Kia Seltos 2019-2023

Premium, that’s how the cabin of the Seltos feels. The cabin design, the choice of colour combinations, the quality of materials and the finish make it look like it costs well over Rs 20 lakh. Cleverly, all the touch points - like the steering wheel, the gear lever, the elbow pad on the door and the crashpad on the dash - have soft-touch leather on it. The leather-wrap for the flat-bottomed steering wheel deserves a special mention as it wouldn’t be out of place on an Audi either. On that note, the quality of the steering-mounted buttons and the silver finish used around the centre console felt worthy of a luxury car. Other than this, Kia has made use of hard plastics which undoubtedly will help keep the price in check. Thankfully, everything is designed sensibly. The aircon vents are large and you can shut each one as well and the armrest between the front seats is well placed too.

While the Tech Line makes do with white coloured seats with hexagonal quilting, the GT Line gets either dual tone seats or an all black leather with horizontal ridges and contrast stitching. This variant also gets brushed aluminium pedals to up the sporty quotient. On the comfort front, the front seats will prove to be wide enough for large occupants. Finding the right driving position is much easier on the GTX+ and GTX+ variants as they feature an 8-way power adjustable driver seat and rake and reach adjustable steering wheel. On lower variants, the under thigh support ends up feeling a bit lacking, especially for the front passenger.

The same applies even to the rear seat where taller passengers will feel that a higher set seat would have improved comfort. Thankfully, there is enough kneeroom and headroom to stretch out and make yourself comfy. The two-step recline adjustable seat backrest and manual sunshades for the windows will help you relax too. Also, you don’t feel cooped up as the window line is low and that makes the cabin feel airy.

And no, there is no third row. Instead you have 433 litres of boot space, which puts it at an advantage over the Creta’s 400-litre boot. While the boot is wide and deep, letting you pack in plenty of luggage, the boot floor is a bit high.