2006 Kia Sportage vs. 2006 Hyundai Tucson

[meledson]

talaga? Anong kulay ng smoke? black o white? .... ang weird naman nun .... actually that was one of my considerations kaya I got the gasoline ... medyo ayaw na ayaw ko yung merong black smoke na lalabas lalo na during cold starts...

Unfortunately, black smoke.

[cma]

The Hyundai-KIA group merged some years ago. Hyundai was able to buy the ailing KIA (who was just into cars), while Hyundai was fortunate enough to have diversified interests (cars, heavy equipment, shipbuilding, electronics, etc.). Hence, Hyundai had more funds coz their eggs were not all in one basket, LUCKY. Although, KIA was the very first Korean car maker, who believe it or not, started with bicycles.

Gone are the days when Hyundai bought technology from Mitsubishi and virtually made knock-offs, and when KIA was tied-up with the Ford-Mazda group. Now the Hyundai-KIA group is a force to be reckoned with in the automotive industry worldwide with its own state-of-the-art manufacturing and testing facilities scattered around the globe, top-notch engineering & design teams, aggressive research & development, etc. In fact, KIA now utililizes European engineers & designers. They even hired as Head or Chief of their design and engineering teams the man who brought to the world, cars such as the new Beetle and the Audi TT. His name escapes me as of the moment.

With regards to CRDi, KIA was the very first asian make to adapt or adopt this technology, ahead of big brother Hyundai and way ahead of the Japs. The Europeans were of course the first in the world to utilize this by way of BMW if i'm not mistaken.

The Hyundai-KIA group is now ranked the number 6 car manufacturer in the world (in terms of units sold), with a goal of being in the Top 5 by the year 2010. Even ahead of Honda, who is currently number 9.

In the case of Sportage vs. Tucson, I think it will just boil down to personal preference. I mean, they basically come from the same manufacturing plants in Korea, with the same processes and standards. They even share the same platform. No biases, I prefer the Sportage coz for me it looks better in & out.

In terms of local warranty Hyundai does offer a 5-year term, but read the fine print, it's a 5-year/100,000KM warranty (whichever comes first). While KIA has a 3-year/110,000KM warranty (again, whichever comes first). Now the 5-year term sounds really good but your vehicle would have to ONLY run an average of 1,666kms per month for that duration to avail of it. It doesn't sound realistic, except if you really have an extensive fleet of cars in your garage. So 3-years/110,000kms for KIA sounds really good to me! No come-ons.

There may be more Tucsons than Sportages on the road now, but as per my queries, it's only because KIA has a very strong following & demand now in the Americas and Europe. The Koreans seem to give priority or preference to ship their production to these countries before ours. Remember though that KIA has been present in our country for the longest time. As I see it, the distributor has been really committed in bringing alternative cars to the Philippines. The 1st gen Sportage was introduced in the mid-90's, while the new one was introduced way before the Tucson. OT: KIA also had foresight and was way ahead of all other manufacturers in the small car segment by introducing the Picanto, if you noticed, almost everybody followed suit. Sayang lang because of the supply and demand problems before.

In a nutshell, these are both very good and decent vehicles. At par or even better than their jap counterparts now. They may lack "options" or "features" but bear in mind that our importers have to be "practical" at times. I'm sure they can load it with all goodies possible but how many then can afford their vehicles. It's your choice!

As I understand the Sportage is available as follows:

Sportage 2.0L GAS 4x2 CVVT - 969,000Php
Sportage 2.0L CRDi 4x4 - 1,120,000Php

Both automatic tranny only with shiftronic.

My 2 cents... FYI. Thank you. Happy hunting!

[albert_b]

Wow! What a great forum write up cma ... makes me feel really good about my new sportage :-) ... which by the way is going get a new paint job hehe ... I opted to take their offer to convert it to a monotone black from its current black-gray two-tone color.

Sana may Kia Sportage club :-) ... or Kahit Hyundai Tucson club tapos makikisali lang hehe

...In fact, KIA now utililizes European engineers & designers. They even hired as Head or Chief of their design and engineering teams the man who brought to the world, cars such as the new Beetle and the Audi TT. His name escapes me as of the moment...

Is it Freeman Thomas or J Mays? :-)

[cma]

Thanks albert_b,

I'm sure that your Sportage would look really cool in all black! I still can't remember the name of KIA's head in the design and engineering department , but when it comes to me; I'll be sure to post it.

[cma]

Peter Schreyer is new Kia Design Director

856 page views since 26 July 2006


Peter Schreyer will be the next Design Director at Kia Motors. He has worked at Audi for more than 25 years, and created the original Audi TT.


Peter Schreyer first joined Audi in 1978 for a student stage: in 1994 he was the design responsible for one of the most acclaimed cars of the latest years, the original Audi TT.
He left an important mark on the design language at Audi, that still distiguishes all the brand's models.
He had joined Volkswagen in 2002, and according to some insiders he was looking for a different job for more than two years.

