Kia Seltos Drive Experience: A New-Age Compact SUV Ruler After Hyundai Creta?
As the compact SUV segment gains appreciation among the Indian buyers, Kia Motors is hoping for Seltos to be its trump card. Having unveiled it earlier, the South Korean OEM is going to announce its price on August 22. In between, pre-bookings were opened and some test drives were conducted. We were a part of one of them and here is what it felt like driving the Kia Seltos.
First things first, a quick rundown of how the car came into being. Kia Motors has been eyeing the Indian market for a while now and has showcased its products time and again. A total of three cars were presented at the Auto Expo 2018. SP Concept was one of them, poised to mark the official entry of the company into the Indian market. Of course, being a compact SUV, that would mean taking on the outfit's parent company Hyundai and its offering the Creta.
The time of reckoning is almost here and we can safely say Hyundai has had time to put its best foot forward. So does the Seltos outshine Creta? Or does the Creta hold its crown in the segment? Questions for later. Of course, better answered once experienced. So here it goes.
First Look
This is one aspect in which the Seltos steals the show. You look at it from one side and you see a vehicle that screams a compact SUV. That is the muscles of an SUV for a bold look in a size just smaller enough to say ¡°compact¡±. 17-inch tyres with a 19 cm ground clearance, a total height of 1.62 m do the first part. While the 5-seater look of a 4.3 m length backs the second.
All of this highlighted by sharply angled LED headlamps and alloy wheels. In between are long, curvy links defining the length of each section of the car.
Kia Seltos Side Profile
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Of course, if you will only look at it from the sides, you will miss the iconic Tiger-Nose grille of Kia Motors. A honeycomb structure to maintain the air flow, covered by LED all over. That includes LED headlamps, LED DRLs, LED fog lamps ohh, and LED tail lamps.
To sum this up, I would like to share an incident that took place in Goa during the drive. A couple of gentlemen I met on the road were quite inquisitive about the car. The questions of Seltos¡¯ price and availability followed. Then one of them shared his passion about the car - ¡°I have been following the car since the Auto Expo. But it looks unlike any other on the road!¡± For its segment, damn right it does dude!
Kia Seltos Tiger Nose Grille and LED headlamps
Sitting inside
The large screens at the front usually are the first eye grabbers. A 10.25-inch Heads-Up Display, largest in the segment, displays multiple information simultaneously. This is right next to a considerable wide and clear instrument panel, also handy with information like the tyre pressure and, get this, a Blind View Monitor!
Then you look around at the leather interiors right up to the ventilated seats at the front. The centre includes a rather continuous space, filled with a lot of elements of action, gear-stick for instance.
Good thing its a connected car too. Just like Hyundai¡¯s BlueLink, Kia has its own UVO embedded in the Seltos that lets you give voice commands, control the car remotely, navigate and a host of other features through an eSIM.
That all can be sidelined, once you look at the Bose sound system in the Seltos. Eight speakers strategically placed to play, well, Bose¡¯s audio quality. Not too hard to imagine. A delight to experience!
Kia Seltos Interiors
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Interestingly enough, the feature list does not end there. Smart Air - an option to initiate an air purifier installed in the arm rest is also a handy one. Air vents for the passengers at the back, blinds to control the light, its a comfortable journey.
The Drive
I seldom drove the Seltos on the roads, not that the city commute is not good with this car. Just that after a point, you realise this car can practically take on any terrain. That is when you decide to step things up!
We drove the 1.5-Diesel (HTX Plus) option and to sum it up - the car was a refreshing experience! An extremely responsive throttle backed by ample power locked in. A slight foot on the pedal will move this beast in such an agile manner that you will immediately know to keep it light!
Travel for the clutch might seem a bit long though. And as long as you are driving in the city, the potholes will easily be taken care of by the suspensions. Off the road, there is a bit of a swaying inside the cabin over uneven tracks. The braking is commendable with the wheels delivering enough traction to help.
Kia Seltos on the run
For India?
Let me put it this way- Seltos might just be the car that the Indian auto industry was looking for. With a constant decline in sales in the industry over the past couple of years, Seltos is rightly equipped with everything to revive these numbers. It is a new-age car with all the features ever offered in this segment and a LOT MORE! It is one of the most appealing cars to look at and all this is topped with a powerful and responsive engine that gives you the desired confidence for an SUV. In short, a complete package!
We will soon be sharing our First Drive experience in a video. To stay updated on this and a lot more, join our FB group - Future Transport.
