![]() This may read like a lukewarm appraisal, but we actually found the Seltos quite pleasant to drive. It exhibits more perceptible body roll in the corners, and its tires are clearly intended to foster efficiency rather than sporty dynamics. When the roads get twistier, the Seltos behaves less like the Soul that inspired it and more like the crossover that it is. We were never concerned about highway merges or passing maneuvers, even in wide-open Texas, where every type of road transition is treated like an invitation to a drag race by all parties involved. Having 175 horsepower does not a rocket ship make, but the Seltos is reasonably quick. What does this translate to on the road? Kia’s test vehicles were exclusively equipped with the turbocharged engine and AWD. Only the aforementioned S model with FWD comes in under the 3,000-pound mark. Kia probably could have gotten away with offering the Seltos exclusively with the weaker engine (plenty of competitors certainly have no problem with that), but the grunty turbo engine is welcome in the heavier AWD models, which top out just north of 3,300 pounds. The turbo 1.6-liter ups output to 175 horses and 195 lb-ft, while only suffering to the tune of 25 mpg city, 30 mpg highway and 27 mpg combined. The front-drive Seltos S is a bit better at 29/34/31. As you’d expect from any small crossover, the base-engined Seltos is reasonably frugal, with EPA fuel economy estimates of 27 mpg city, 31 mpg highway and 29 mpg combined with AWD. The 2.0-liter engine makes 146 horsepower and 132 pound-feet of torque. All-wheel drive is effectively standard on all but one model, the S, which comes only with the 2.0-liter engine and CVT. If you’re familiar with Kia’s smaller vehicles (or Hyundai’s), you’ll be unsurprised to learn that the Seltos can be had with both a 2.0-liter naturally aspirated four-cylinder paired to a CVT (Kia calls it “IVT” for “Intelligent Variable Transmission") or a 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinder mated to a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox. Its wheelbase is actually about an inch longer than that of the Soul and the Hyundai Kona (both of which check in at 102.4 inches) and more than 4 four inches longer than that of the baby Venue. Sister company Hyundai’s Kona and smaller Venue could be considered, too, and then there's the Soul for those who don't need all-wheel drive and obvious crossover image.Īmong them all, Seltos falls on the larger end of this evolving spectrum of subcompact “utility” vehicles. You could easily count 20 vehicles of varying size and capability as competitors for the Seltos, from the front-wheel-drive-only Nissan Kicks and Toyota C-HR to the off-road-ready Jeep Renegade. Trying to further pigeonhole the Seltos quickly becomes difficult, as the baby crossover space is so crowded with new entries in search of a niche that it’s almost impossible to strictly define how it is segmented. Sure, Kia offers a “Lifestyle Hitch” accessory for the Seltos, but that's only good for plugging in something like a hitch-mounted bike rack. In fact, despite our best efforts, we could find only one glaring omission in its CUV bona fides - towing capability. If offering all-wheel drive as standard helps cement its identity as a crossover, then the fact its all-wheel drive system comes with a locking center coupling truly seals the deal. Instead, the 2021 Kia Seltos was born, a completely different vehicle in its own right, yet one that wears its soul on its sleeve by packing subtle hints to that trademark styling and some of its interior options. They considered the fast-growing small crossover segment too hyper-competitive to simply trot out some half-assed Soul "Cross Country" model. Now, the simplest way to do that could've just been to introduce an all-wheel-drive Soul derivative, but somewhere along the line, the Korean automaker’s product planners decided that would've been a half measure. With this in mind, Kia decided to see if the Soul could be made more like one of them. There’s just one problem: A lot of people really, really want crossovers. Between the fun-and-funky styling and the compact, practical body style with tons of cargo room, the car that has defied traditional segment labels for a decade (and won an Autoblog comparison test) is a great all-around daily driver for folks who don’t want something that's obviously a crossover. To understand the 2021 Kia Seltos, you first have to consider its soul, the Kia Soul.
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