2022 Kia Seltos Reviews, Pricing & Specs

Kia positions the Seltos between the smaller Kia Soul and the larger Kia Sportage. In Canada, four trim levels are available: LX, EX, EX Premium, and SX. All but the Seltos LX include standard all-wheel drive (AWD), and prices range between $23,595 and $33,195, not including the mandatory $1,850 destination charge.

Our test vehicle for this review was a U.S. model, the 2022 Kia Seltos Nightfall Edition, which is a configuration not sold in Canada that in many ways is equivalent to the top SX grade. It has 18-inch alloy wheels (though the matte black wheels shown here are not offered in Canada), a turbocharged engine, and a dual-clutch transmission (DCT). The Canadian Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) for the SX is $33,195, not including destination.

The Seltos is an appealing small SUV. We’re not fans of the headlights, which peer out from beneath the wide, horizontal running lights. This Kia would look better without them.

Inside, the Seltos displays a good sense of style with its exposed stitching, gloss-black trim, and metallic accents. However, there is a ton of hard plastic, and too much of it is shiny, which makes the interior look cheap. Build quality, however, is excellent.

Kia arranges the controls in a logical and intuitive manner, offering the driver a collection of knobs for commonly adjusted features like stereo volume and cabin temperature. Lots of buttons with a matte-black finish and clear markings complement the knobs. Unfortunately, the accent colour for the infotainment system is purple, a hue that’s infrequently at the top of many people’s favorite colours list.

If it seems like we’re nitpicking, it’s because the 2022 Seltos is larger, more useful, more refined, and more powerful than many of its direct rivals. From the driver’s seat, it’s easy to forget that the Seltos competes against the Toyota Corolla Cross and not the Toyota RAV4.

The Kia Seltos LX, EX, and EX Premium have a 2.0-litre four-cylinder engine making power specs of 146 horsepower and 132 pound-feet of torque. A continuously variable transmission (CVT) is standard with the base engine, and both the EX and the EX Premium include standard AWD. The Seltos LX offers both front-wheel drive (FWD) and AWD.

Select the SX trim, and the Seltos gets a more satisfying turbocharged 1.6-litre four-cylinder engine. It provides 175 hp and 195 lb-ft of torque, and the torque makes all the difference in the world because it arrives 3,000 rpm sooner than in the naturally aspirated engine, and is available between 1,500 rpm and 4,500 rpm.

The turbo-four pairs with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission (DCT). It’s a little quirky, exhibiting some of the pauses and hesitation that are common with DCTs, but is still preferable to the CVT. Furthermore, the turbo-DCT combination makes the Seltos more engaging to drive than some of its rivals.

You can switch between Normal, Sport, and Smart driving modes. Smart mode attempts to balance fuel efficiency with responsiveness, but its active nature also makes it a little unpredictable and slow to respond to changing situations. Additionally, in Smart mode, the transmission is in a hurry to upshift, allowing revs to dip below where maximum torque is available, which produces uneven acceleration.

In Sport mode, the powertrain’s pulse quickens, but we found the transmission sometimes struggling to find the right gear at the right time. Fortunately, Kia provides an intuitive manual shift gate next to the standard PRNDL pattern, giving the driver control of the shift points. Paddle shifters would be even better.

We used Smart mode for most of our test-driving and engaged Sport mode on twisty two-lane mountain roads. The official Natural Resources Canada fuel consumption rating for the Seltos SX is 8.7 litres per 100 kilometres in combined driving, and that’s exactly what the test car returned on our evaluation loop.

The AWD system has a Lock function that evenly splits power delivery between the front and rear wheels at lower speeds. Ground clearance measures just 18.5 centimetres, which is less than class leaders such as the Jeep Compass Trailhawk and Subaru Crosstrek. When Kia launched the Seltos, we had a chance to drive it on groomed trails. This SUV is at home in light off-roading conditions and is likely surefooted in snowstorms. For more challenging terrain or situations, you’ll want a different vehicle.

Kia also equips the Seltos AWD with a more sophisticated multi-link rear suspension design which typically improves a vehicle’s ride and handling qualities. Nevertheless, the suspension tuning is the least appealing thing about driving the Seltos.

On our testing loop, the Seltos did not manage speed humps or speed bumps with much confidence. When driving over either type, you’ll want to keep your speed below 30 km/h (or less for speed bumps). In addition, the Seltos clearly communicated smaller and sharper pavement bumps and cracks. Based on our testing, you can expect larger potholes to send impacts shuddering straight into the cabin.

Furthermore, this relatively tall, short-wheelbase vehicle frequently exhibited lateral rocking motions on uneven pavement and feels bouncy and jouncy on undulating roads. If you drive with haste, confidence-destroying weight toss becomes an issue, making it hard to trust the Seltos’s handling. Grip from the 18-inch wheels and tires is good, and the Seltos can take smooth corners with some speed, but overall the suspension tuning allows far more body motion and supplies far less bump isolation than is preferable.

In urban and suburban environments, the Seltos feels lively. You sit up high behind the steering wheel, with excellent outward visibility in every direction. The Seltos is easy to park, too, and the reversing camera includes guidance lines to show the driver the SUV’s direction of travel.

On the highway, the steering feels secure on centre and responds well to inputs, but it’s not engaging or communicative. We did not identify any braking issues, regardless of the driving situation.

