KIA SELTOS SUV First Drive Report -Tiger nosed Marvel

The Kia Seltos is being offered with three BS VI compliant engine options. One is the 1.4 litre Turbo Gasoline Direct Injection petrol engine. This again has an option of either a 6 speed manual transmission or a 7 speed Dual Clutch Transmission or DCT. The engine produces a peak 138hp and a torque of 242Nm.

The second engine is a naturally aspirated 1.5 litre petrol engine that also has an option of a 6 speed manual transmission and an Automatic  Infinitely variable transmission (IVT). This engine produces 113.5hp and a peak torque of 144Nm.

The third engine option is a Diesel 1.5 VGT or Variable-geometry turbocharger. This again has an option of a 6 speed manual transmission as well as a 6 speed torque convertor automatic transmission. This one also produces a peak 113.5hp, but a peak torque of 250Nm.

For record’s sake the 1.4 litre TGDI petrol engine delivers a fuel efficiency of 16.1kmpl for the manual transmission version and 16.5 kmpl for the DCT verison. As for the VGT 1.5 litre diesel engine, this churns out 21 kmpl for the manual transmission version and 18kmpl for the automatic version.

The Seltos has an overall length of 4315mm, an overall width of 1800mm, an overall height of 1620mm and a wheelbase of 2610mm. It has a front overhang of 865mm and a rear overhang of 840mm

In the short period we were in Goa and with the rains playing hide and seek, we were able to drive three variants, the GTX 1.4 TGDI with the manual as well as the DCT. We also drove the HTX model with the six speed automatic transmission. Let me reiterate at this point, the models I drove were the top end variants in its respective class. Now let me begin to describe the vehicle and its features, including my drive experience.

Exteriors
The front has the Kia signature tiger nose grille with a sweeping LED light bar. Zoom your eyes into the grille area and you notice its chrome diamond knurling pattern. It has a smartly designed lower air dam and bumper.  The GT line gets front skid plates with red accents and the GT line emblem in one corner of the grille. It’s a lot of LED in the SUV as it gets crown jewel LED headlamps, heartbeat LED DRLs and Ice cube LED fog lamps.

The side profile is equally refreshing with a floating roof design and the SUV has a door garnish with silver accent line. In the GT line, this line has a red accent. Not to be missed are the beltline chrome moulding, roof rails, sun roof and shark fin antenna which is standard across the variants. The top end Tech Line vehicles get R 17 hyper metallic alloys while the top end GT lines vehicles get R 17 crystal cut alloys.

Coming to the rear, the vehicles get connected LED  lamp and tailgate garnish along with reflectors with air dam design. The vehicles also get a dual muffler design with rear skid plates and a rear spoiler. . The GT line gets a GT line emblem on one side of the tail gate, while the rear skid plates get a red accent here.

Interiors

Everything looks and feels rich inside the Seltos cabin with the comfortable seats, the 2 step recline rear seats being 60:40 split with folding feature and a centre arm rest, the smart dashboard, the connected infotainment along with the D cut or flat bottomed steering wheel and an automatic air conditioner and rear AC vents. The steering wheel is tilt adjustable and telescopic with buttons mounted on it for various functions. There is provision for quick wireless charging (10W) with air cooling function. Let me talk of the interiors of the GTX automatic. This SUV has LED sound mood lights, ambient mood lighting, rear door sun shade curtain, sporty alloy pedals, black leatherette sports seats with red stitching, a 10.25 inches HD touch screen navigation, rear view camera with guidance, driving rear view monitor, an air purifier with perfume diffuser, a fixed arm rest, a 7 inch colour display cluster and a 8.0inch head up display.  The front windshield and windows of the vehicle are UV cut. It has rain sensing wipers.

But it’s the manual top end GT line which gets a few more features that are not there in the automatic DCT variant. These are an electric sunroof, ventilated front seats, 8-way driver power seat, BOSE  premium 8 speaker sound system, 360 deg camera surround view monitor, a blind view monitor in the cluster LCD and front parking sensors.

The top end Techline diesel vehicle gets more or less similar features like the GT Line top end manual, except for a HUD.

I found the legroom, shoulder room and head room quite adequate, both for the front as well as rear. There is adequate storage space, with spaces to store in the front console armrest, front console cup holders, glove box, bottle holders and map pockets as well as a rear arm rest cup holder. The boot has a luggage capacity of 433 litres with a wide mouth to fit in large dimension luggage.

Since this is a UVO connected car, the UVO Lite app once downloaded into your smartphone has its own set of exciting features. The company is giving a three year free subscription for this app that has around 37 smart features. The prominent features include audio source changes, set your air purifier levels and the sound mood lamp, live car tracking, find my car, remote engine start/stop, remote AC control, remote smart pure air ON, TPMS status, fuel level information, stolen vehicle tracking, geo fencing, among others.

Performance and safety

Now as I took turns driving the three different variants, I realised that each of the three has its own set of merits. For example, the GT Line 1.4 litre petrol automatic variant is the only one that comes with multi drive modes and multi traction modes. But then you need to remember, this variant does not have Bose speakers, driver power seat, sunroof, ventilated front seats among others. The 7-speed DCT is however very responsive and quick on its feet. It drives well without any fuss.

On the other hand, the top end GT Line 1.4 litre petrol manual comes with a lot of bells and whistles. Even the gear shifts are prompt and impactful. You can feel the engine power and almost no turbo lag as you step on the accelerator. Ride and handling too are impressive and braking too is very effective. Whether it is wading through water or going through some bad pot holed roads in Goa, the Seltos soaked in all the bumps quite efficiently.

The Seltos comes with a smart key and a push button start and also offers cruise control. The diesel automatic is also quite nimble and swift thanks to the torque convertor feature. There is no compromise on the safety front with the GT line top end models which come with side and curtain airbags, electronic stability control, hill hold control and vehicle stability management. The top end Tech line only comes with ABS with EBD and dual air bags for the driver and passenger only.

Verdict

If I were to choose among the three different variants I drove,  I will opt for the GT Line 1.4 litre TGDI petrol variant that comes with a manual transmission. This one impressed me the most, especially since it is loaded with a lot of features. So has Kia Motors India made it confusing for customers with the number of variants it is offering? To some extent it has, but the Indians love to evaluate a car very carefully and the Kia offering will only be a puzzle that they will love to solve. On the whole, the Kia Seltos SUV is a tiger nosed marvel.