Tested: 2024 Kia Seltos SX Makes Life a Little Easier

07/13/23 UPDATE: This review has been updated with test results for an SX AWD model.

Average new-car transaction prices are still sky-high, but there are several small entry-level crossovers that seek to maximize bang for your buck. The Kia Seltos has shined in this role, with sales up 30 percent year over year and a buying cohort that’s among the youngest in the segment. Appealing to the youths isn’t easy, as anyone making TikToks can tell you, but the refreshed 2024 Seltos has all the right stuff for the job.

From the front, the 2024 Seltos doesn’t look much different, although the grille is wider, the headlights are altered, and there’s some beefier-looking trim at the bottom. The rear features a more intensive glow-up, with new taillights that look far more modern. If you want to take it a step further, the new X-Line model—which replaces the Nightfall Edition—gussies up the Seltos with a model-specific grille, different wheels, a black roof rack, and gloss-black trim.

The most notable change comes by way of the turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder in the X-Line and SX trims. Horsepower is up by 20, to 195, while torque remains unchanged at 195 pound-feet. This all-new engine features a smaller bore and longer stroke than the previous 1.6-liter mill and is equipped with a larger turbocharger, revised camshafts, new injectors, and tweaks to thermal management and the cylinder head. (The 2.0-liter inline-four on lower trims remains unchanged, delivering the same 146 horsepower and 132 pound-feet.)

Kia also ditched the outgoing Seltos 1.6-liter’s seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission in favor of a more traditional eight-speed with a good ol’ torque converter. Sure, the turbo engine’s newfound power is both immediately noticeable and much appreciated, but it’s the new transmission’s more polished behavior that makes the biggest difference in the Seltos’s on-road demeanor. Taking off and stopping are both much smoother now. Even with all these mechanical and aesthetic changes, the latest Seltos SX model added a marginal 23 pounds, according to our scales, weighing in at 3294 pounds.

Despite our SX test car’s horsepower bump and its automatic transmission’s improved drivability, particularly around town, its test results fell slightly short of the last turbocharged Seltos we reviewed, a 2021 model. At 6.9 seconds to 60 mph, the new car is 0.3 second slower than before, and its rolling start from 5 to 60 mph increases that gap by another tenth of a second. Passing maneuvers from 30 to 50 mph grew from 3.5 seconds to 4.2, though the 50-to-70-mph dash was about the same, the new car posting a 4.9-second time to the previous car’s 5.0. Likewise, the 2024 model’s 15.4-second quarter-mile pass was but 0.1 second slower (albeit 1 mph faster, tripping the lights at 92 mph). Both examples needed similar distances to stop from 70 mph (166 feet for the new SX versus the previous version’s 160 feet) on identical 18-inch all-season tires.

Although the SX model’s new powertrain reduces EPA-estimated fuel economy, our experience was delightfully the opposite. With the 1.6-liter and all-wheel drive (front-drive is only offered on 2.0-liter units), the feds peg the 2024 Seltos at 27 mpg highway, which is 3 mpg lower than the 2023 model. Combined economy drops from 27 mpg to 26, while the city figure remains at 25 mpg—the same as we averaged overall. However, in our 75-mph highway test, the new Seltos returned an EPA-trouncing 32 mpg, 2 mpg better than 2021 model managed.

The 2024 Seltos’s suspension remains largely unchanged, which is good because we dig its ride just as much as before. Body motions are generally well controlled, and brake-based torque vectoring gives this little ute plenty of composure in more aggressive maneuvers. Acoustic front glass—new last year and still a welcome addition—keeps the cabin surprisingly quiet for a budget crossover, with only a little bit of wind noise coming from around the side mirrors; we recorded 71 decibels of noise at 70 mph, the same as before. The steering is precise enough to keep up with the suspension’s tune, and the pedals are easy to modulate.

If your commute is more stop-and-go than twisty switchbacks, the 2024 Seltos’s revised cabin should make those doldrums a little more pleasant. A new single-piece frame surrounds and visually combines the infotainment screen and gauge cluster; all but the base LX are treated to a pair of 10.3-inch displays. Physical controls remain for both climate control and infotainment, which we’re always happy to see. Two USB ports are now standard in the back, though smartphone mirroring still requires a wired connection. On the safety front, cyclist detection is now included across the lineup as part of the Seltos’s forward-collision-warning tech. The only real bummer here is a lack of door-pocket storage, which can’t hold our barrel-size water bottles.

Despite these changes, the refreshed Seltos remains an affordable choice for buyers with growing families. The base LX pairs the 2.0-liter engine and all-wheel drive (yes, it’s standard on the bottom rung) for $25,715. The $26,315 S and $27,115 EX trims come standard with front-wheel drive; adding all-wheel drive bumps those prices by $1500 and $2200, respectively. If you want the potency of the turbocharged 1.6-liter, the X-Line will set you back $30,015, while the SX with all its bells and whistles is the dearest at $31,315.

The 2024 Kia Seltos’s refined formula should only boost its appeal. It’s smoother on the road, loaded with more technology, and splurging for the quickest version feels more rewarding than before. With competitors such as the redesigned Chevrolet Trax and Buick Envista bolstering the segment, Kia’s entry-level crossover is better positioned to put up a good fight.

Senior Editor

Cars are Andrew Krok’s jam, along with boysenberry. After graduating with a degree in English from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2009, Andrew cut his teeth writing freelance magazine features, and now he has a decade of full-time review experience under his belt. A Chicagoan by birth, he has been a Detroit resident since 2015. Maybe one day he’ll do something about that half-finished engineering degree.

Source: www.caranddriver.com