Compare the2024 Ford Bronco SportVS 2023 Kia Sportage PHEV

For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Ford Bronco Sport have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Kia Sportage PHEV doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The Ford Bronco Sport has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Sportage PHEV doesn’t offer knee airbags.

The Bronco Sport has standard Post Collision Braking, which automatically apply the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Sportage PHEV doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

Both the Bronco Sport and the Sportage PHEV have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, all wheel drive, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, blind spot warning systems, rearview cameras, rear cross-path warning, driver alert monitors and available rear parking sensors.

For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its standard headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Bronco Sport its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2022, a rating granted to only 126 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Sportage PHEV is only a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2022.

The Bronco Sport’s 5 year corrosion warranty has no mileage limitations, but the corrosion warranty on the Sportage PHEV runs out after 100,000 miles.

There are almost 4 times as many Ford dealers as there are Kia dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Bronco Sport’s warranty.

The Bronco Sport has a standard “limp home system” to keep drivers from being stranded if most or all of the engine’s coolant is lost. The engine will run on only half of its cylinders at a time, reduce its power and light a warning lamp on the dashboard so the driver can get to a service station for repairs. The Sportage PHEV doesn’t offer a lost coolant limp home mode, so a coolant leak could strand you or seriously damage the truck’s engine.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Bronco Sport third among small suvs in their 2023 Initial Quality Study. The Sportage PHEV isn’t in the top three in its category.

The Bronco Sport Badlands’ standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 19 lbs.-ft. more torque (277 vs. 258) than the Sportage PHEV’s 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder hybrid.

As tested in Car and Driver the Bronco Sport Badlands 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder is faster than the Kia Sportage PHEV:

Both the Bronco Sport and Sportage PHEV have a standard automatic start/stop engine feature to stop unnecessary fuel waste and pollution at stoplights and heavy traffic. The Bronco Sport has a standard disable switch for the system, so a driver can keep the engine from shutting off when the vehicle stops temporarily.

The Bronco Sport has 4.9 gallons more fuel capacity than the Sportage PHEV (16 vs. 11.1 gallons), for longer range between fill-ups.

The Bronco Sport has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Sportage PHEV doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

An eight-speed automatic is standard on the Ford Bronco Sport, for better acceleration and lower engine speed on the highway. Only a six-speed automatic is available for the Sportage PHEV.

The Bronco Sport stops shorter than the Sportage PHEV:

The Bronco Sport offers an optional full size spare tire so a flat doesn’t interrupt your trip. A full size spare isn’t available on the Sportage PHEV; it requires you to depend on roadside assistance and your vehicle will have to be towed.

For better maneuverability, the Bronco Sport’s turning circle is 1.2 feet tighter than the Sportage PHEV’s (37.4 feet vs. 38.6 feet).

For greater off-road capability the Bronco Sport has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Sportage PHEV (8.8 vs. 8.3 inches), allowing the Bronco Sport to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

The Ford Bronco Sport may be more efficient, handle and accelerate better because it weighs about 500 to 750 pounds less than the Kia Sportage PHEV.

The Bronco Sport is 10.8 inches shorter than the Sportage PHEV, making the Bronco Sport easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Bronco Sport has 3.7 inches more front headroom, 1 inch more front legroom, .4 inches more front hip room and 3.7 inches more rear headroom than the Sportage PHEV.

An optional locking center console keeps your small valuables safer in the Bronco Sport. The Sportage PHEV doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

The Bronco Sport’s rear cargo window opens separately from the rest of the liftgate door to allow quicker loading of small packages. The Sportage PHEV’s rear cargo window doesn’t open.

Maximum trailer towing in the Kia Sportage PHEV is limited to 2000 pounds. The Bronco Sport offers up to a 2200 lbs. towing capacity.

The Bronco Sport uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Sportage PHEV uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

The Bronco Sport Outer Banks/Badlands’ front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Sportage PHEV’s rear power window switches have to be held the entire time to open or close them fully.

If the windows are left open on the Bronco Sport the driver can close them all from a distance using the remote. On a hot day the driver can also lower the windows the same way. The driver of the Sportage PHEV can only close the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

In case you lock your keys in your vehicle, or don’t have them with you, you can let yourself in using the Bronco Sport’s available exterior PIN entry system. The Sportage PHEV doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its 911 Connect can’t unlock the doors if the vehicle doesn’t have cell phone reception or the driver can’t contact the service.

The Bronco Sport’s standard speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Sportage PHEV’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted. The Bronco Sport Outer Banks’ standard wipers adjust their speed and turn on and off automatically according to the amount of rainfall on the windshield.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) conducts detailed tests on headlights for their range both straight ahead and in curves and to be certain they don’t exceed acceptable amounts of glare to oncoming drivers. The Bronco Sport’s headlights were rated “Good” by the IIHS, while the Sportage PHEV’s headlights are rated “Acceptable” to “Poor.”

To help drivers avoid possible obstacles, the Bronco Sport offers optional cornering lights to illuminate around corners when the turn signals are activated. The Sportage PHEV doesn’t offer cornering lights.

The Bronco Sport Outer Banks/Badlands has a 115-volt a/c outlet on the center console, allowing you to recharge a laptop or run small household appliances without special adapters that can break or get misplaced. The Sportage PHEV doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Bronco Sport second among small suvs in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The Sportage PHEV isn’t in the top three.