December 2022 - Kia Seltos Diesel Variants Explained - Which One To Buy?

Updated: This Kia Seltos diesel variants explained article includes the latest December 2022 prices of the Seltos along with our buying recommendation for all Seltos diesel variants.

Also Read: Hyundai Creta Diesel Variants Explained - Which One To Buy?

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What Are The Pros And Cons Of Kia Seltos Diesel?

The pros or advantages of Kia Seltos diesel are:

• The base HTE diesel variant offers good value, a decent number of features and costs only Rs. 90,000 more than the HTE petrol-manual
• Higher variants get a long list of features like power driver seat, ventilated front seats, Bose sound system, blind spot monitor, 360-degree camera, head-up display, 6 airbags and ventilated front seats
• Good balance in terms of performance, fuel efficiency and dimensions
• The auto-clutch manual transmission (ACMT) is an affordable, mechanically simple and a suitable choice for those who mainly want relief from modulating the clutch pedal in stop-and-go traffic but don’t mind changing gears
• HTK Plus ACMT offers great value for money and a good mix of features
• The automatic transmission carries a reasonable premium over the manual variants
• Most number of engine-transmission options for any made-in-India car; including petrol options, the Seltos has 8 engine-transmission combinations

The Kia Seltos diesel has the following shortcomings or problems:

• HTK and HTK Plus manual variants offer horrible value for money and are not recommended
• Torque converter’s fluid coupling affects the fuel efficiency figure of the Seltos diesel-automatic

What Is The Price Of Kia Seltos Diesel Variants?

The Kia Seltos diesel is available in 7 variants and 3 engine-transmission combinations. The diesel-manual is available in 5 variants with prices ranging from Rs. 11.39 lakh and going up to Rs. 16.59 lakh. The diesel-automatic is available in 3 trims costing between Rs. 16.59 lakh and Rs. 18.65 lakh. There’s also an auto-clutch manual transmission (ACMT) option available in the HTK Plus variant and it costs Rs. 14.29 lakh (ex-showroom).

The automatic transmission carries a premium of Rs. 1.0 lakh over the manual transmission while the auto-clutch manual transmission costs Rs. 50,000 more than full manual. It’s worth noting though that the HTK Plus ACMT also gets some extra features over the HTK Plus diesel-manual.

Compared to the 1.5L normal petrol variants, the Seltos diesel carries a premium of Rs. 90,000 to Rs. 1.24 lakh. Over the turbo petrol variants, the premium for the diesel engine is only Rs. 36,000.

Kia Seltos Petrol Vs Diesel — Should You Buy The Kia Seltos Diesel?

If you’re on the fence about deciding if you should buy the Kia Seltos diesel or the petrol, then this next section should help you. The Seltos diesel costs a bit more than the normal petrol and even the turbo petrol variants. You just need to see if you drive enough to recover the extra cost you’re paying upfront for the diesel engine. We’ll use the December 2022 fuel prices in Delhi and the official mileage figures for these calculations.

The HTE diesel only costs Rs. 90,000 more than the petrol model and you can recover this cost in about 56,000km from the better fuel efficiency and lower fuel costs with the diesel engine. If you also factor in the value of the additional performance advantage of the diesel engine, then you stand to recover the remaining price difference in only 6,300km.

With the HTK, HTK Plus and HTX variants, you can recover the Rs. 1.14 lakh cost in about 72,000km. But if you value the performance benefit of the diesel engine, then the effective km-to-breakeven figure boils down to just 21,400km.

The auto-clutch buyers have to pay Rs. 1.24 lakh for the diesel engine over the petrol-ACMT combination. In this case, you recover this upfront cost in 78,000km. If you also put an appropriate price on the performance, then you can are looking at 27,700km to breakeven the higher upfront cost.

The poor fuel efficiency of the diesel-automatic powertrain makes it difficult to justify buying it over the Seltos 1.5L normal petrol with the CVT automatic. While the price gap between these 2 options is at a reasonable Rs. 1.14 lakh, the km-to-breakeven figure stands at 1.46 lakh. So you will have to drive the Sueltos diesel for almost 1.5 lakh kilometres to recover the higher upfront cost over the petrol 1.5L CVT automatic. With the performance taken into account, it drops to a much more reasonable 43,600km.

For buyers considering the Seltos turbo petrol-automatic and turbo diesel-automatic, the Rs. 36,000 should sound like a no-brainer. However, in this case, the km-to-breakeven figure jumps from 40,900 to 48,300km after we include the performance difference between the 2 engines. This is because the turbo petrol engine offers slightly better performance, which you’re not getting with the diesel engine. Moreover, the diesel engine is not efficient enough with the automatic transmission.

Based on these calculations, you can compare your estimated vehicle usage during the ownership and decide if you should buy the Seltos diesel or petrol.