1995 Audi TT Concept 2004 Volkswagen Concept R sketchAmong his latest creations is the 2004 Volkswagen Concept-R.
As some report, Kia's official confirm will be given by the end of September. Peter Schreyer might work at Kia's new European Design Center in Frankfurt.
Peter Schreyer - Biography

• 1953 - Born in Bad Reichenhall, Deutschland
• 1975 - Begins his studies at the Industrie Design Fachhochschule (Industrial Design professional school), Munchen
• 1978 - Stage at AUDI AG's Design Studio
• 1979 - Final diploma Industrie Designer FH
• 1979 - Audi Scholarship for the Royal College of Art, London
• 1979-1980 - Transportation Design student at the Royal College of Art, London
• 1980 - Works at Audi Design, Exterieur, Interieur und Konzept
• 1991-1992 - Works at Audi Design Studio, California, USA.
• 1992-1993 - Audi Design, Concept Studio
• 1993 - Volkswagen AG, Exterior Design
• 1995 - Founder and Jury member of "Internationaler Audi design Förderpreis"
• 1996-1998 - Audi A4 Avant, Audi A3 winning projects
• 1999 - Audi Design Team of the Year
• 1999-2002 Volkswagen AG Design
• 2003 Winner of the Design Award of the Federal Republic of Germany

(Photo: V

[cma]

"Automotive manufacturers rankings *based on worldwide sales*"

Ranking, based on sales, are:

1. General Motors
2. Toyota
3. Ford
4. Volkswagen
5. DaimlerChrysler
6. Hyundai-KIA

[saulctg]

[SIZE=4]even though the sportage & tucson share the same maker of engine & flatform , [/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]the tucson still 8 notch ahead of sportage.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=4]visit website : Consumer Report.org[/SIZE]

[mqavila]

Hi guys,

I'm a newbie here but I've been lurking here long before I registered, because I'm planning to buy a car/vehicle soon...

For the longest time, I have owned and driven a second hand car (first, a 1995 Mazda 323; then, a 1997 Suzuki Esteem; now, a 1998 Nissan Sentra). Now that I'm married with two kids, I want to "upgrade" to a bigger car on a budget. With my budget ceiling of P900K (possibly stretchable to P950K), I have narrowed it down to these choices:

1. Toyota Innova (possibly the E model)
2. Isuzu Crosswind (I got intrigued by their XTi Limited Edition)
3. Chevrolet Optra Wagon (seems like value for money - is this Japan made?)
4. Kia Carens (currently my top choice because of all the posts here)
5. Hyundai Tucson (probably the entry level due to my budget)
6. Kia Sportage (probably the entry level due to my budget)

Of course, I would love to be able to choose the most durable and reliable one among the bunch, with an eye for value-for-money and great after-sales service. So far, I'm leaning towards the Kia Carens, Sportage or Hyundai Tucson because of all the great feedback posted here but I have several concerns:

1. As with most of the members here, I have a generally negative impression of Korean auto-makers like Kia. Although from the posts here and from what I have seen of Korean cars on the road, it appears that Kia and Hyundai have greatly improved through the years. However, I'm still curious how good Kia's and Hyundai's quality is. For example, the Kia Carens is fairly new in the market and may look and feel good. But, is it durable? Three or five years down the road, will the Kia or Hyundai vehicle still be in tiptop shape (assuming the usual upkeep)?

2. My dad used to have a diesel Sentra (the box type) and although the fuel cost was much less than the cost for a gasoline car, his maintenance cost for that car was fairly high - much higher, I would think, than what would be normally spent for maintaining a gasoline car. Is this still the case nowadays? I know that almost everyone is raving about the new CRDi technology but I just want to be assured that the fuel savings on a CRDi will not be offset by high maintenance cost (as compared to a gas version).

3. How good is Kia's and Hyundai's after-sales service? Do they really take care of the customer? And are the spare parts/accessories for their models readily available? Because, no matter how good the service is, if the parts are not available, then the waiting time will also be a hassle.

4. How significantly better is the fuel consumption/efficiency of the CRDi version as compared to the gas version?

5. Lastly, is there any variant of either of these two SUVs that have a 3rd passenger row?


Ummm.... that's it for now. I apologize for the long rant but I just want to try to cover all bases. I hope you guys can help me out. Thanks again!

[alex18_ph]

1. I used to have bad impressions on Koren cars before too lalo na since my last car was a Honda. Read reviews for months before finally convincing myself to get a Tucson. With regards to durability i think it really depends on the user.

2. Diesels variants usually have a 100k+- price difference. Consider how long are you going to use the car. Imagine mo sa gas variant may 100k ka na pang gas.

3. So far have i get good after sales service. And parts seem to be cheaper vs jap

4. i get 8-9km / liter makati - manila city driving kapag out of town 10-11

[JJCarEnthusiast]

ive read all posts at this thread. seems people here have a 50/50 split between the tucson and the sportage.
noe im going to ask: which one really have the more comfier ride or have better perfromance between the two? which would you prefer?
i heard na pareho lang silang dalawa. pero others are saying yhat "tucson is still 8 nothches higher than sportage." what does the guy here mean? pareho lang sila diba?