2022 KIA Seltos SX Turbo
2022 KIA Seltos SX Turbo – Based on the same platform as the excellent Hyundai Kona, Seltos offers sharp handling similar to that SUV but pairs it with higher driving altitude, a more spacious cabin, and even more technology. Two engines are offered — 2.0-liter four-cylinder and 1.6-liter turbocharged four-cylinders — such as front-drive or all-wheel drive.
A number of optional driver assistance features, including an adaptive cruise control system with the help of lane centering and automatic emergency braking with pedestrian detection. Infotainment, too, is sophisticated with a large 10.3-inch touchscreen adorning a well-equipped example. From what we can say so far, Kia has another fantastic SUV. You’ve probably seen Seltos in a Super Bowl LIV ad.
2022 KIA Seltos SX Turbo
Slotting between Soul and Sportage, the best-selling Seltos compete for wallets and wallets that will most likely sell the Chevrolet Trailblazer, Honda HR-V, Mazda CX-30, and Kona mentioned above.
With its rugged appearance and sporty driving dynamics (thanks to our testers’ optional 1.6-liter inline-four turbo), Seltos offers small SUV buyers a lot. It is said that they may be turned off by its substandard interior quality for its price. So, Seltos case is a fight between style and substance – until the decision depends entirely on the priority of the buyer.
KIA Seltos SX Turbo Design
The Kia Seltos 2022, especially in the SX Turbo trim, is probably the best-view vehicle in its segment. The “tiger nose” grille, a long signature of South Korean car manufacturers, is slightly different than before, connected directly to the LED headlights thanks to a unique brow that sticks out from the top grille notch. The headlights themselves have an unusual shape, making a bold statement aided by a very tough skid plate at the bottom of the car body at the bottom of the front bumper.
The taillights have geometric LED accents reminiscent of the headlight scallop, but Seltos loses points with fake exhaust graphics on the rear bumper. Helping with the problem, our 18-inch tester wheel gives Seltos a planted and sporty attitude.
The two-color paint, separated by slick chrome pieces, draws attention to the D-pillar of a cheerful little SUV – this example is a formal Cherry Black on top of Clear White, but if that’s our money, we’ll choose a distinctive black color. and the Starlight Yellow scheme. The rocker panel cladding is equivalent to a small SUV lane, rising backward and reducing Seltos’ visual height.
The interior style is a pure modern Kia, with a free-standing 10.3-inch central infotainment screen running the company’s UVO software. Leather wraps a thick-rimmed steering wheel and chunky shift selector in every Seltos trim except the LX base, and our SX Turbo testers get a convincing faux leather in the seats, with beehive-shaped perforation accents.
Some of our favorite design features are a three-dimensional tessellation that acts as a speaker grille, and at night, they light up and pulsate following the music. The effect is rather striking but adds to the fun.
Unfortunately, seeing the interior is much more pleasant than sitting in it. The center console, top dashboard, around the switch, and door panel are all printed with rigid, hard plastic, with the only leeway being the middle armrest and door.
The material is also very shiny and also feels less marketable. The dashboard reflects a really dangerous reflection onto the windshield in broad daylight – entering the underground parking garage of a sunny street should peek out the side window to make sure the front lane is clear.
Comfort
Apart from its sloppy interior materials, the Kia Seltos is a pretty comfortable commuter. The front seat offers a well-adjustable and well-placed waist support and good cushioning for long trips, although the bottom of the seat is too short for anyone with an inseam of more than 28 inches. The rear seat rests somewhat unusually on this class of vehicles, and this is a welcome addition to the spacious and comfortable rear seats.
According to Kia, the Seltos got 40.0 inches of front space and 38.4 inches of rear headroom, a figure that matched the Chevrolet Trailblazer and beat the Mazda CX-30, Honda HR-V, and Hyundai Kona. With 41.4 inches from the front and 38.0 rear legroom, Seltos competes in its class and is spacious enough for four passengers. That said, Honda, Hyundai, and Mazda all beat Seltos upfront, and Honda and Chevy offered more space in the back as well.
Technology
More praise is given to the technology found in Kia Seltos 2022. The 7.0-inch display of driver information that appears between two analog meters makes the instrument cluster simple, intuitive, and informative.
The UVO infotainment is well known and easy to operate, and the SX Turbo comes with embedded navigation, though most aren’t used despite its attractive graphics – blame the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto standards. The sound coming from bose-branded luminous speakers (also unique to SX trim) is adequate, with sizzling high tones offset by decent medium and low tones.
2022 KIA Seltos Performance
Set the Seltos subcompact family apart from other crossovers is the turbocharged powertrain available. While the LX, S, and EX trim come standard with 2.0-liter, port-injected inline-four, the S Turbo, and SX boast a 1.6-liter four engine that produces 175 healthy horsepower and 195 pound-feet.