Kia Seltos Diesel HTE - Base Model Price & Features

The base HTE variant of the Seltos diesel-manual costs Rs. 11.39 lakh (ex-showroom). It offers the following notable features:

• 6 airbags
• Music system
• Steering-mounted controls
• 16-inch steel wheels with wheel covers
• Manual AC with rear AC vents
• All power windows
• Rear disc brakes
• Sunglass holder
• Remote central locking
• Tilt steering
• Height-adjustable driver seat
• Remote central locking
• Halogen projector headlamps
• Tyre pressure sensors
• Front armrest

The base variant gets most of the must-have features and only misses out on some good-to-have features such as:

• Touchscreen
• Rear camera
• Rear armrest
• Power mirrors (must-have)
• Rear parcel tray (must-have)

For budget buyers, the HTE variant is a good choice. Moreover, it costs only Rs. 90,000 more than the HTE petrol. The higher HTK variant also doesn’t justify the incremental cost over the HTE and offers extremely poor value for money.

Kia Seltos Diesel HTE vs HTK Variant - Price & Features Comparison

The HTK variant costs Rs. 12.69 lakh and is Rs. 1.30 lakh pricier than the HTE variant. It adds the following notable features:

• Boot light
• Mud flaps
• Power mirrors
• Rear camera
• Projector fog lamps
• Touchscreen infotainment with wireless Android Auto and Apple Carplay

Since the Seltos HTK variant doesn’t even come close to justifying the incremental cost over the HTE variant, we won’t suggest upgrading to this variant. You should consider a higher variant if you want more features and better value for money. If you don’t want to spend more money, then you can consider buying the lower variant and adding some accessories.

Kia Seltos Diesel HTK vs HTK Plus Variant - Price & Features Comparison

The HTK Plus variant is available with manual and auto-clutch manual transmission. The Seltos HTK Plus diesel costs Rs. 13.79 lakh with the manual and Rs. 14.29 lakh with the auto-clutch transmission. It’s Rs. 1.10 lakh more than the HTK variant and the auto-clutch is Rs. 50,000 pricier than the HTK Plus diesel with full-manual transmission.

For the additional cost, it offers the following features:

• Cruise control
• Keyless entry with push-button start/stop
• Rear window sunshades
• Power folding mirrors
• Rear washer wiper
• Rear parcel tray
• LED DRLs
• 16-inch alloy wheels

The HTK Plus diesel with the auto-clutch costs Rs. 50,000 more than the manual. Besides the convenience of not having to deal with modulating the clutch pedal, it also offers features like:

• LED cabin lights
• Sunroof
• Auto AC
• Beige fabric seats

Because of these additional features, the HTK Plus ACMT manages to offer far better value than any of the Seltos diesel variants. The HTK Plus variant with the ACMT has a nice balance of good-to-have and must-have features along and it also offers fantastic value for money. This is our top recommendation for Seltos diesel buyers. We strongly recommend stretching your budget to buy the HTK Plus ACMT even if you’re on a tight budget. The features, which are available in the high variants and you might miss in HTK Plus ACMT are:

• 60-40 split-folding rear seatbacks
• Rear armrest
• Telescopic steering
• Projector headlamps
• Soft-touch dashboard
• Power driver seat
• Flat-bottom steering
• UV-cut glass
• Front parking sensors

Kia Seltos Diesel HTK Plus vs HTX Variant - Price & Features Comparison

The HTX variant with the 1.5L diesel engine is available with the manual as well as automatic transmission. The Sonet HTX manual costs Rs. 15.59 lakh while the automatic costs Rs. 16.59 lakh. This variant costs Rs. 1.80 lakh more than the HTK Plus and the automatic transmission costs another Rs. 1.0 lakh.

The HTX variant adds the following features over the lower HTK Plus manual transmission variant:

• Rear armrest
• Soft-touch dashboard
• Split-folding rear seatbacks
• Telescopic steering
• LED headlamps
• LED projector fog lamps
• Traction control modes (auto only)
• Drive modes (auto only)
• Paddle shifters (auto only)
• Leather seats
• Sunroof
• Auto AC
• Auto-dimming inside mirror
• Air purifier with perfume dispenser
• Larger 10.25-inch touchscreen
• Larger 17-inch alloy wheels
• Flat-bottom steering
• Telematics

If you’re interested in the HTX diesel-automatic, then it justifies the incremental cost over the lower variants with the features. The HTX diesel-manual is an expensive upgrade over the HTK Plus manual, but still worth considering if you don’t want to stretch your budget further.

Kia Seltos Diesel HTX vs HTX Plus  Variant - Price & Features Comparison

The Seltos HTX Plus diesel-manual costs Rs. 16.59 lakh, which is Rs. 1.0 lakh more than the HTX manual.

