Follow us today...
Kia provides the New England Motor Press Association with fantastic support. Every Kia we test seems to knock our socks off, and this new 2026 Sportage X-Pro Prestige was no exception. The Sportage is Kia’s model competing in the RAV4, CR-V, Forester, and Bronco Sport (sort of) segment, one that is the largest overall in America for personal-use buyers. As great as this Kia Sportage is on its own, we found ourselves asking the question, “Is this Sportage X-Pro Prestige a better crossover than the Subaru Forester Limited or Wilderness?” Let's compare and contrast these two great choices, with an emphasis what things the Kia can offer that the Forester cannot.
2026 Kia Sportage X-Pro Prestige - What Is It?
The Sportage is Kia’s five-passenger crossover SUV, which competes with the RAV4, CR-V, and Forester. Some would include the Ford Bronco Sport in this grouping. The Pro-X Prestige is a very interesting trim that combines some fantastic creature comforts with a healthy dose of enhanced winter capability and the needed tires and clearance to enjoy the vehicle off pavement.
2026 Kia Sportage X-Pro Prestige - What Isn’t It?
We added this section to give some clarity to the X-Pro Prestige trim. The Sportage X-Pro Prestige is not a hard-edged off-roader like the Ford Bronco Sport Badlands Sasquatch is. Nor is it really a direct competitor to the Wilderness version of the Forester. It definitely has some elements of what those specialty trims provide, but in our opinion, Kia made a wise choice to stop with the off-road kit at precisely the right level of gear. It’s not overdone, to say it plainly.
2026 Kia Sportage X-Pro Prestige - What Does It Cost? What’s Its Value?
The Sportage we tested had a price of $41,920, including Kia’s Destination Fee, but not including Dealer Doc Fees. This is an extremely well-equipped trim, and the price is no surprise to us. This is where vehicles with this level of content land on the price spectrum heading into 2026.
We feel that the Kia Sportage offers an unusually high value. The reason is that it has a warranty for its first owner that spans 10 years / 100,000 miles. That’s about 40% longer than Subaru’s, Ford’s, and Toyota’s. This is one objective example of how the Kia Sportage stands ahead of Subaru’s Forester.
2026 Kia Sportage X-Pro Prestige - What Powers It and Why Does It Matter?
The Sportage we are reviewing is equipped with a 2.5-liter, four-cylinder engine. No turbo, and no hybrid system, though other Sportage trims offer both. We were prepared to be underwhelmed by this engine, just as Subaru’s 2.5-liter engine is considered "boring" by many reviewers. However, we found it satisfactory in most situations. One big reason is that Kia wisely uses an 8-speed geared transmission, and not a droning and moaning CVT. Furthermore, in Sport Mode, the Sportage X-Pro Prestige was downright peppy. We felt this vehicle would satisfy the majority of buyers’ power requirements. Would we have preferred another 100 lb-ft of torque, like that offered by Kia’s Sportage Hybrid trims? Yes.
We observed a respectable 29.1 MPG over about 300 miles of highway, suburban, and rural off-pavement driving. Included in that was about 100 miles of back-country mountain roads in Sport Mode.
2026 Kia Sportage X-Pro Prestige - The Drive
We found the Sportage X-Pro very enjoyable and satisfying to drive in almost every situation. Around town, it is not exactly snappy, but I never felt like the Sportage needed to be quicker in local driving. In the mountains, this Sportage would have benefitted from the up-powered and much more efficient turbocharged hybrid powertrain Kia offers on some trims. Paddle shifters may have made the powertrain’s efforts a bit more predictable and controllable.
This trim has all-terrain tires, and they were fantastic. Even with the added sidewall, the Sportage handles great. The suspension has a lot of travel, too. We loved driving this Kia on dirt roads. The fun was not limited to just slow off-pavement runs. On downhill sweepers on paved mountain roads at around 50 MPH, the Sportage X-Pro can carve a corner predictably, and we had a lot of chances to push the Sportage (safely) into some tight turns. It’s a rewarding crossover to drive assertively.
