[naveen.raju]

Originally Posted by Orange GTX

It may be lame/dumbo question but I really don't understand the use of HUD.
I mean, you otherwise also get the same info in MID or ICE screen.
So is it just a gimmicky and fancy equipment or really worth an accessory?
Experts can help to clear my doubt / misunderstanding.

Two benefits I see from using this:
1) Since it's almost at eye level, you don't have to take your eyes off the road.
2) All vital details (speed, navigation etc) can be configured on the HUD so that everything is at one single area, while in the normal instrument cluster, you will need to look at different panels to get this data.

Although I don't fancy this, the navigation looks perfect. Right now, you need to look down on the HU to see the direction in most cars (Because of this I don't use HU navigation. Have mounted my phone high up so that it's close to eye level).

[Kpaaz]

The most detailed review of Seltos so far.
Kudos to you guys providing the minute of the details. It would have been really helpful if you guys had also provided some info on the IVT variant. As no comprehensive info is available for IVT anywhere and no review is complete without inputs from TBHP.

[ROG_AK]

Hats off to Kia for pulling this off, especially in the current market situation. Great review as always! Although am not really a fan of the car, it does provide a compelling package.

I did get a chance to drive the 1.5 NA Petrol for about 100 odd kilometres and it was a comfortable drive overall. Power delivery is linear and is just about adequate for the car, it does feel out of breath when climbing a hill though. The car I drove was a lower variant which had 16-inch wheels and I found the ride quality to be good. Not as stiff as what the review is expressing.

One thing I absolutely hated was the steering feel. It was light, vague and lifeless. Anything over 100 kmph and I was starting to feel nervous.

[hemanth.anand]

Exhaustive review as always

With so many features and so many options, it may leave people confused but it will cater to needs of many people too. No wonder this is selling like hot cakes. Will be interesting to see how it will perform once the new Creta comes in.

How to make an entry into a new market? - Kia and Seltos will be a nice case study for this subject.

[rahul_goyal]

An excellent and exhaustive review. Kudos to the team for putting together this well articulated review. Enjoyed reading every bit of it.

Unladen Kerb Weight of my Seltos HTK+ 1.5 NA as per RC is 1192 kg. Hope this information can be updated in the comparison table.

Kia is also offering 3 years Road Side Assistance, a scratch-care program for one-time free repair of your first scratch (more info).

So how many owners actually knew about this one-time free repair? I for one didn't. I doubt even the sales personnel in dealership know this.

Having driven almost 5500 kms in 3 months, I just love the way this car floats on the road. The driveability is amazing too. On my last highway run, my gear change pattern was 1-2-4-6 with RPM mark not exceeding 2200 mark for any upshift. No jerks or hesitation from the engine or the gearbox.

Mileage recorded as per last tankful to tankful method was 15.59 kmpl (with 300 kms of highway drive and AC on 80% of the time). Kia has pulled a rabit out of the hat with Seltos.

[karan561]

What a greatly detailed review guys

Loved the new angles used in depicting various elements of the car (particularly the interiors)

Details such as roof liner angle, tool kit details, steering Mode button configuration through the Infotainment screen (which i wasnt aware of as a day to day user myself) also Loved the way you covered the Air Purifier system by providing details about the filer, cleaning interval etc.

Camera quality can best be described as average (cars like EcoSport have superior units).

Well IMO the camera quality is Excellent & crisp (most Seltos owners would agree), just take a look at these images;

Front Camera during day;



Night;



Blind Spot Monitoring System Camera;

[aghate]

Fantastic review as always! Rated full 5 stars as anything is less is not expected or appreciated on this amazing forum.

Although I knew this car has had a smashing success but this review is such an eye opener on how many features have been crammed in a seemingly tight budget without compromising on safety or quality. Hats off to KIA and its R&D Team to launch a belter of a product in this market hungry for quality cars at an affordable price.