The test-drive day was windy, adding more racket to the already significant road roar that intrudes upon the cabin when you’re driving on the highway. When traveling directly into the wind coming off of the ocean, the Seltos began to emit a sound like static, and the hood was vibrating. As the SUV changed direction and the wind blasted the SUV from the side, the sound dissipated, never to return. But we did pull over and check to make sure everything under the hood was as it should be.

Despite what seems to be a long list of complaints, the Kia Seltos is a better small crossover SUV than many of its rivals. However, when it comes to driving dynamics, it falls well short of one of our favourites in the class, the Mazda CX-30. And it simply cannot explore places where a Subaru Crosstrek dares to tread. Still, we’d rather drive this Kia than the soul-crushing Toyota Corolla Cross.

Where Kia makes its mark with the Seltos is in the form and function department. This SUV is roomy inside, more so than many choices in its segment, and that makes it easy to live with on a daily basis.

Getting into and out of this crossover is easy, thanks to its ride height and large door openings. Even the six-way manually adjustable driver’s seat and tilt-and-telescopic steering wheel found on lower trims allows you to find a comfortable driving position with little effort. The front passenger’s seat is not adjustable for height but is mounted high enough off of the floor to provide proper leg support.

Heated front seats are standard in Canada on all grades but the base LX FWD, adding to the comfort level. Unfortunately, the upper door panel trim is composed of hard plastic that is unkind to elbows.

Adults can easily fit into the Seltos’s rear seat, which is uncommon for the class. Kia flirts with discomfort by paneling the front seatbacks in hard plastic that is unkind to knees and shins, but there is enough rear legroom that the material should not cause a problem. Footroom is generous, too, and upper trims have rear air conditioning vents, a USB charging port, and a centre armrest with cupholders. However, the seatback angle is a little too reclined for comfort.

Kia gives the Seltos decent storage space, including a handy smartphone shelf underneath the climate control panel. Switching to an electronic shifter and electronic parking brake could improve storage even more. Cargo space measures 752 litres behind the back seat and 1,778 litres with the rear seat folded down. Plastic grocery bag hooks can help prevent items from rolling around.

In Canada, availability of Kia’s 10.25-inch touchscreen infotainment system begins on the Seltos at the EX Premium grade. With SX trim, it pairs with a Bose premium sound system.

Highlights include Bluetooth that can pair with two devices simultaneously, a navigation system, connected services, satellite radio, and a six-speaker stereo. It also comes with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but with this system, you need to connect via cable and a USB port. The standard 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system in lower trims offers wireless smartphone connectivity.

Aside from that quirk and its odd purple theme colour, the infotainment system is intuitive to use. Plus, Kia supplies a volume knob, a tuning knob, and physical buttons providing quick access to primary infotainment functions.

What’s missing is a native conversational voice recognition system. If you choose not to rely on your smartphone’s digital assistant (Apple Siri or Google Assistant), the voice recognition system in the Seltos will prove frustrating.

To its credit, the system warns you that an active subscription to connected services will produce better voice recognition results. And when you request directions to the closest hospital, it provides a list of hospitals without including surgical centres, doctor’s offices, or veterinary offices. But most of the time, the voice recognition system causes more frustration than it’s worth. Instead, we recommend launching Apple CarPlay or Android Auto and using your smartphone.

Kia fortifies the 2022 model year Seltos with numerous driving assistance systems. In Canada, blind spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert are standard equipment. From the Kia Seltos EX, the list of safety features includes forward-collision avoidance, pedestrian detection, automatic emergency braking, lane-departure warning, lane-keeping assist, and lane-centring assist. The Seltos also has a standard Rear Occupant Alert system that reminds a driver to check the back seat before locking and leaving the vehicle, and Hyundai Motor Group’s Safe Exit Assist system warns occupants when it is unsafe to open a door and get out of the vehicle

You’ll need to buy the Seltos SX if you want adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capability, Highway Driving Assist (which combines the adaptive cruise control and lane-centring functions in one system).

During our evaluation, the lane-centring assist technology proved accurate and refined, which means a driver is more likely to use it because it’s not a source of irritation.

Through the connected services platform, the Seltos offers several safety-related functions. They include 911 Connect (automatic collision notification) and several features that parents of teen drivers might appreciate. They include a panic button notification and programmable alerts related to vehicle speed, curfew time, and surpassing geographic boundaries.

As far as crash-test ratings go, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) gives the 2022 Kia Seltos SX a Top Safety Pick rating. In Canada, the EX Premium is also equipped with these upgraded headlights. Other versions don’t qualify due to inferior headlight performance. However, all Seltos models get top marks for their crashworthiness and crash-avoidance tech.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the Seltos earns an overall rating of four stars. It misses a top five-star rating due to a four-star performance in the front-passenger, frontal-impact crash test.

Equipped with a five-year, 100-000-kilometre new vehicle limited warranty and powertrain warranty, plus a roadside assistance coverage plan for the same period, one year of complimentary connected services (on most models), and plenty of interior space for people and cargo, a new Kia Seltos offers a good value. Plus, based on our experience, it should get the fuel economy numbers shown on the window sticker.

Overall, the Kia Seltos is more appealing than many subcompact SUVs. However, this segment is growing, and the competition keeps improving with each redesign. Kia needs to address the suspension tuning and the turbo-DCT drivetrain hiccups, and we know from driving the company’s EV6 electric vehicle that Kia offers a conversational voice recognition system for its infotainment tech.

If Kia can resolve these issues, the new car greatness inferred by this SUV’s name can advance beyond mythical status.

Note: Images show a US model.