First Drive: 2011 Kia Sportage SX
 

<p>Filed under: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/crossovers-cuvs/" rel="tag">Crossover</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/kia/" rel="tag">Kia</a>, <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/category/driving/" rel="tag">First Drive</a></p><em><big>Turbocharging Adds Welcome Spice To This Handsome Soft-Roader</big></em><br />
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<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-kia-sportage-sx-first-drive/"><img alt="2011 Kia Sportage SX - front three-quarter" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/04/2011-kia-sportage-fd.jpg" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; margin: 4px 0px;" /></a>
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<em><strong><small>2011 Kia Sportage SX - Click above for high-res image gallery</small></strong></em></div>
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There's no replacement for displacement. Ask any man or woman who dined on the muscle cars that Detroit was serving in the '50s and '60s, and they'll tell you to always order the largest engine offered if you want to have any fun. Thing is, that tired old axiom just isn't accurate in the modern era. Downsizing is what's for dinner these days.<br />
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Before anyone older than 60 has a heart attack, know that the ever-escalating horsepower wars are alive and well. As it turns out, there is a replacement for displacement: technology. Take one part modern computers and the hundreds of sensors that feed them, add the classic trick of turbocharging and sprinkle on the relatively newfangled mechanical magic of direct injection, and you've got yourself one tasty recipe for performance. And you don't need a cup that measures power in cubic inches to get it.<br />
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Look no farther for proof than <a href="http://autoblog.com/make/kia">Kia</a>. The Korean automaker is working hard to change its hard-earned image of offering low-cost, basic transportation to something more like the sportier side of a dual-headed Korean conglomerate that also includes <a href="http://autoblog.com/make/hyundai">Hyundai</a>. Its SX trim level is part of that plan, and the latest two vehicles to bear those letters only have a less-is-more strategy of power production on the menu. We've already sampled the turbocharged, direct-injected <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2010/12/20/2011-kia-optima-2-0t-first-drive-review-road-test/">Optima SX</a> and were left wanting seconds; now it's time to taste Kia's well-received and attractive compact crossover, the <a href="http://autoblog.com/model/sportage">Sportage</a>, in turbo flavor.<br />
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<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/04/07/2011-kia-sportage-sx-first-drive-review/#continued">Continue reading <em>Review: 2011 Kia Sportage SX</em>...</a><br />
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<div class="postgallery"><p><s trong>Gallery: <a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-kia-sportage-sx-first-drive">2011 Kia Sportage SX: First Drive</a></strong></p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-kia-sportage-sx-first-drive/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/04/01-2011-kia-sportage-fd_thumbnail.jpg" alt="2011 Kia Sportage SX" title="2011 Kia Sportage SX" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-kia-sportage-sx-first-drive/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/04/02-2011-kia-sportage-fd_thumbnail.jpg" alt="2011 Kia Sportage SX" title="2011 Kia Sportage SX" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-kia-sportage-sx-first-drive/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/04/03-2011-kia-sportage-fd_thumbnail.jpg" alt="2011 Kia Sportage SX" title="2011 Kia Sportage SX" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-kia-sportage-sx-first-drive/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/04/04-2011-kia-sportage-fd_thumbnail.jpg" alt="2011 Kia Sportage SX" title="2011 Kia Sportage SX" /></a><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/photos/2011-kia-sportage-sx-first-drive/"><img src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.autoblog.com/media/2011/04/05-2011-kia-sportage-fd_thumbnail.jpg" alt="2011 Kia Sportage SX" title="2011 Kia Sportage SX" /></a></div><br />
<em><strong><small>Phot os copyright (C)2011 Jeremy Korzeniewski / AOL</small></strong></em><p><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/04/07/2011-kia-sportage-sx-first-drive-review/" rel="bookmark">Continue reading <em>First Drive: 2011 Kia Sportage SX</em></a></p><p style="padding:5px;backgr ound:#ddd;border:1px solid #ccc;clear:both;"><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/04/07/2011-kia-sportage-sx-first-drive-review/">First Drive: 2011 Kia Sportage SX</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://www.autoblog.com">Autoblo g</a> on Thu, 07 Apr 2011 11:57:00 EST. Please see our <a href="http://www.weblogsinc.com/feed-terms/">terms for use of feeds</a>.</p><h6 style="clear: both; padding: 8px 0 0 0; height: 2px; font-size: 1px; border: 0; margin: 0; padding: 0;"></h6><a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/04/07/2011-kia-sportage-sx-first-drive-review/" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent link to this entry">Permalink</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/forward/19905420/" title="Send this entry to a friend via email">Email this</a>&nbsp;|&nbsp;<a href="http://www.autoblog.com/2011/04/07/2011-kia-sportage-sx-first-drive-review/#comments" title="View reader comments on this entry">Comments</a>

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