There are dedicated Sport, Snow, Mud, and Sand Modes in the X-Pro. Kia even added a downhill descent button, which we love. We use that in winter when driving to our cabin all the time, and it helps ensure a safe descent of slippery hills. For nearly all buyers, these modes and the downhill assist would be easy to use and offer plenty of capability. Can Subaru’s dual X-Mode do more in extreme situations? Maybe. A side by side winter extremes test would be very interesting to see.
2026 Kia Sportage X-Pro Prestige - Unusual and Notable Equipment
The X-Pro Prestige has 17-inch tires with BFG Trail-Terrain T/A tires. These are fantastic, and we’d buy this trim just to avoid the ridiculous low-profile large-diameter tires so many top trims come with. These add durability, traction, and winter capability, and we found no downside. They didn’t howl, and we could not hear them when driving in town, only on perfectly smooth highway pavement can you detect a very subtle hum from the BFGs. You can get tires like these on a Forester, but only if you opt into the Wilderness trim. A big plus of tires with this design and sizing is that you could air down a few PSI to make dirt roads and trails feel even more smooth.
The X-Pro Prestige also has a fully-heated windshield with a wire mesh heating element over its entirety. This will make icy and snowy days up to the ski areas safer and more enjoyable, since the wipers won’t end up caked in frozen slush. However, you can see the mesh at night. We’d suggest an evening test drive to ensure you like it. Over time, we became accustomed to it. We’ve never tested a Subaru of any model or trim with this feature (and none of the six my family has owned had it). Only pricey European brands have offered this on vehicles we have previously tested.
The X-Pro Prestige also has a spare tire, a large glass moonroof with a power sunshade, heated and cooled seats with multiple settings, a heated steering wheel, also with two settings, and the most comfortable power front seats in the class.
If you plan off-pavement adventures, Kia offers a front skid plate. I’d add that and have it installed on day one. It’s just $240.
2026 Kia Sportage X-Pro Prestige - What’s Missing?
There was no center-mounted audio volume knob, and no paddle shifters in the Sportage X-Pro Prestige we tested.
2026 Kia Sportage X-Pro Prestige - Off-Pavement Performance
We do not wish to pretend that we “took this vehicle off-roading.” We did not, and it is not really set up for true off-roading. We did drive over quite a lot unmaintained and poorly maintained dirt roads in New Hampshire. Here, the Sportage X-Pro shines. It’s brilliant. Even without airing down, the Sportage X-Pro handles washboard gravel sections with zero rattles. It felt smooth over these roads in all the right ways. Up steep and loose sections of dirt and rock roads, the X-Pro never spun its wheels, and was stable and confidence-inspiring. We used the Downhill Assist and it worked very intuitively. It would be a huge plus in winter if you have a steep driveway or access road to your property.
During our testing, we were happy to find that the BFG tires did not retain stones and then fling them into the wheel wells, something some all-terrain tires we’ve tested have done.
2026 Kia Sportage X-Pro Prestige - Conclusion
Most brands now offer a trim with all-terrain tires and a bit of off-pavement gear. The Sportage X-Pro seemed to offer the ideal level for what we think a crossover should be used for. It is not pretending to be a Wrangler Rubicon, but its sensibly-sized BFG Trail Terrain tires alone make it much more capable, safe, and comfortable than a “Limited Elite Platinum Touring” type of trim with silly wagon wheel-sized rims and tiny sidewalls.
In addition to the outstanding warranty, we'd count among this vehicles many pluses the geared transmission, sensible tires, the downhill assist system, snow mode, super-comfy seats, outstanding heating of the seats and steering wheel, and the novel windshield. If you live in an area with poor roads, harsh winters, and unpaved sections of roads, the 2026 Kia Sportage X-Pro Prestige was built just for you. Go get one!
John Goreham is the Vice President of the New England Motor Press Association and an expert vehicle tester. John completed an engineering program with a focus on electric vehicles, followed by two decades of work in high-tech, biopharma, and the automotive supply chain before becoming a news contributor. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE int). In addition to his fourteen years of work at Torque News, John has published thousands of articles and reviews at American news outlets. He is known for offering unfiltered opinions on vehicle topics. You can connect with John on LinkedIn and follow his work on his personal X channel or on our X channel. Please note that stories carrying John's by-line are never AI-generated, but he does employ grammar and punctuation software when proofreading and he also uses image generation tools.
Images by John Goreham
Follow us today...
