KIA Seltos

Kia Seltos Overview

The all-new Kia Seltos is South Korea’s answer to the Honda HR-V the undisputed champion of the subcompact crossover SUV segment in Malaysia. Developed as a global product, the Kia Seltos was first unveiled in South Korea in 2019. After much tease on social media, Malaysia’s then official Kia distributor, Naza Kia Malaysia (now KMSB under Bermaz Auto) finally introduced the B-segment crossover in January 2021, positioned right below the Kia Sportage in Kia’s own SUV line up.

The two variants on offer are the base EX, and the GT-Line with all the bells and whistle. Price starts at RM 115,888 for the EX variant and RM 133,888 for the GT-Line variant. Both figures are on the road without insurance and comes with 5-year limited mileage warranty (150,000 km).

Codenamed the SP2i, the Kia Seltos is imported directly from India in CBU form. Both variants come equipped with the same 1.6 litre naturally aspirated 4-cylinder engine powering the front wheels. The subcompact crossover SUV market is incredibly competitive populated with competition like the Toyota Corolla Cross, Mazda CX-30, Hyundai Kona and the local favourite, the Proton X50.

Kia Seltos Exterior

The Kia Seltos aims to appeal to the younger generations and the tech-savvy millennials. The exterior design is certainly distinctive with Kia’s signature tiger nose grille flanked by a pair of elaborate two-tier ‘crown jewel’ headlight design with daytime running light.

ou can tell the GT-Line apart by the satin chrome grille, a more prominent front and rear skid plates, a more aggressive lower air intake flanked by ‘ice cube’ shape foglamps, window line with chrome trim that terminates at the D-pillar, a rear lower bumper with fake twin exhaust outlet and red highlights all around. It also gets LED headlights, fog lights and taillights as opposed to the EX’s halogen lamp.

Black plastic cladding on the lower bumper, wheel arches and side skirt flaunts its utilitarian side. A blacked-out A-pillar, together with an upswept window line give the car that desirable floating roof effect. Both variants come fitted with 17-inch alloy but the GT-line gets a sportier Y spoke two-tone alloy with red trimmed wheel centre cap.

Roof railings are fitted as standard on both variants alongside the shark fin style radio antenna. A gloss black roof spoiler with integrated rear brake-light adds a sporty touch to overall design. The Kia Selto is offered in four different colours. They are Glacier White Pearl, Gravity Grey, Intense Red and GT-Line exclusive Intelligency Blue.

Kia Seltos Dimension

The Kia Seltos is marketed globally with three variations for different markets. The largest version codenamed the SP2 is manufactured in South Korea for the North America and Australasia market.  The Indian-made and the Chinese-made Kia Seltos are closely related and are smaller in size. Codenamed the SP2i (Malaysian version) and SP2c respectively, they are based on the Hyundai-Kia K2 platform. Visually it looks larger than most of its closest rivals, but upon closer inspection, the Kia Seltos is in fact one of the shortest amongst all. A good 145 mm shorter than the Toyota Corolla Cross and just as wide as the Proton X50.

Kia Seltos Interior

On the inside, the Kia Seltos features a Mercedes-Benz inspired, but rather poorly executed freestanding display panel. The flat gloss-black panel houses a standard eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system which extends along the dashboard towards the instrument cluster.

The awkwardly placed display panel detracts buyers from what would otherwise be a rather neatly executed interior. The EX variant comes equipped with a flat-bottomed leather-wrapped steering wheel, gloss black interior trim and a luxurious quilted black leather upholstery.

The GT-Line variant on the other hand adds GT-Line badges and red contrast stitching on the steering wheel, GT-Line label embossed upholstery with red contrast stitching, soft-touch material on the dashboard and alloy pedals.

Interior storage is rather limited with the parking brake lever occupying half the central tunnel and cup holders on the other half. Door pockets are narrow and barely passing the big bottle test.

Leg and head room is generous and comparable to rivals like the Honda HR-V. Cargo storage area of 433 litres is highly versatile with an adjustable luggage floorboard and expandable with a foldable 60:40 split rear seats.

Kia Seltos Features

Standard equipment onboard includes an eight-inch touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, 6-speaker audio system, Keyless Entry with Push to Start, Cruise Control, reverse camera and a Sound Mood ambient lighting system that pulsate in sync with your music.

The GT-Line adds single-zone automatic climate control, a Head Up Display (HUD), 7-inch TFT LCD multi-info display on the instrument panel, ventilated front seats, eight-way power adjustable driver’s seat and a Qi wireless phone charger.

Both variants are equipped with identical safety features, including 6 airbags, Vehicle Stability Management (VSM), Electronic Stability Control (ESC), ABS with EBD, Hill-start Assist Control (HAC), Traction Control System with Mode Select (snow, mud, sand) and rear ISOFIX anchor.

Driver assistance system include Driver Mode Select (Normal, Eco, Sport), Parking Distance Warning (PDW) for both front (only on GT-Line) and rear, and lastly a Rear-View Camera with Dynamic Guideline.

Kia Seltos Driving Performance

Kia Seltos Engine

The Kia Seltos is powered by a Gamma 1.6 litre 4-cylinder engine with multi point injection (MPI) from Hyundai, developing 123 PS at 6300 RPM and 151 NM of torque from 4850 RPM.

Based on the Hyundai’s Gamma II engine that is also found in the older generation Hyundai Elantra, the performance figure is unremarkable especially compared to the likes of Proton X 50 and the similarly priced Toyota Corolla Cross.

Kia Seltos Transmission

Power is sent to the front wheels via a 6-speed automatic transmission. Despite its two-wheel-drive layout, an onboard Traction Control System with Drive Traction Selector is able to adjust the engine torque and braking to help the drivers on low-traction surfaces.

Kia Seltos Ride Comfort

Based on the Hyundai-Kia K2 platform, the Kia Seltos makes extensive use of Advance High Strength Steel (AHSS) to reinforce it chassis rigidity. According to Kia, it is said to offer exemplary control and dynamic performance with enhanced occupant protection.

The overall ride comfort is nothing to shout about with acceptable level of pliancy over bumps despite being on the slightly firmer side. Same can be said about the Honda HR-V and the Toyota Cross that exhibit a similar ride and handling characteristics.

Kia Seltos Fuel Consumption

Rated combined fuel economy for both variants are identical at 6.7L/100km, making it one of the least economical engine amongst its competition. A bigger 1.8 L engine on the Honda HR-V is rated at 6.6L/100km while delivering 19 PS and 21 NM more than the Kia Seltos.   

Kia Seltos Conclusion

It is rather hit-or-miss with the new Kia Seltos. While the exterior and interior design is unique in its own way, it simply misses the mark in terms of pricing and performance, especially when compared against its rivals in the competitive B-Segment crossover SUV segment. No doubt standard features like Apple CarPlay and Android Auto appeals to the more tech savvy driver of today, but Kia will have to try harder than that to convince us that the Kia Seltos is indeed a worthy alternative to the Honda HR-V.