this one. I'm looking right here I'm looking back at my mind. Hello, it was okay a decent amount of bass but we were listening to FM radio I didn't see any serious XM unfortunately so couldn't get a full glimpse of the clarity I guess you could say because it isn't all that clear on regular radio anyways but I will say the bass was plenty fine. But so the last thing I wanna mention to you guys on the infotainment screen is when you do put the Sportage in reverse you will find a review camera coming standard across the board letting you know who or what is behind you which is always is going to lead us into safety and so let me start with IIHS top safety pick for the 2022 model year so the 2023 has not yet been tested at the time of this video so keep an eye out for that I would imagine it would be at least that or better typically vehicles get better over time but hasn't yet been tested but front side side carrying airbags do come standard in the back you're gonna have latch AKA lower anchors until there's two children for the rear car seats rear child door locks, tapers from monitoring system but also coming standard here's the fun safety so to speak four collision warning with car pedestrian and cyclist detection lane following assist lane keep assist lane departure warning driver attention warning with leading vehicle departure alert rear parking sensors then as well every trim is gonna get that stuff that's pretty cool then if you were to go with the EX trim level and up as always you will get a blind spot monitoring system with rear cross traffic alert then as well so overall when it comes to my final thoughts I really like this one if I'm being honest love the unique redesign you guys know I love different this looks like nothing else on the road right now so that is amazing in my personal opinion insanely comfortable headrest like I said some of the most comfortable headrest I've experienced outside of the pillows that you typically find in Mercedes or Maybach full digital gauges coming standard is absolutely wonderful as well I think the only other vehicle that puts a standard on all trim levels that I could think of is the Volkswagen Tauce but it's really all I could think of so that's excellent that Kia does that you also get America's best warranty being five year 60,000 mile bumper to bumper 10 years 100,000 miles on the powertrain so you cannot beat that here in the US at least and of course it's much larger than the previous generation as well so a lot more bang for the buck with this one as opposed to the 2022 so I really can't find a whole lot of room for improvement on this thing other than I mean interior quality could be a little bit better less hard plastics but then of course they would have to raise the price and I like where the price point's at as well so I don't know let me know what you guys think of the Sportage in the comment section below and so without a disapointing for this one you guys thank you so much for watching feel free to follow me on social media if you wanted to see what's coming next on the channel before it actually gets to YouTube be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button if you're into new car reviews that is what we do here on this channel after all do appreciate you guys watching more than you know and I will see you guys all in the next video stay gold