Kia Seltos review, road test

The 1.5-litre diesel-manual is the pick of the lot when it comes to maximising kilometres per litre, averaging an impressive 17.2kpl. What helps is the negligible turbo lag and smooth power delivery – you don’t need to use the throttle aggressively to get moving. The diesel-automatic’s average figure of 15.35kpl is also impressive. The tall-geared 1.4-litre turbo-petrol manual returns 9.4kpl in the city and 14kpl on the highway. With its driving mode set to ‘Eco’, the petrol-automatic managed 8.5kpl in the city; the 7-speed transmission cruises on the highway at low engine speeds, as a result, it achieved 14.1kpl on the highway. Do note that turbo-petrol engines, in general, are sensitive to ambient conditions and idling times; so efficiency will improve while cruising at steady speeds, but the fuel needle will drop rather rapidly while idling in dense traffic.