One problem related to clutch has been reported for the 1996 Kia Motor Sportage. The most recently reported issues are listed below.
The wind leaks were an ongoing anoyance and I had to take the car back several times and finally gave up with an improvement but no fix. The dealer said kia acknowledged the problem but had no fix. The shift sensor and solenoid failure made the car so it could not shift gears and the key could not be removed from the car! this within days of the warrenty expiration and and with less than 16k miles on the car. This should be checked to see if its symtomatic and a recall started if it is.