As journalists covering cars, we haven't given the Kia Sportage much attention.

There is plenty of competition in the small crossover market, the 

Kia SUV portfolio has more stylish siblings like the Telluride, and, to be honest, 

it was difficult to look straight at the fourth-generation Kia Sportage, a dowdy throwback to Kia's earlier design philosophy.

I tried the new off-road focused X-Pro Prestige grade and the SX Prestige Hybrid AWD (we haven't driven the PHEV yet) back-to-back at home. 

And after two weeks of nothing but Sportage, I think the solution is obvious.