[The AG 6167]

Originally Posted by Don Dasco

Hello All,

On September 1st, I became a proud owner of 'La'Belle' KIA Seltos HTK+ petrol manual variant

Congratulations on the new car buddy! wish you several happy miles on it.

I have been mulling over the purchase of the 1.5 petrol manual too and havent got a test drive of the vehicle yet, so just have a few questions which if you could answer, would help me make my buying decision -

1.How exciting is the engine in daily driving?

2.what is its approximate 0-100 , 20-80 in third & 40-100 in 4th time?

3.How stable is the car out on the highways in a straightline at triple digit speeds?

4.How stable is the car on undulations of the highway?

5.Is the body roll well contained around the high speed bends of the highway?

Some of it may have been mentioned by you in your post buddy, but I need you to reiterate these 5 questions specifically to help me lay that cheque.

Hoping to hear from you soon!

[Don Dasco]

Originally Posted by binoyyj

Thank you for the update. Did you get any freebies? Were you given any introductory offer? Initially there were some posts here saying Kia is planning a surprise for people who prebooked. Kia has failed to surprise I guess.
.

Freebies I got- KIA dashboard rubber pad, Keychain, pen.

The on road price is 13,87,000 for HKT plus + Extended Warranty + Basic Accessories, for now I have not taken the EW & BA, not sure if this is the introductory price but definitely not special price for pre-booked customers.

I was interested in few selected accessories like floor mats, boot mat, door visor, rear seat coat hanger, power inverter, KIA umbrella from the dealership but got same response every time from July 20th till Sept 1st delivery date that "the accessory person is on unplanned leave, he is not answering the calls & we do not have price list" so I kinda lot interest as it seemed like buying any accessory from showroom has become dream come true affair.

BTW, we booked one more HTK+ but this time diesel variant (Gravity Grey), delivery on 3rd Oct.

Got a whatsapp message today from Service adviser to install KIA LINK app, I asked whether we need OBD device, he said and I quote " Without OBD also we you can use this app, OBD will implement shortly"

Here are the benefits of KIA LINK app
Vehicle info
Service booking
Service reminder
Service calculator
Online payment
Job approval
RO history
Document Wallet

I am yet to download & install to see what else this app provides.

[Don Dasco]

Originally Posted by The AG 6167

Congratulations on the new car buddy! wish you several happy miles on it.

I have been mulling over the purchase of the 1.5 petrol manual too and havent got a test drive of the vehicle yet, so just have a few questions which if you could answer, would help me make my buying decision -

Some of it may have been mentioned by you in your post buddy, but I need you to reiterate these 5 questions specifically to help me lay that cheque.

Hoping to hear from you soon!

1.How exciting is the engine in daily driving?
Not very exciting as this is not a performance oriented engine but can expect similar excitement of driving a cedia but gets the job done when you need it to reach triple digit speed depending on the launch from 0, I managed to spin the front wheel few times when launching from signal on open road in front, I am yet to log the timings but will get that soon.

2.what is its approximate 0-100 , 20-80 in third & 40-100 in 4th time?
Will try this in private closed road to log the timings & will share soon.

3.How stable is the car out on the highways in a straightline at triple digit speeds?
4.How stable is the car on undulations of the highway?
5.Is the body roll well contained around the high speed bends of the highway?

Took this on highway only once on day 1 with family, car was very stable at triple digits & undulations, for comparison, I had to reduce to double digit speed in such undulations while driving Baleno, Swift, i20 active but not in Seltos with same passengers.

I had to downshift a gear to slow down a bit while negotiating an almost 110 degree corner with undulation as I was not aware of the dynamics & behavior of this car, body roll was contained well, For comparison, in that same corner I would've gone in 60 to 70 kmph in Volvo S80 & probably 50kmph in Seltos, no complaints from passengers who usually asks me to slow down while driving any car other than S80 in that corner.

One special mention is steering boosts confidence in high speeds, very easy to flick in the mild city traffic too.

I know these are not very specific to your questions, but will share more info after a highway run next weekend, Thanks!

[HyperRetard]

Originally Posted by Don Dasco

but can expect similar excitement of driving a cedia stupid

The Cedia was one of the most FTD C-segment sedans.
If its that much fun, with the anemic 115 BHP engine, serious kudos to Kia.

[Don Dasco]

Dear GTO / Mods, please merge the following posts in the ownership thread once the original review post gets room in home page.

I got some time today & took some pictures of the car, first of all, these pictures are taken from a cell phone, so pardon the clarity, secondly, the car is not very clean for a photo review as I do not get time to wash the car everyday but use Jopasu duster to clear the dust off, please note that I live & work in the most polluted & dusty area called Whitefield (aptly named) in Bangalore & car gets dusty in no time.

Some exterior pics













Fastag, works without any issue



RTO Reg. no. sticker - about the way the sticker has been pasted, The less we talk, the better.

















Smart key request sensor - Boon for people like me who drops keys frequently

[Don Dasco]

Some more exterior pictures.







Not so clean Engine bay pics, waiting for 1st service to get it cleaned.













No insulation







Not a snug fit for 1 liter bottle.





2 liter & 1/2 liter bottles





Rear leg room with my normal driving position, I am 5′10″





Driver seat pushed fully back, front passenger seat full front.









View from rear









Small feature, yet functional, these belt hooks will not interfere when the rear back rest is folded.

[Don Dasco]

Front Interior pictures

That opening is where the VIN no. is















Driver side speaker



Driver side tweeter





Spare phone for emergencies & bunch of keys.



