Kia Seltos: Variants explained

Kia’s latest offering in the Philippines is the Seltos. It is a modern, compact crossover that has been doing the rounds in the news for quite some time now. Apparently, the new Seltos is a good package and that’s why it has gained so much popularity not only here in the Philippines but also other countries like India and South Korea.

Kia Philippines is offering three variants of the Seltos in the country - LX, EX, and SX. The base variant comes for PHP 1.1 million whereas the range-topping variant gets sold at PHP 1.5 million. Today, we are here to tell you everything about all the three Kia Seltos variants.

Engine

If you go through the Kia Seltos specs sheet in detail, you would find that all the three variants of the Kia Seltos are powered by the same engine. It is a 2.0-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine which has been tuned to churn out a max power of 149 bhp and 179 Nm of peak torque. Just like the engine, there is only a single transmission option - CVT - which Kia likes to call IVT (Intelligent Variable Transmission).

You can also select between the five drive modes - Smart, Eco, Comfort, Sport, and Custom - via the drive mode selector knob located inside the cabin.

Since Kia is Hyundai’s sister brand, you would find the same 2.0-litre engine in other Hyundai cars as well. For example, Hyundai Kona runs on the same engine and has similar power and torque numbers.

Engine specs	Kia Seltos	Hyundai Kona
Type	2.0-litre 4-cylinder
Max power	149 bhp	149 bhp
Max torque	179 Nm	185 Nm
Transmission	CVT	6-speed AT

Exterior

Kia has certainly done a brilliant job in designing the new Seltos. It indeed looks like a modern, compact crossover with bold and confident styling. It wouldn’t be wrong to say that the Seltos is one of the best looking cars in its segment.

Some of its interesting exterior features are-

• LED headlights (SX)
• LED daytime running lights (SX, EX)
• LED position lamps (SX, EX)
• LED tail lights (SX, EX)
• LED fog lamps (SX)
• 17-in crystal cut alloy wheels

As you can see, most of the LED lightings are unavailable in the base LX variant.

What are the Kia Seltos colour options?

Ans. Depending on the variant you pick, you get to choose between monotone and two-tone colour options that include Dark Ocean Blue, Gravity Grey, Iron Grey, Mars Orange, and Starbright Yellow.

Interior

The interior of the Kia Seltos feels as good as its exterior, maybe even better. There is lots of space for each occupant. The seats are very well bolstered and provide a good amount of comfort. Talking about space, the boot capacity of the Seltos is 498 litres which is the largest in its segment.

The driver has a commanding driving position and outside visibility is pretty good. The three-spoke steering feels quite premium and sporty and gets mounted controls.

One of the key interior features of the Seltos is the 8-in touch screen infotainment system which, thankfully, comes as a standard feature across all the three variants. It is a floating-type display which has a gloss back surround. It supports Bluetooth, USB, AUX, as well as both Android Auto and Apple CarPlay.

Kia has also provided 6 speakers and ambient lighting with party mode so that you are entertained all the time.

The Seltos also has some other interior features which are available only in the top-most SX variant. These features are-

• Smart entry and push start
• Automatic climate control
• Heads-up display

Safety features

Kia says that the Seltos makes extensive use of advanced high strength steel (AHSS) throughout its well-reinforced chassis design. The result is exemplary control, dynamic performance, and enhanced occupant protection.

Just like the exterior and interior features, the safety features of the Seltos varies from variant to variant. Have a look below-

• Cruise control (SX, EX)
• Rear parking distance warning (SX)
• Rear camera display with rear view driving function
• Downhill brake control (SX)
• Hill-start assist control (SX)
• Driver, front passenger, front side and curtain airbags (SX)
• Electronic stability control (SX)

It is quite clear that most of the useful and necessary safety features are available only in the top-most SX variant.

We hope that this quick variant breakdown of Kia Seltos would give you an idea about all of its three variants and help you decide which one would be the best for you. If you ask us, we would go with the range-topping SX variant because it comes with the maximum number of safety features.

Kia Seltos detailed price list-

Variant	Price
Kia Seltos 2.0 LX	PHP 1.1 million
Kia Seltos 2.0 EX	PHP 1.2 million
Kia Seltos 2.0 SX	PHP 1.5 million

 

Also read: New Kia Seltos – All the details