The Kia Seltos is available with one of the widest powertrain options in the compact SUV segment. With as many as three engines and five gearbox options to choose from, customers are spoilt with options when buying the Seltos. The 1.5L petrol and diesel engines on the Seltos are more popular than the 1.4L turbo-petrol engine, simply because both these engines are considerably more affordable than the turbo-petrol variants of the Seltos. But which is quicker? Well, for that, here we have a very interesting drag race between the 1.5L petrol vs diesel variants of the Kia Seltos.
Before we talk about the drag race, let's address the specifications first. The 1.5L, naturally aspirated, four-cylinder petrol engine on the Seltos produces 115hp and 144Nm of peak torque. Meanwhile, the 1.5L, 4-cylinder turbo-diesel engine on the Seltos produces an identical 115hp of power, but produces way more torque at 250Nm. Both versions of the Seltos come mated to a manual gearbox here in this comparison. The petrol version of the Seltos is in its base-spec HTE G trim. The diesel version is also in its base-spec HTE trim.
Also Read : Kia Seltos Diesel - Automatic vs Manual Drag Race
The drag race was conducted across four different rounds for a more accurate representation of the results. The diesel version of the Seltos clearly has the advantage on paper and that was well reflected in its real world performance as well. Thanks to its massive torque advantage, the Seltos diesel beats the Seltos petrol in all four rounds of the drag race by a considerable margin. In fact, the advantage is evident right from the get go, where the Seltos diesel launches much better than the Seltos petrol in all four runs.
Currently, prices for the 2021 Kia Seltos start from INR 9.95 lakh and go up to INR 17.65 lakh (ex-showroom). A highlight of the updated C-SUV is the introduction of the iMT technology that has been available on the Sonet. The iMT gearbox on the Seltos is being offered with the 115hp 1.5L, NA petrol engine. The 140hp 1.4L turbo-petrol engine, which was so far offered only with a 7-speed DCT gearbox, is now also being offered with the 6-speed manual gearbox in a new GTX(O) trim. All automatic variants of the Seltos now additional come equipped with steering-mounted paddle shifters for a sportier driving experience.
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