Kia stable adds impressive Seltos to stable
GILBERT’S GARAGE JOHN GILBERT Startling in bright yellow, the 2021 KIia Seltos SX brightened up Lake Superior’s North Shore. Photos by John Gilbert The relationship between South Korean partners Kia and Hyundai has been interesting, if a bit confusing in the decade or so they’ve been united in a move by which Hyundai took in the struggling Kia operation. For awhile, it seemed that Kia simply got its own version of various Hyundai vehicles, but in recent years, Kia has boldly stepped out onto its own path. There is no better example than the new Kia Seltos, a compact SUV that seems to be about the same size as Hyundai’s award-winning Kona. The Kona was named 2019 New Car Pick of the Year by newcarpicks.com, as well as numerous other evaluating sources. We are still evaluating our long-term Kona, which made it handy when a Neptune Blue 2021 Kia Seltos S Turbo
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showed up at our Duluth-area home for a week’s test. Side-by-side, there are distinct differences, an objective the companies made a few years ago to use styling to differentiate, rather than copy. The Seltos is about 5 inches longer and about 2.5 inches taller, with those 2.5 inches used up by giving the Seltos about 7 inches of ground clearance, 2 more than the Kona. The Seltos also has the unique Kia grille, under which is a very noticeable skid-plate, offering protection if you decide to do a little light off-roading. We were both impressed and puzzled by the Seltos S. Impressive was the sticker price, $26,740 with all options included, and also impressive was the Seltos S had a lot of punch from its
1.6-liter turbocharged 4 – the same engine that we got in the Kona. It has 175 horsepower at 6,000 RPMs, and a whopping 195 foot-pounds of torque at only 1,500 RPMs – a very good balance between the torque’s low-end punch and the horsepower’s cruising credits. The all-wheel-drive system has a mode knob on the console, right next to the shift lever that governs the 7-speed dual-clutch automatic, and you can set it for normal, sport or eco. Enormously impressive is a switch that engages a downhill control, causing the engine to stay in a lower gear and aid you when descending hills without using only your brakes. In Duluth, where every avenue is a mile-high hill climb, meaning also a
mile-down grade, that switch was eminently useful. The full array of safety gizmos are there, including a lane-departure system that includes lane-following, which keeps you centered in your lane, although not obtrusively. With gadgetry like that, it seemed curious that the Seltos S did not have keyless entry, or keyless ignition, which mostly proves how spoiled we’ve become with all those pushbutton start systems. Still, for $26,000, the Seltos S seemed quite the bargain. A few weeks later, we got a surprise visit from another Seltos, this one an SX Turbo, also with all-wheel drive, and also with the upgraded luxury features lacking on the Seltos S. It was July 23, 2020 45