I personally am nitpicking now so please bear with me. I find the 50L fuel tank to be a bit less for the size of the car. Probably I am overthinking by comparing it with European counterparts. My Ford Focus hatchback had 55L fuel tank and that is where I come from. I am not sure what stops the manufacturers from giving Indian cars a bigger Fuel Tank. My 3rd Gen Honda City had a puny 42L Tank capacity which in my expectation should have been at least 50L.

Thank you KIA for giving us a product that the Indian market was desperately craving for. Hope this acts as a wake up call for the rivals to bring in some quality competition.

[Romeo_Mike]

I was wondering what's taking you guys so long. Now I get it. 1800 kms of testing - that's a whole new level of impressive to say the least. In an era where every reviewer is racing to get theirs out of the gate first, its refreshing to see you guys taking the time to evaluate the car properly. Goes on to say why TBHP reviews are the best out there. Keep up the fantastic work guys!!

[abhishek_hch]

Originally Posted by Aditya

Barring the HTE, HTK & HTK+, all variants get ISOFIX child seat anchors.

The absence of ISOFIX anchors on HTE, HTK & HTK+ is disappointing to say the least. I had made up my mind on buying the HTK+ Diesel AT but this is a complete deal breaker. I had assumed that all versions must be having it (even my base version Baleno has the same), should have checked explicitly!

Thanks for such a detailed review and saving me of a soup.

[deovrat]

Hats off to you guys, you are pushing the goalposts of reviews farther away than anyone has done before

[John]

Posting my experience on the day the official review is out

Completed a trip from our Hyderabad home to our house in Goa, today. The variant is HTX+ MT D.
Driving distance: 700 km Time: 13 hrs including stops. Avg. fuel economy (indicated): 16 kmpl ( with the tank topped off at the start, no fuel halt was needed)
Route was a mix of good, bad, and excellent roads, two lane and four lane, plains and ghats.
The Seltos handled the route with aplomb! Ride and handling was excellent. Roll well controlled. At no stage did I feel the suspension was too hard. Tyre pressure was set at the start to 34 psi (cold).
Because of road and traffic conditions, I rarely exceeded 120 kmph. Cruise control worked flawlessly (some owners have complained about malfunction), but the speed warning buzzer is a pain

Extremely happy with the capability of the car. A true all round performer.

[RajeevSharma]

This is indeed a great review. I was waiting for it as I was waring to take delivery but had to cancel my booking, tired of sales team as dealer was not giving any confirmation on delivery date. I still loved the review and hope to book it again in near future as initial euphoria dies down with new launches from Hyundai, Volkswagen Skoda and the likes.

[lemedico]

This is a great review, but I have one major disagreement with what you've stated.

"there is very little flex when you press the metal with your thumb"

Honestly, I cancelled my booking just because all panels, apart from the bonnet, flexed with even my index finger! And I saw too many shared images of the Seltos in accidents which appeared to have terribly shattered plastics and crumpled metal bits. Do the other bhpians agree?

[Researcher]

A fantastic review just in time for the holidays. Two people close to me have purchased this (not sure of variants) and are quite happy with the cars. Even though the variants are a bit confusing for me, there is one for most people looking to buy a crossover in the price range without any major deal-breaker. No wonder Kia is having a great run despite the overall slowdown in the sector. In fact, if I have correctly calculated, Seltos sold more in November itself compared to the lifetime cumulative sales of Harrier till November (14000 vs 13000 if I got my numbers right).

[SpeedForNeed]

Originally Posted by Kpaaz

The most detailed review of Seltos so far.
Kudos to you guys providing the minute of the details. It would have been really helpful if you guys had also provided some info on the IVT variant. As no comprehensive info is available for IVT anywhere and no review is complete without inputs from TBHP.

A very big thank you for the Moderators of Team-Bhp for managing this extremely helpful site and also for approving my Membership.

A big shout out for all contributors of Team-Bhp whose posts and attention to details immensely helped make informed decisions in selecting my rides.