This variant offers the following additional features over the HTX:

• Front parking sensors
• 8-way power driver seat
• Bose sound system
• Ventilated front seats
• 7-inch full-colour LCD instrument cluster

The HTX Plus variant also offers a similar value for money as the HTX variant. Considering the additional features they offer, both of them justify about 80% of the incremental cost over the base variant. It’s certainly worth a look if you are interested in some upmarket features and you’re okay with compromising a bit on the value.

Kia Seltos Diesel HTX vs GTX Plus Variant - Price & Features Comparison

The Seltos GTX Plus variant costs Rs. 18.35 lakh (ex-showroom), which is Rs. 1.76 lakh more than the HTX automatic.

Compared to the HTX automatic, the GTX Plus offers the following additional features:

• 8-way power driver seat
• UV-cut glass
• Wireless phone charger
• Auto wipers
• 360-degree camera
• Blind spot monitor
• Front parking sensors
• Head-up display
• Bose sound system
• Ventilated front seats
• 7-inch full-colour LCD instrument cluster
• Machined alloy wheels
• GT Line logo
• Metal pedals

This variant offers slightly lower value than the HTX diesel-automatic but it’s worth considering for the features, which have high emotional value.

Kia Seltos Diesel GTX Plus vs X Line Variant - Price & Features Comparison

The top-spec X Line variant of the Seltos diesel costs Rs. 18.65 lakh and it’s only Rs. 30,000 more expensive than the lower GTX Plus variant.

This variant justifies the cost over the lower GTX Plus variant with the extra features. But all of its features are style related. So, if you're interested in buying the Seltos in this unique matt grey colour, then you can go ahead with the purchase knowing that you’re not compromising on value. Please note that the higher rotating mass from the larger 18-inch wheels will adversely affect the drivability, performance and fuel efficiency.

Which Variant Of The Kia Seltos Diesel Should You Buy?

The HTK Plus variant with the auto-clutch automatic transmission is our top recommendation for all Kia Seltos buyers. It offers the best value for money and has a nice balance of good-to-have and must-have features. If you can’t afford this variant, then you should buy the base HTE variant and get some aftermarket accessories.

The HTK and HTK Plus variants with manual transmission offer very poor value for money. Therefore, these are not recommended. The HTX and HTX Plus offer about the same value. Between these 2, we’ll suggest choosing the HTX Plus as it has more features with high emotional value and it’ll offer a better ownership experience.

For Seltos diesel-automatic buyers, the 3 options offer very similar value for money. So, the choice is fairly simple and depends on your budget. If you don’t care much about the upmarket features of the GTX Plus, then you should go with the HTX variant. If you value a premium ownership experience, then the GTX Plus is a better choice. Even the X Line variant offers enough features to more than justify the Rs. 30,000 gap over the GTX Plus. However, it’s a completely cosmetic upgrade. So, we’ll leave it up to you to decide if you should buy this variant.

What Are The Engine Specifications Of The Kia Seltos Diesel?

If you’re interested in a C-segment diesel SUV, then your choices are limited to Seltos and Creta. Since they both use the same engine and platform, there’s no difference in performance either. The 115PS power output and 250Nm of torque are also good for this class.

Both of these cars offer a decent mileage figure with the manual transmission. The fluid coupling in the torque converter automatic has a noticeable impact on the fuel efficiency figures as it plunges to around 18kmpl.

*Estimated

You can use our Fuel Cost Calculator to see how much any petrol, diesel or CNG car will cost to run based on the latest fuel price in your city.

V3Cars Fuel Cost Calculator

What Are The Dimensions Of The Kia Seltos?

In terms of dimensions too, both the cars are neck and neck. The Seltos is just a bit longer, wider and taller than the Creta. For the Seltos, the only significant advantage in this area is that it has the 18-inch wheel option in the top-spec X Line variant. While it looks good on the car, you should know that it will have an adverse impact on the car’s performance, drivability and fuel efficiency.

*Estimated

Find out how you can get the best mileage or fuel efficiency from your car:

10 Tips To Get Better Mileage From Your Petrol, Diesel Or CNG Car

What Are The Colour Options Of The Kia Seltos Diesel?

The 2022 Seltos diesel is available in the following 8 monotone and 3 dual-tone exterior colours:

• White (all variants)
• Silver (all variants)
• Red (HTK and above)
• Grey (HTK and above)
• Blue (HTK Plus and above)
• Black (HTX and above)
• White with black roof (HTX Plus and GTX Plus only)
• Grey with black roof (HTX Plus and GTX Plus only)
• Red with black roof (HTX Plus and GTX Plus only)
• Matte grey (X Line only)

Note: Here is a quick look at our length-based segmentation of cars to give you an idea of how we classify cars based on their size.