Let me throw my 2 cents into this discussion.

I have had a Kia Tech tell me that the DOHC engine is an "interference" motor. I had another tech tell me it wasn't.

On an old forum I know of someone who broke a timing belt on the SOHC engine and it was trashed. There was one individual in this forum who broke a belt on a SOHC motor. He installed a new belt and drove away with no damage.

There have been at minimum 8 or 9 instances reported in this forum of individuals who broke a belt on the DOHC motor and sustained no damage. I also recall one individual who broke a belt on the DOHC motor and claimed the engine was trashed but that was never verified.

As posted above the older FSM states that neither engines are "interference" motors. The FSM 1998 and newer does NOT have this statement. However, when you follow the FSM procedure for changing the timing belt on the DOHC motor it states very clearly that with the timing belt removed the cams and crank can be turned independently to properly align the timing marks. If the engine was indeed an "interference" design you could NOT do this.

Also, if you look at the maintenance schedule as listed in the FSM it states to change the timing belt every 60K miles for all areas except California. For California vehicles it states inspect at 60K, 90K, and change at 105K miles. But guess what? It's the SAME part number belt. So in reality the Sportage timing belt is "wear rated" to 105K miles.

So, what's the bottom line? To avoid trouble adhere to the maintenance schedule. When I had my Sportage I made an informed choice to change it at 93K miles. The old belt looked fine. But that was my choice and if you decide to go that long it's your risk. It appears that the tolerances between the valves and pistons are VERY close and under certain conditions if the belt breaks you MIGHT sustain some damage or get lucky and have none.