Passenger seat pulled till end.



El-Cheapo gear knob









Reverse camera resolution & clarity is good enough even at night.




Dynamic steering guidelines









Fabric seats














Glove box is good enough for the manual & car documents



Front passenger grab handle

[Don Dasco]

Boot pictures :







For car wash, I use this 3 times in a week, 5ml of concentrate with 500ml of water.













Notice the seat belt hooks slotted.





For HTK variants, this parcel tray can be bought as an accessory

















Without parcel tray







With parcel tray, without strings attached to the boot door.



Loading bay height

[Don Dasco]

Various languages songs played through USB media, sound level beyond 15 is very loud for me, but couldn't capture that well through the phone.

https://youtu.be/-pLrCo9PEqI

Here's another video
Android auto doesn't support Wynk app yet, the songs are played in Wynk app streaming through Bluetooth, the display song in the dash is of Gaana app.

https://youtu.be/d7rIayqyp9Y

This video is of music played through Gaana app in Android auto (part 1 of 2)

https://youtu.be/25FwXGBk00s

Part 2 of Gaana app in android auto

https://youtu.be/LhRNoVC9T-E

[SahilS]

Originally Posted by Don Dasco

Some more exterior pictures.

..
No insulation

Thanks for excellent ownership review and pics covering most of things.
What type of under-body protection is being provided here?

[The AG 6167]

Originally Posted by Don Dasco

I am yet to log the timings but will get that soon.

2.what is its approximate 0-100 , 20-80 in third & 40-100 in 4th time?
Will try this in private closed road to log the timings & will share soon.

Thank you Don

That is insightful information and I'll be waiting for the acceleration times.

I have a few more questions,

1.Does the engine have better Low end torque & a punchy mid-range or is it a top end racer-boy engine with a flat mid-range?

2.Once you get done with the first service I'd be wanting to know how KIA is doing in India on the service front.

[Don Dasco]

Originally Posted by The AG 6167

Thank you Don
1.Does the engine have better Low end torque & a punchy mid-range or is it a top end racer-boy engine with a flat mid-range?

I would say top end engine with flat mid range... last night on my way back home with 4 adults on board just for the sake of it I did try 0-100 it took 13 seconds on a curvy road, I made a mistake of upshifting early, a passenger captured a video but not worthy a share in public forum, will PM you the link when I get the access to do so.

Will try again alone in a straight line with a body cam..

[The AG 6167]

Originally Posted by Don Dasco

took 13 seconds on a curvy road, I made a mistake of upshifting early, a passenger captured a video but not worthy a share in public forum, will PM you the link when I get the access to do so.

Will try again alone in a straight line with a body cam..

Thanks man!

I truly appreciate all the effort.

Its nice to see a hyundai family NA engine which is giving a good go at higher revs.

I drove the IVT and that did 0-100 in about 12.8 seconds according to my phone stop watch which my sister handled while I drove, so I am guessing the early upshift and curvy road caught you out at 13 seconds, else, being a manual it should do it in 11 something.

[mh09ad5578]

So went and booked the Seltos hte 1.5D the base diesel yesterday at VST palace road. I'd say it was an okaish experience.

I was in touch VST yeshwanthpur, but there was no manual diesel for test drive. Drove to palace road showroom but reached at 6pm and they had stopped test drives at 6pm due to traffic. Wasted 1 hour to drive too and fro. They could have told me before hand about the time limit,I wouldn't have gone

None at the showrooms has even seen the diesel HTE in the flesh,they said they have one coming up for delivery next week. This version like a unicorn not to be seen anywhere in the flesh have been tracking YouTube and the web since 15 days for it but not seen anywhere.

I had taken my mom to see the car, she mostly liked it though commented that the rear bench width and boot space is about 20 percent less than our duster. Headroom seems better though.She also commented that the front road visibility is less due to hight bonnet. I mostly agree with her. She loved the interiors, the fit and finish. The seats are superb very well cushioned and comfortable, compared to the duster ofcourse.

Strange thing is the SA said he's fine if we don't take insurance from them(45k), also fine if we don't take extended warranty(25k) and basic kit(9k).That'll cut price by atleast 40k! Hope the dealership sticks to his words.I thought he's just bluffing to get the booking and will overturn once delivery date approaches.

Also one SA said the HTE had only 2 colors (non metallic), whereas the one we booked with said 4 colors and even silver (the one we want) is considered non metallic.(I am skeptical about this though)

Delivery dates were wide, with one SA saying month for HTE, another 4 months and the one we booked saying 2 months.

The SA said the insurance was being provided by 6 companies specifically tailored for Kia and is special, wasn't clear by what that meant. I've told him to send me the terms and conditions of the same.

The SA also said average 10k kms service cost to be around 7k rupees. Now that's highly unlikely but I am planning to shift to my local mech after 40-50k kms so shouldn't be too much of a worry.

They delivered 3 cars in the time that we were there,in about 45 minutes. Saw that VST guys also own the Volkswagen dealership, so anyone can comment on their quality of service?

So my wait begins

[Don Dasco]

Originally Posted by Don Dasco

Got a whatsapp message today from Service adviser to install KIA LINK app, I asked whether we need OBD device, he said and I quote " Without OBD also we you can use this app, OBD will implement shortly"

Here are the benefits of KIA LINK app
Vehicle info
Service booking
Service reminder
Service calculator
Online payment
Job approval
RO history
Document Wallet

I am yet to download & install to see what else this app provides.

Here are some screenshots of the KIA Link app for non UVO connected cars




For the connectivity menus, an OBD module is needed.