Kia Seltos: Which variant to buy

Seltos is Kia’s first offering on the Indian market and the Korean carmaker has left nothing to chance. And that has meant, amongst other things, a very wide range of variants across a very wide price range: 16 to be precise, starting at Rs. 9.89 lakh to Rs. 17.39 lakh, ex-showroom.

Choosing which Seltos variant to buy therefore can be rather tricky. Kia has two broad variant line-ups:

1. Kia Seltos Tech-Line: HTE HTK HTK+ HTX HTX+
2. Kia Seltos GT-Line: GTK GTX GTX+

Each of the above has a petrol and diesel and a few of them have automatics. And then the above, there are petrol and diesel. The Seltos Tech-Line come with 1.5-litre petrol and diesel engine options. Both produce 113 bhp but the diesel is more torquey [250Nm] compared with the petrol {144Nm].

The Seltos GT-Line comes powered by a 140 bhp, 1.4-litre T-GDI petrol engine that produces 242Nm of torque and is mated to either a six-speed manual or a seven-speed DCT automatic transmission. The top-spec GTX+ carries forward the same 1.5-litre diesel as on the Tech-Line—so in case of diesel GTX, the difference is in feature list only.

We are sure that by now, you are utterly confused. So, no more general gyan, let’s jump to Cartoq’s pick of the range.

Best Budget Buy

Even the entry level Seltos HTE has a pretty solid feature list. But for just a little more, you can get the HTK (Rs 9.99 Lakh – Rs 11.19 Lakh) that adds Projector Fog Lamps, Electrically-Adjustable ORVM with LED Turn Indicator, 8.0-Inch Touchscreen Infotainment with Android Auto & Apple CarPlay, Rear-View Camera with Guidelines, One-Touch Auto Power Down Window Front/Rear Mud Guar. HTK variants are available in both petrol and diesel and come mated to the standard six-speed manual gearbox.

The Full-On Kia Experience

While the HTK variant get you what other car makers offer, it’s the HTX line (Rs 12.79 Lakh – Rs 13.79 Lakh) that really up the game with the addition of Kia’s 10.25-inch infotainment system which underpins the UVO Connect offering a slew of best-in-class features. Other add ons include Crown Jewel LED Headlamps, Sweeping LED Light Bar, Heartbeat LED DRLs, Ice Cube Fog Lamps, Fully-Automatic Air Conditioner, Ambient Mood Lighting, LED Sound Mood Lighting, 17-inch Hyper Metallic Alloy Wheels, Anti-Glare IRVMs, Dual-tone Interiors with Leatherette seats, Smart Pure Air Purifier, and 60:40 Rear Split Seats. This is our favourite variant of the lot with a great combination of features and price. Again, you get both diesel and petrol HTXs but only the latter gets an auto.

If You Must Have It All

Kia Seltos GTX+ DCT is the one for you. You get a powerful 140 bhp petrol engine mated to a excellent 7-speed DCT gearbox. Plus you also get Electric Sunroof, 8-Way Adjustable Driver Seat, Ventilated Front Seats, 360-degree Camera, Blind-View Monitor, In Cluster BOSE Premium Surround Sound System, Multiple Driving Modes & Traction Control Front Parking Sensors. This being the top end variant, it gets all the bells and whistles.