What’s more, the turbo engine comes exclusively with a seven-speed dual-clutch gearbox, offering a major improvement in response and sportsmanship through a standard engine continuous variable transmission.
Weighing 3,317 pounds, the SX Turbo has plenty of busyness for small crossovers, as well as a bend with gusto. That’s because multi-link rear suspensions help maintain the consistency of tire contact patches – competitors, such as the CX-30, HR-V, and Trailblazer, use less sophisticated torsion-beam rear axle. Fast steering (2.5 turns lock to lock) and a turning radius of 34.8 feet give Seltos a surprising zesty reflex on winding roads.
The Seltos SX Turbo also includes a central differential lock that keeps the rear axle active, increasing traction in extreme weather. In addition, hill drop control will provide better stability off the highway – we didn’t test any features in a sunny and fun week with The Seltos, but the hardware is definitely tougher than in many crossover SUVs outside the Jeep lineup.
Another pleasant surprise? Even the Seltos LX base comes standard with all-wheel drive, although buyers can choose a slightly better equipped Seltos S with front-wheel drive for the same price.
2022 KIA Seltos SX Turbo Interior
Inside, Seltos offers more space for people and cargo than Kona and the materials used throughout the cabin are well-chosen and smooth enough to look like at home in the showroom next to the excellent brand Telluride SUV. Interior ambient lighting is standard on high-end SX models and can be set to pulse along with music like the system Kia offers on the smaller Soul SUV.
All Seltos models will have a touchscreen infotainment screen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto integration, but an optional 10.3-inch unit is the one to get. It offers navigation and the ability to split the screen so you can see the map and direction at the same time you make changes to the radio station.
Depending on which model you choose, Seltos can also be equipped with wireless smartphone charging pads, up to three USB ports, a head-up display, and a 7.0-inch color display in the cluster gauge. Bose’s eight-speaker audio system will also be optional and features a fractal textured speaker grille.
Seltos Security
What Seltos LX is missing, however, is the standard active security. To do so, buyers must climb one rung to the Seltos S, which includes automatic emergency braking, forward collision monitoring, and lane guard assistance, but confusingly offers all-wheel drive as a $1,500 option. None of that matters to Kia Seltos SX Turbo’s top-spec, all-wheel-drive-only, which includes almost all the safety and technology features Kia has in its arsenal.
In addition to forwarding collision prevention technology, SX obtains blind-spot monitoring and collision avoidance (along with mid-level EX trim) and adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go and Highway Driving Assist function.
Working with the help of lane guards and adaptive cruising controls, Highway Driving Assist reduces driver fatigue and keeps Seltos centered on the track, even on sloping freeway bends. It’s not a hands-off system, but otherwise very sophisticated.
Fuel Economy
With its agile turbocharged engine, the Kia Seltos gets 25 cities, 30 highways, and 27 combined miles per gallon – we see about 24 mpg during the week driving downtown. Helping with fuel economy are engine start/stop, as well as Eco mode which greatly blunts the throttle, encouraging drivers to make careful speed adjustments in the name of economy.
Turbo fuel economy is slightly down from the base engines of 27 cities, 31 highways, and 29 mpg combined, but still competitive with its class. The Mazda CX-30 all-wheel-drive gets 24 cities, 31 highways, 26 combined, while the Trailblazer RS AWD reaches 26/30/28.
Equipped with the same 1.6-liter turbo as the Seltos, Kona gets 26 mpg of the city, 29 highways, and 27 mpg combined. The class teacher’s pet is a Honda HR-V, which drinks 26 mpg of fuel in the city, 31 highways, and 28 combined in all-wheel-drive form.
2022 KIA Seltos Price
The subcompact-cross class greatly traded the value, and Seltos gave it away. The low starting price of $21,990 is a sensible deal given the LX model space and standard all-wheel-drive – spending the same money to get the Seltos S with front-wheel drive and more active safety technology.
We drove the top-level Seltos SX Turbo, which started at $27,890 and rose to $29,925 when tested, thanks to a $ 130-floor mat, $ $95 cargo mat, two-color paint worth $345, and a goal cost of $1,130. For us, under $30k seems reasonable considering the torquey turbo engine, spacious cabin, and user-friendly technology features – despite its tacky material.
The Mazda CX-30 Premium AWD, by comparison, starts at $29,950, with a slightly smaller cab, less torque, and less road capability (but a much nicer cabin). The Chevrolet Trailblazer Activ is $27,000, though adaptive cruise control is not included in the lower entrance fee.
The Honda HR-V EX-L AWD gets genuine leather and a long list of active safety features with a starting price of $27,320, though it only produces 141 hp. Finally, the closely related Hyundai Kona Ultimate asks for at least $29,450 if equipped with an all-wheel drive.