About me, I am a light-footed driver. Likes to hear the rhythm of the engine when I drive.

We owned several cars in the family - Premier Padmini (1994), Wagon R (2001), Ertiga Diesel (2015), Eon (2017), XUV500, and Now Seltos HTX IVT.

I decided to sell off my Ertiga and get an Automatic BSVI car. Test drove almost all cars between 11 – 17 L and narrowed down on Facelifted Ertiga, XL6 and Seltos as they were in my budget. Booked XL6 and then Seltos before it was official launched. Finally went with Seltos as it was definitely looking well thought-out. No offense against Ertiga or XL6, I liked them too for their value-for-money.

After I explained the features to my family, kids have given it a name J.A.R.V.I.S (Just A Rather Very Intelligent System) as in the Iron Man Movie.

Got Seltos delivered on Dec 2nd. First thing I did was reduce Tire Pressure to 33 in the Showroom, before delivery, Thanks Team-Bhp!. PDI Checklist also helped a lot. My first outing was to my office the next day in peak hour B2B traffic in Bengaluru, which took me close to 3 hours to cover 16 kms. Despite the arduous journey, my left leg was thanking me when I reached office. I switched to N/P in every long traffic lights to free up my right leg too.

I will try to focus on the performance of IVT using my personal experience and leave out what was covered in detail by others.

We decided to go to Sringeri as our first long trip with a stopover at Chikmagalur. We always enjoyed the acceleration when we exit on to NICE road, and free up the beast. I felt that this beast seemed bit hesitant to leap even compared to my Ertiga. I felt a little bit of rubber band effect in the initial stages. I was a bit worried about my decision a fraction of a moment… But once it crossed 1500 rpm, it started giving me loads of confidence with its road manners. Highway stability was excellent. Better than any SUV I have been in. More like a sedan. Then it was time to experience all that the car has to offer. Since the highway was free, I switched the Cruise On and boy, the moment I jacked it up by 10 kmph every time, you feel a rush with a mild roar that brings smiles. Tested up to the highest allowed speed on the highway (Mostly 80). I also tried different speeds between 70 and 100 at short stretches, when I found the highway to be clear. Enjoyed every bit of it.

I did not floor it at any moment, and it was behaving like a well-trained stallion. I have experienced Turbo in Ertiga, I liked it. Do I miss it when I have to overtake a slow-moving truck? – No, unless I really slowed-down before overtaking. In such situations, even the Ertiga's turbo takes a while to kick in, so I guess it is just a matter of getting used to. I tried down-shifting and I felt that also does not give you instant excessive boost, but adequate enough. Sometimes, the car seems to struggle, but it would have already touched 60 KMPH. I would attribute it to the NVH levels and excellent planted ride. When I had to accelerate after the multi bumps on the highway, I could not see any vehicle overtake me comfortably (Mostly Innova taxis), even with my light-footed driving.

The next day, we drove to Sringeri from Chikmagalur. Was eager to find how it would perform on the inclines. It did not seem to show any strain after that usual initial rubber band effect on the plains. Not sure, if it is only me, the rubber band effect was less pronounced on the hills. With 3 Adults and a 11-year-old, with some luggage, the car made it to the shrine with all smiles on my face. I don’t regret the decision knowing my driving style. One thing I felt could be better on the rough hills was the suspension. When it hit deep potholes, we can hear loud thuds, but occupants did not feel any sharp jolts. But one cannot get the suspension both soft and hard at the same time, can we?. Again, this aspect had been discussed abundantly. Braking was superb, even with just ABS and EBD. Had to apply an emergency brake once on downward incline at decent speed and the car did not break a sweat, and as a driver that gives a lot of confidence. There is not much pitching when you apply brakes.

At the end of the highway + hill run, I got 15.6 KMPL. After I reached back to Chikmagalur, filled up the tank once again. On just highway run, I got 16.2 KMPL (Tankful to Tankful). A/C was switched on all the time at 22 degrees C.

Hope it helps!