Compare the2026 Ford Bronco SportVS 2026 Kia Sportage

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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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 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 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.

To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Bronco Sport. But it costs extra on the Sportage.

The Bronco Sport has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Sportage’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Bronco Sport has standard Cross Traffic Alert and rear Cross Traffic Braking automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Kia charges extra for Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning on the Sportage.

Both the Bronco Sport and the Sportage have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front and rear seatbelt pretensioners, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors and available around view monitors.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Ford Bronco Sport is safer than the Kia Sportage:

	Bronco Sport	Sportage
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	140	299
Neck Stress	178 lbs.	263 lbs.
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	153	307
Neck Stress	177 lbs.	177 lbs.
Neck Compression	54 lbs.	115 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Ford Bronco Sport is safer than the Kia Sportage:

	Bronco Sport	Sportage
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Chest Movement	.9 inches	.9 inches
Hip Force	205 lbs.	247 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Spine Acceleration	33 G’s	47 G’s
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
Max Damage Depth	13 inches	13 inches
HIC	255	270
Spine Acceleration	35 G’s	35 G’s

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Warranty

The Bronco Sport’s 5 year corrosion warranty has no mileage limitations, but the corrosion warranty on the Sportage 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.

Reliability

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 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 2025 Initial Quality Study. The Sportage isn’t in the top three in its category.

Engine

The Bronco Sport’s standard 1.5 turbo 3-cylinder produces 22 lbs.-ft. more torque (200 vs. 178) than the Sportage’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder. The Bronco Sport Badlands’ standard 2.0 turbo 4-cylinder produces 63 more horsepower (250 vs. 187) and 102 lbs.-ft. more torque (280 vs. 178) than the Sportage’s 2.5 DOHC 4-cylinder.

As tested in Consumer Reports the Ford Bronco Sport is faster than the Kia Sportage:

	Bronco Sport turbo 3 cyl.	Bronco Sport Badlands	Sportage
Zero to 30 MPH	3.3 sec	2 sec	3.5 sec
Zero to 60 MPH	8.9 sec	5.9 sec	10 sec
45 to 65 MPH Passing	5.3 sec	3.3 sec	6.3 sec
Quarter Mile	16.9 sec	14.5 sec	17.5 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	85 MPH	93 MPH	83 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Bronco Sport gets better mileage than the Sportage:

			MPG
Bronco Sport
	AWD	1.5 turbo 3-cyl.	25 city/30 hwy
Sportage
	AWD	2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	24 city/30 hwy
		X-Pro Prestige 2.5 DOHC 4-cyl.	23 city/26 hwy

The Bronco Sport has 1.7 gallons more fuel capacity than the Sportage (16 vs. 14.3 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 doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Brakes and Stopping

The Bronco Sport stops much shorter than the Sportage:

	Bronco Sport	Sportage
70 to 0 MPH	163 feet	182 feet	Car and Driver
60 to 0 MPH	126 feet	134 feet	Consumer Reports
60 to 0 MPH (Wet)	135 feet	151 feet	Consumer Reports

Tires and Wheels

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; it requires you to depend on a temporary spare, which has mileage and speed limitations, or roadside assistance and a tow-truck.

Suspension and Handling

For better maneuverability, the Bronco Sport’s turning circle is 1.2 feet tighter than the Sportage’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 (8.8 vs. 8.3 inches), allowing the Bronco Sport to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged.

Chassis

The Bronco Sport is 11.3 inches shorter than the Sportage, making the Bronco Sport easier to handle, maneuver and park in tight spaces.

The Bronco Sport Badlands offers available computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Sportage doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

As tested by Car and Driver while under full throttle, the interior of the Bronco Sport Badlands is quieter than the Sportage X-Pro Prestige (73 vs. 74 dB).

Passenger Space

The Bronco Sport has 3.6 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Sportage (105.6 vs. 102).

The Bronco Sport has 1.9 inches more front headroom, 1 inch more front legroom, .4 inches more front hip room and 2.3 inches more rear headroom than the Sportage.

Cargo Capacity

An optional locking center console keeps your small valuables safer in the Bronco Sport. The Sportage 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’s rear cargo window doesn’t open.

Towing

Maximum trailer towing in the Kia Sportage is limited to 2500 pounds. The Bronco Sport offers up to a 2700 lbs. towing capacity.

Servicing Ease

The Bronco Sport uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Sportage 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.

Ergonomics

If the windows are left open on the Bronco Sport the driver can close all of them 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 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 doesn’t offer an exterior PIN entry system, and its Kia 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 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’s standard manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

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 doesn’t offer cornering lights.

The Bronco Sport’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Kia charges extra for heated mirrors on the Sportage.

The Bronco Sport offers an optional 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 doesn’t offer a house-current electrical outlet.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Ford Bronco Sport and the Kia Sportage, based on reliability, safety and performance.

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