Okay, I dont frequent this forum but lurk from time to time, I like it here. Friendly, honest people. Not trying to persuade you that an SAS is the solution to all your questions, concerns etc. Also, I might point out that I've never understood the Kia Sportage. We had one for a few months back in the day as a loaner from the shop. It was a massive P.O.S.is there something I'm missing? I'm from a Toyota (4WD) family and as far as cars go, its been Honda all the way. (I've had about 4 all motor and forced induction builds throughout the years.) My current vehicle is a '94 22R-E x-tra cab 4WD Pickup and I love it. I just dont understand why one would go out of his way to modify a Kia Sportage, if you're going to find a solid platform for a 4WD build, go Toyota If you want to go fast on the streets, go Honda for FWD and build a Fox body Mustang if you're more prone to RWD. I realize people like to go about things differently and for different reasons, I guess I'd just like to be enlightened as to why You own a Kia instead of the competition.

To he original poster: I'm running the 31x10.5 Treadwright Green Diamond OTR's, How did they work out for you? Do you have the OTR design or is it a different tread pattern? :beer:

Well if it was a loaner it probally was a POS, as to why we do what we do? Well Back when Toyota's first came to North America people asked the same question! You also mentioned if you want to go fast go Honda or Mustang? Why go Honda or pony car when you can go Big Block Mopar!!!! It all comes down to preferance, besides someone has to be the underdog! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/evil.gif" alt="" />

My tires are the NON GD , but they are the MUD style. and they work very well. They clean out pretty good, and were very good in the snow.

Now as to why a chose a kia, well in my case I was looking for a beater car, found the sportage and thought what the heck, so I went and test drove it, and I thought hey why not.

so it had a few small issues , but nothing major. and I stumbled upon this site., and at first I had the same thoughts. like WHY would you bother with a kia sportage!
but the more I drove it, the more it grew on me. I threw some ford f150 wheels on it that had 30x9.50's on them. and it looked nice. so then I just had to lift it, its really no t that expensive to lift one, considering there is NO after market companies making them.

and the funny thing is they actually do decent off road even with an open diff front and rear. NOW I KNOW that these are far from hardcore off road rigs, and if you see daves sportage, you'll see what needs to be done to make it one.

I wish there was more support for them. kinda like the samurais, I wonder how many guys said "why are you building an off-road rig out of that!" but once it caught on, it got to be a big deal, and now there is so much for those out there.

the kia is just as capable for the same mods, problem is nobody is doing them, or so few over the years that it never got to the after markets interest.

the sportage has a more powerful motor (although I do like the jetta diesel swap they did on a samurai on extreme 4x4 on spike)

So , is it fast? NOPE, is it a hardcore crawler? NOPE.
is it cool to see something that you most likely won't see someone else driving? YES

in my situation, I just want a gas miser, the sportage isnt all that bad, but I want 30's city/highway. as our 4runner uses gas fairly quick and we need to offset the $3.09 a gallon cost.

If I had an acre I would just keep the sporty but I don;t have that option, renting.....

Why are you coming in here and bashing our rigs? Yes there is something you are missing, a lot of things actually. Sportages are far cheaper than Toyotas, and the main reason Toyotas can be made into hardcore offroading rigs is because there exists a healthy aftermarket of upgrades. If you put the same upgrades onto a Sportage (lift, lockers, etc) it will do just as well as your precious Toyota. Even in stock form the Sportage does well offroad. This concept is true of any rig, like Jaybur said, people laughed at the "POS Suzukis" until they caught on and became popular, now no one is laughing... If the same thing happened to the Sportage and there was aftermarket support, it would be the same story all over again. Even if that doesn't happen, the Sportage has its own advantages already.

I have owned 2 sportages and I have been very happy with them. I got a great deal on them both and saved a lot of money, and both have been a lot of fun on the trails. I just do moderate offroading, I'm not talking about XTREEM ROCK CRAWLING! or anything, ok? You need to put a lot more time, work, or money into a rig for that. That's not really my thing anyway. There are trade-offs with any hardcore rig, you know that, you sacrifice in other areas when you make your rig better for offroading. But if that IS your thing, look at Dave's sportage, you can see that it IS possible to make the Sportage into that kind of rig. Yes, Dave did a SAS mod and put different axles on, big deal. You have to do that to any newer Toyotas too since they all come with IFS up front. I just don't see what your problem is with sportages, they need the same mods that any other rig needs!

Sportages have a good Mazda engine that can easily go over 200k miles, I would still be driving my first Sportage except I was in a major accident where a drunk driver could have killed me. The Sportage did well in the crash and I came out safe. Sportages are known for doing well in crashes and there are some pretty amazing stories out there. Here's pics from my crash:

http://jerry.cleedo.com/crash/

In sum, the Sportage is a cheap vehicle that I can take offroading, gets pretty good mileage (better than the other 4x4 options out there), is safe, rides nice, has a good transfer function for low frequency cabin gain if you are into car stereo (which I am), and it's a modern enough vehicle to give me all the comforts and benefits of recent model year vehicles like OBD-II (easier to work on), R134-A AC system (so I can do my own AC work legally, which I do), and it's easy to work on in general, reliable, etc. I was able to buy one with low miles for a really good price, it looks good, drives good, it's underpowered but that doesn't bother me because I'm not one of those a-hole aggressive drivers who causes accidents and gets tickets. Basically if you take my different interests and hobbies and put them together with my financial situation (college student), the sportage is pretty much the perfect vehicle for me.

