Kia Seltos

Exterior

The Kia Seltos is roughly the same size as the Hyundai Creta. It might not be the largest SUV in its class, but a few styling cues ensure it has a reasonable on-road presence. The Kia Seltos new model has a striking front-end, replete with the signature ‘tiger-nose’ grille, chunky headlamps, and DRLs that extend all the way from the headlamp to the snout.

In profile, the shoulder crease extends all the way from the front fender to the taillamp. The liberal use of black plastic cladding gives the profile the desired ruggedness. The 17-inch wheels look sporty and fill the arches very well. At the rear, the LED taillamps exude detail and the skid plate with faux exhaust openings add a dose of ruggedness.

Variants

The Kia Seltos variants are as follows: HTE, HTK, HTK+, HTX, HTX+, GTK, GTX, and GTX+. The Seltos is available in two styles, Tech Line and GT Line. While the 1.5-litre petrol and diesel are available in the Tech Line configuration, the sportier 1.4-litre turbo petrol is exclusive to the GT Line trim.

As discussed above, the Seltos has a lengthy equipment list. So, the top-end GTX+ variant gets some segment-first features such as an 8.0-inch head-up display, a 10-speaker BOSE sound system, a smart air purifier system, and a 7.0-inch MID coloured display that also doubles up as a feed for the ORVM mounted cameras as soon as the indicators are flicked. Other than that, you also get a 10.2-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple Carplay/Android Auto, ventilated front seats, 360-degree cameras, and so on.

Interior

The interiors are packed with rich materials giving the Seltos an advantage over the rivals with the same on-road price. Kia Seltos also packs in a lot of nice-to-have equipment, as discussed above. You also get the option to opt for a traditional black-and-beige layout or a sportier black layout with red inserts.

Everything on the dashboard is neatly laid out. An instrument binnacle – finished in piano black – houses the 10.25-inch infotainment system and flows all the way to the instrument cluster, giving the whole cluster a uniform look. The steering feels nice to hold, especially given that it’s a sporty flat-bottom unit. The seats are well-cushioned, have ample support and space, on the whole, is good too.

Engine Specifications & Performance

The Seltos comes features three powertrains. The entry-spec variants are powered with a naturally-aspirated 1.5-litre four-cylinder petrol, good for 114bhp and 144Nm of torque. As for the oil burner, it, too, is a 1.5-litre four-cylinder mill, but it features variable geometry turbocharging and produces 114bhp and 250Nm of torque.

There’s a sportier petrol engine on offer too. It’s a 1.4-litre T-GDI unit, which is capable of churning out 138bhp and 242Nm of torque. A 6-speed manual is standard across the range, while the 1.5-litre petrol gets a CVT, the 1.5-litre diesel gets a torque converter, and the sportier 1.4-litre petrol gets a DCT automatic gearbox as an option.