Kia Seltos - Tiger Nosed Marvel

Kia Seltos SUV.

- P. Tharyan

The Goan rains were not a deterrent, rather it added to the fun quotient when it came to driving the Kia Seltos SUV. Kia Motors India is offering this vehicle with a plethora of permutations and combinations. The Kia Seltos SUV is being offered with a dual trim concept. One is the Tech line and the other is the GT line. The former is a premium looking vehicle that offers family oriented comforts and technology features. The GT line has a sporty design and very youthful in its styling and features. Thus the variants in the Tech line are the High Tech –eXtreme (HTX), the High Tech –Klass (HTK) and the High Tech-Energy (HTE). The GT Line consists of the GT Line-eXtreme (GTX), the GT Line-Klass (GTK) and the GT LineEnergy (GTE). Are you confused? Well, there is more to the story.

The Kia Seltos is being offered with three BS VI compliant engine options. One is the 1.4 litre Turbo Gasoline Direct Injection petrol engine. This again has an option of either a 6 speed manual transmission or a 7 speed Dual Clutch Transmission or DCT. The engine produces a peak 138hp and a torque of 242Nm.

The second engine is a naturally aspirated 1.5 litre petrol engine that also has an option of a 6 speed manual transmission and an Automatic Infinitely variable transmission (IVT). This engine produces 113.5hp and a peak torque of 144Nm.

The third engine option is a Diesel 1.5 VGT or Variable-geometry turbocharger. This again has an option of a 6 speed manual transmission as well as a 6 speed torque convertor automatic transmission. This one also produces a peak 113.5hp, but a peak torque of 250Nm.

For record’s sake the 1.4 litre TGDI petrol engine delivers a fuel efficiency of 16.1kmpl for the manual transmission version and 16.5 kmpl for the DCT verison. As for the VGT 1.5 litre diesel engine, this churns out 21 kmpl for the manual transmission version and 18kmpl for the automatic version.