I’ve been loving Kia’s bold design team’s work. The 2023 Kia Sportage X-Pro is no exception to that statement. The Jungle Green with the black roof color combination looks incredible. The front unique styling gives the Sportage a great look into what futuristic cars can look like for today. The boomerang LED design frames the true LED headlights in a great way.

With this being the X-Pro model, you get a couple of “off road” extras. The all-terrain BFGoodrich tires make the Sportage look like its ready for an adventure. To protect it from your bold adventures, you’ll get skid plates in the front and back of the Sportage. The X-Pro was definitely aiming at the RAV4 TRD Off-Road with these options.

You get inside and the Sage Green colored seats look incredible. Their pattern down the middle adds flare to the design. They were also comfortable and had you ready for any temperature with their heated and vented option. The large gauge cluster and infotainment screens were large and clear. The blind-spot view monitor is one of my favorite Kia options which shows the mirror camera feed when you turn on your turn signal. Even though I loved the AC controls that this shares with the EV6, the placement of it in the Sportage had me accidentally bumping it from radio mode to AC controls.

Under the hood is where I was disappointed in the Sportage. The 2.5L only offered 187 horsepower and 178 lb.-ft. of torque. It didn’t feel enough in this CUV that is on the cusp of a true SUV, had beefier off-road tires, and an all-wheel drive system. Thankfully there is a hybrid model the bumps the power to 227 horsepower and 258 lb.-ft. of torque. The unfortunate thing is that they don’t offer the X-Pro trim for the hybrid drivetrain.

Overall we enjoyed the looks and feel of the 2023 Kia Sportage X-Pro. It is unfortunate that Kia continues to make the perfect vehicle but across different trims of the model. What I mean is that I would love to have the plugin hybrid’s 261 horsepower but with the X-Pro off road options. There is always aftermarket wheels and tires.