KIA Seltos Review

In India SUVs are selling like hotcakes, everyone wants to buy a big, stylish SUV that speaks for itself. Looking at this recent trend KIA said why not enter the market with an SUV. While all other car manufacturers were working hard to meet the BS6 deadline, KIA said hold my beer and went ahead and launched the Seltos in August in 2019 with BS6 engine options. The greatest USP of the car was all the engines were BS6 complaint right from the get-go, yes KIA was ready with a BS6 engine 7-8 months before the deadline which I think is quite appreciable. Seltos is the sibling to the Creta, both cars share the same platform and will even share the engine options in future. Many might say Seltos goes up against the likes of TATA Harrier, MG Hector, but I think even though their price range is quite similar they are not direct competitors. Seltos will more likely go up against Hyundai Creta, Nissan Kicks, Renault Captur and Duster. Read my complete review to know how’s the Seltos in and out.

Design-

I love the design on KIA cars, whether be it the Stinger, the Optima and many more,Seltos is no exception to that. Seltos is a good looking SUV and there are no 2-ways about it. At the front seltos has the traditional tiger-nose grill finished in chrome which adds masculinity to the car. The LED headlights are a piece of art, KIA designers have worked hard on those lights and the attention to detail is excellent. I love how the day time running light merges into the grill which looks gorgeous at night. The vertically placed icecube shaped foglights are LED too.

The side profile looks quite decent and those 17’’ alloy wheels make the car look tall and well proportioned. The rear of the car is simple in comparison to the front, the taillights are sleek. There is a small chrome strip which houses the small reverse lights and connects the tail lamps. The Seltos also gets roof rails which I don’t think are functional. You also get the Seltos with dual-tone colour to make it look even better.

Performance-

Seltos comes with 3 engine options 2 petrol and 1 diesel. Let's begin with Petrol-

Petrol-The Seltos gets a 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine that produces 113 hp and 144 nm of torque. This engine option is mated to a 6-speed manual transmission and an IVT gearbox (only in HTX variant). This engine is good and offers great refinement. The power and torque are good enough even in the city and on the highway as well.

Turbo Petrol- If you are a car enthusiast who likes to rev the nuts of the engine then look no further, Kia offers 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine for you which produces 138 hp and a nice 242 nm of torque. You can get this engine either with a 6-speed manual transmission or a 7-speed DCT. This is the engine that will bring a big smile on your face and you enjoy every bit of it. You can get this engine option only with the GT-Line variants.

Diesel- Coming to the diesel the seltos gets a 1.5-litre 4-cylinder engine which develops 115 hp and 250 nm of torque. The diesel engine is offered with a 6-speed manual or 6-speed torque converter transmission. This engine is also nice to drive and offers great fuel economy. (excess of 20kmpl)

Interior and Cabin space-

Just like the exterior, the interior of the seltos is beautiful too. The quality of materials used is top-notch. You get soft-touch leather on the dashboard and the door handles. the dashboard is nicely laid out with a big 10.25’’ HD touch screen which is mounted nicely on the dash as it perfectly falls in the sight of the driver while driving. You also get 7’’ colour display for the instrument cluster. The sunroof adds airy feeling to the cabin. Depending on the variant you get a full black interior, black and beige interior and different options for leather seats too. The fronts are ventilated and are supportive. The driver seat gets electric adjust too. Coming to the back you get a centre armrest, rear sunshade and rear ac vents which makes the rear-seat experience comfortable. The GT-line variants get red stitching throughout the cabin just to add a bit of sporty look. You get a 433 litres boot space which is quite decent.

Features-

This is the section where I can go on and on because KIA has loaded the Seltos with a lot of bells and whistles. Beginning with safety kit you get 6 airbags, tyre pressure monitor, Electronic stability control, Hill Hold Control, Vehicle stability management, Brake assist, ABS, all 4 disc-brakes (diesel variants). The seltos comes with the 10.25’’ HD touchscreen with android auto and apple car play. The touch screen is sharp and responsive too. The instrument cluster is 7’’ digital unit. The front seats are ventilated and the driver gets electric adjust. The seltos also comes with Sunroof, automatic climate control, ambient lighting, cruise control, rear parking sensors with camera, alloy wheels, wireless phone charger, auto-wipers, flat-bottom steering wheel, sunshade for rear windows.

Seltos comes with several segment-first features like smart-air purifier, 8’’ heads-up display, Multi-drive modes, 360-degree camera, front parking sensors, UVO connected Car feature, Blind view monitor system, Bose music system, UV-cut solar glass. The only features Seltos misses out are paddle shifters and Electronic Parking Brake.

Ride and Handling-

Seltos is a nice to drive car. The steering is light at lower speeds and weighs up nice at higher speeds. The car can do higher speeds without creating any hesitation in the driver’s mind, it stays composed and glued to the road at all speed. The manual gearbox is smooth shifting, the clutch is light, there’s nothing you can fault. The suspension is neatly set-up for our Indian roads, where only the worst potholes are felt inside. Being an SUV, you can tell there is a bit of body roll.

Coming to the final discussion, the Seltos is a great car. It has got all the things one expects from a mid-size SUV. It has got a ton of features, good ride quality, eye-catchy looks, macho appearance. Let me get one thing clear it is not a proper SUV, although it gets few drive modes to select at the end its still a front-wheel-drive car. The price range for Seltos starts from 9.89 lakhs and goes all the way to 17.34 lakhs competing with a large number of cars. Kia has positioned the Seltos very smartly, the lower variants of the Seltos competes with the top variants of sub-4-metre SUVs like Tata Nexon, Mahindra XUV300, Ford Ecosport, Maruti-Suzuki Vitara Brezza, Hyundai Venue and the fully loaded top variants of the Seltos competes with the lower variants of bigger SUVs like Jeep Compass, MG Hector, Tata Harrier, XUV500. There are 18 variants of Seltos on offer available with different engines, gearboxes, colour options. Seltos is a really an excellent car and definitely worth the hype that has been created.

Disclaimer- Photos are taken from KIA Motors official website and Google.