Also I can't forget to mention the novelty value, the fact is a lifted Sportage is an unusual sight and it's fun to have something different. Every time I took my Sportage offroad people asked about it, they were always surprised to see it, and more surprised when they saw it could handle the same trail they were on with their jeeps! I never had anyone say "Wow that Sportage made it up this hill? What a massive POS!" No, most people thought it was cool. It's fun to have something different and unusual!

Anyways, I kinda feel bad for even replying, your post is totally off-topic and hijacking Jaybur's thread. Sorry about that Jaybur.

P.S. - I think your attitude about cars in general is really narrow-minded and ignorant, your little speech about getting either a Toyota, Honda, or Mustang is one of the dumbest things I think I have ever read. Do you really take such a simplistic view of the world? So everyone who doesn't choose one of those 3 options must be wrong or stupid? I hope you don't really think that way about the world!

By your view, Iron must be a freakin idiot, look at how many different kinds of cars he has owned, and most of them weren't Toyota, Honda, or Mustang! Wow he must be a total idiot, and so must be all the car collectors out there! LOL...

Don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Toyotas, I myself actually am probably going to buy either a Toyota or Zook at some point for a more hard-core trail rig because I like the kind of aftermarket options out there and I think it's a good platform. That isn't something that would work for me right now though, I don't have the time or money to have 2 vehicles right now. This Sportage works for me though. People are different and have different situations and preferences and you should be more open-minded and try to understand that the best choice for one person isn't always the best choice for everyone in every situation.

Well said NUKEY (that rymes with dukey)! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/ignore.gif" alt="" />

hey guys, i wouldn't be too worried about this guy, check this out....



yep, that's his....


*edit- and to answer his question, for me? it's because it's what i had. that's all. it's what i had and i was poor, still am, and it costs a lot less to modify what you have than to buy something else to modify. besides, the Sportage is actually really easy, when it comes down to nuts and bolts, to build to a decent rig, now that we have suspension and body lifts available, however, we're still lacking in the gearing and power dept.

and who says they ain't for hardcore rock crawling!?!?!?!?!









yikes, sorry for the re-hi-jack, i'm done....

WOW nice pics dave! I really like the pic of the nissan. if the back wheel is off the ground what exactly does that prove? I always thought you wanted all 4 on the ground as much as possible. I guess its just lack of flex..... remember me?


OOPS I had all 4 on the ground, must have done something wrong.

I really don't post much on here, but I hate to hear someone bashing the Sporty. I bought mine new in 2000; it now has over 350,000 miles on it without any major problems - normal maint, replaced alt & timing belt, and wear items. Always starts, always goes, works GREAT on the farm and on snowy roads. No modifications, but for what we use it for we don't need any.

I've had Toyotas (2), a Jeep, an International, a Mitsubishi and Fords (2) (all 4x4) - in totally stock form the Kia is as good as any of these for my usage, and I can tell you it has held up FAR better than any of the others.

No, there are not mountains of mods available, but I don't need those. I need a good reliable 4x4 which I can trust my wife and daughter with every day, and the Kia has certainly proven to be it.

Lee

Nukeiridium:

First off, pull the tampon out of your vag and quit whining. I wasnt coming on here to bash your rigs at all, I was trying to get someone to shed a little light on the Sportage and its strengths/weaknesses. And for a matter of fact, I've owned and maintained a number of different vehicles besides toyota/honda/mustang. Some have been great, others have not. I'm not saying you're an idiot for putting your time and money into the Kia, more power to you for doing something different.




Did you miss this part or just ignore it?


I never realized there were people into modifying them and I was surprised when I found this corner of the forum so why not ask? Dont get all over-sensitive about it. I also was asking the original poster about the tires he was running and his experience with them since I'm also running them. Wasnt trying to threadjack. Mine look like this, I think your's are a slightly different pattern. I'm very impressed with them and they've handled the snow and ice here extremely well Plus, there's very little noticeable "humming" from them on the highway.


And yes, I took this picture of my truck the first week I got it almost three years ago when I first joined the forum. What of it? Yeah, it flexes like crap. Thats the point, Its stock! Removing the swaybar and adding BJ spacers along with longer shackles and shocks made a world of difference. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />




Thank you to all the posters who didnt get their panties in a twist. :drink:

another guy is running those exact tires, and I am pretty sure he likes em. The tires make a big difference !

and you can't go wrong on the price either. I like their new tires that won't be ready until may. they look like the bfg MT/R tire........sweet!

hopefully we can cut the arguing now.

these comments got things off to a bad start.



and this



and while they are "questions" they do sound a little like bashing. Its like walking up to a guy driving a tricked out civic and saying "honda's suck" I'm sure that would start something.

I do understand your questioning the sportage. It is something I did too. But obviously your time in a sportage was bad cuz that one was a POS. Mine has near 200k on it, and will still pull on a tracker, hehe lol. It has 4low, manual hubs, body on frame. while it may not be the best choice for a 4x4, its not the worst choice. I put it in the middle. and as long as you don't want to get to crazy its cheap to get it out on the trails.

I had a guy in a full size bronco doing a double take at where I took my sportage, and its open diffs. its really too bad the after market never made anything for these.

I have no issue with someone questioning "why a sportage" but I think you came across as slamming it, and maybe that was not intentional.

either way,

<img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />