 Let's go surfing now, everybody's learning how to come on a safari with me. What is up, you guys? Welcome back to another one of you who are new to the channel. I am Gold Pony. I do car truck SUV reviews on YouTube. And today we are in the all new 2021 Kia Seltos courtesy of Fred Bean's Kia in Mechanicsburg, PA for more information on their inventory. Please feel free to check out the link in the description box below. And so needless to say, I am super excited to be in this one. Hyundai and Kia have been killing it lately. And so with this being an all new model for 2021, yes, the 2021s are here already. That's crazy. This particular Seltos is going to be competing with other vehicles like the Hyundai Kona, the Honda HRV, Mazda CX30 Nissan Kicks, just to name a few. But the best part about this one is some of those other SUVs only come in front wheel drive, whereas the Kia Seltos comes offered with all wheel drive. So that is a huge plus there. And so, but now having mentioned all that, what do you say? Let's just cut right into it and as always, let's start with pricing. So as expected, there are several different trim levels for the 2021 Kia Seltos. First one being the LX starting at $21,990, S starting at $21,990. And by the way, front wheel drive comes standard with that S trim level. All wheel drive is offered there for an additional $1,500. All of their trim levels actually come standard with all wheel drive, including the EX starting at $25,290, S Turbo for $25,490. Lastly, the SX Turbo being the one we have today, starting at $27,890. And so as you could probably already tell as I alluded to in the trim levels there, there are two different engine subs available for the Seltos. First one being a two liter direct injected inline four cylinder. This one puts out 146 horsepower at 6,200 RPM. 132 pound feet of torque available at 4,500 RPM. Power sent to front wheels or all wheels to a CVT. Kia actually calls it an IVT and an intelligent variable transmission. Essentially the same concept though, giving you MPG numbers coming in at 29 in the city. 34 highway for the front wheel drive, 27 in the city, 31 on the highway for the all wheel drive. Either way, taking regular unlit fuel, aka 87 octane. And so but then the other engine setup being the one we have today. This one is a 1.6 liter turbocharged inline four cylinder, putting out 175 horsepower at 6,000 RPM. 195 pound feet of torque available from the power band of 1,545 RPM. Power only sent to all four wheels to a standard all wheel drive system through a seven speed dual clutch, getting it right once again. Thank you for not putting that IVT on the turbo Kia. With MPG numbers coming in at 25 in the city, 30 on the highway. Again, taking regular unleaded fuel. And so like I was saying, I am thankful that the seven speed dual clutch is paired up with the turbo because typically that dual clutch is going to shift lightning quick and overall give you a lot more driving emotion as well. Which is why I like that one. But so before we do any kind of fun accelerations in the CELTO. So I did want to mention there are some driving modes that come standard on this one. That driving mode button or dial I should say is located directly in front of the shifter. And that is going to give you normal eco and sport. Essentially adjusting things like the shift points, the throttle response and the steering sensitivity. So let me try to, there it is. There's sport. Okay. Yeah. Did immediately downshift for me there. Almost lunged me forward in that sport driving mode. That was pretty darn cool. So sport is most definitely going to hold the RPMs at a much higher level, especially in this turbocharged engine giving you more power on demand. So that is a huge plus in my book. But having said that, what do you say? Let me find a straightaway here and let's do a quick little acceleration. Let's see how quickly. This 1.6 liter turbocharged engine feels in the Kia Seltos. All right, you guys. And here it is. Here's our straightaway and five, four, three, two, one, go. Oh my goodness. Wow. Certainly. Wow. With that was surprising. I'm almost speechless there. It was way more power than I expected in the Seltos. Usually SUVs, you're not going to find that kind of acceleration. So kind of took me by surprise. So I can't vouch for the standard engine setup, but that turbocharged engine setup you're most definitely not going to have any issues of merging onto the highway. That was a beast of an engine. No turbo lag whatsoever. That was pretty darn cool. Definitely am a fan of this engine setup in this one. But two anyways, to go along with that acceleration. As always, braking is equally important. And so braking setup is actually going to differ depending upon the engine setup that you go with. And I guess that makes sense for the two liter upfront. You're going to find 11 inch ventilated front discs in the back 10.3 inch solid rear disc. However, for the turbocharged engine, you're going to find 12 inch ventilated front disc a whole inch larger there at 11.2 inch solid rear disc. So almost an inch larger in the back as well. As far as the braking feel goes, I'll hit the brakes real quick. Wow. Okay. Yeah, you're good. Definitely no issues with brake pedal delay or anything like that. Sometimes you run into that with SUV. So always like mentioning it, but immediately bringing you to a stop in the Seltos. So well done Kia there. Then touching on suspension and handling a little bit up front. You're going to get a McPherson strut front suspension with gas pressure eyes, shock absorbers in the back, torsion beam rear axle for the front wheel drive setup. And so I emphasize that because of course with the all wheel drive setup, you will get an independent multi-link rear suspension. And so therefore I have to tell you guys, the all wheel drive setup is not only going to give you a smoother ride, but also a little better handling as well because it does have that independent multi-link rear suspension. So front wheel drive is not going to give you as good of a setup as the all wheel drive configuration. But having said that, ride quality has been perfectly fine for me today. So certainly no issues with that. Seltos has definitely been soaking up Pennsylvania's road imperfections quite nicely. It just took off on me again. I forgot I was in sport mode. Good grief. This thing is fun. Anyway, steering feel is perfectly fine as well. And I got to say it does feel heavier in that sport driving mode. So if you didn't want as heavy of a steering feel, just take it out of the sport driving mode. But if you did want it, it's there for you. So that's pretty darn cool. Cabin noise has been surprisingly on point as well. So definitely no issues there either. Not a whole lot of road noise coming into the cabin. There is a little bit, but I mean, it's pretty much as expected for the segment. So it's definitely not something you have to be concerned about there. Touching on visibility, I can see perfectly fine out the back and with smaller SUVs, you really aren't going to have any issues there either. But that about rounds off the performance segment of this review, guys. Let's now go ahead and take a look at the exterior of this all new Kia Seltos. All right. And here she is, you guys. The 2021 Kia Seltos finished in Neptune blue. In case anybody was curious about the name of the exterior color on this one. But let's go ahead and start up front here. So starting with the front grille, of course, in typical Kia fashion, there is that tiger nose front grille. Also front skid plates coming standard for all trim levels down below there. Projector beam headlights coming standard with the LX, S, EX, and S turbo trims. However, one and only trim level being the one we have today that SX turbo will give you LED headlights with LED daytime running lights. And the LED daytime running lights actually come standard on the S trim level and up. And one of the coolest parts about those LED daytime running lights is they continue. It's not just in the headlight portion. If you guys notice, it's actually the upper portion of that tiger nose front grille as well. It continues on almost to the very center of the Celtos. That's so cool. There's not a whole lot of other vehicles that are doing that right now besides maybe the Sonata, the Hyundai Sonata, bringing those LEDs up onto the hood a little bit. But I love that the Celtos continued those LEDs all the way almost to the middle. That looks awesome. Automatic feature for those headlights coming standard for all trim levels, meaning when it starts to get dark out, they will turn on automatically for there. Also projector beam fog lights coming with the S, EX and S turbo trim levels and LED fog lights coming with the S X turbo trim level. And that of course is what you guys are looking at right now up front though. It looks absolutely amazing. And one of the cooler parts I liked again kind of distinguishing itself is there is almost a 3D aluminum trim design around those headlights and that tiger nose front grille. So it really stands out with the 3D accenting that you have up there. So I absolutely love that too. But nonetheless, let's just go ahead and make our way to the side now on the Celtos. And so starting up top roof rails will come standard on the S trim level and up rear privacy glass standard on all trim levels. There is also chrome belt line molding standard on all trim levels. Then there is kind of a satin chrome belt line molding that continues around to the back kind of like a floating roof line using that taking a look the side mirrors. They are body colored power adjustable side mirrors. They will come heated for the S trim level and up and LED integrated turd signals once again for the S trim level and up. So of course that is what you're looking at right now. Also, if you were to go with the all wheel drive configuration, you will find all wheel drive badging on that front fender there too. Then take a look down at the wheel setup. They of course are going to differ quite substantially amongst the trim levels. 17 inch alloy wheels coming standard with the LXS and EX trim levels and the turbo trims are going to give you a different wheel setup being the 18 inch alloy wheels that you were currently looking at right now. So then make your way to the back. You will find a body colored shark fin antenna found up top. Just below that we're spoiler with an integrated brake light just below that rear window wiper LED tail lights coming with the S trim level and up. Of course you have some trim level badging found on the right side of that rear tailgate as well. And then just below it all you do have a single exhaust outlet. It will be tucked away out of sight out of mind. I suppose a window of mind and an exposed exhaust outlet, but nonetheless it is going to be found underneath. So do believe you guys know what we have to do next now as always here is that exhaust clip. It's open now since we are around back when it comes to opening that rear liftgate. It is a manual opening liftgate for all trim level. So all I'm going to do is simply just walk up and go ahead and open that up then cargo capacity is going to come in at 26.6 cubic feet. If that was not enough space though, there is a 60 40 split meeting the rear seats do fold down and that does bump the cubic fitness up to 62.8. So definitely quite a bit of space back there. There is in floor storage along with a spare tire back there as well for all trim levels actually. So quite a bit of extra space underneath the floor of that cargo area if you needed it as well. So I was definitely pretty cool to say make our way to the rear leg room that comes in at 38 inches even. So for reference, I'm an even six feet tall. This is how much space I had back there. Also for the S trim level and up, you will find a rear center armrest with cup holders and there is rear ventilation for the EX and S X turbo trim levels in case you wanted that as well. Then make our way to the front seats. Cloth seating comes with the LX cloth seating with blue stitching comes with any of the S trims and you will find a Cepino leatherette seating for the EX and S X trim levels. And that of course is what we have here today. Manually adjustable seats for the LX and S trims and you will find 10 way power adjustable driver seat with two way power lumbar for the EX and S X trims and they will be heated for the EX and the turbo trims as well. But overall that was probably the first thing I said to myself when I got in the Celtas. These seats are very, very comfortable. So definitely no issues there. It's power lumbar like I just mentioned at least for the EX and S X trim levels. So overall very comfortable seats in the Celtas. Then take a look up front at the steering wheel. There's tilt and telescoping for all trim levels and it will come leather wrapped for the S trim level and up. 10 and 2 grips are bolstered very nicely. And again, I love the leather wrapped steering wheel on this one here. Then before we get to the startup, let me start by showing you guys the key here. You do have your key logo on the one side. All of your buttons for the most part are located on the side of the key. There's lock and unlock and actually that circular dial on this side of the key just above the key logo. That is your remote start actually for the S X trim. So that is pretty darn cold as well. You can warm up this one before you actually get inside on super cold days in Pennsylvania. But if you wanted to push button start that is going to come with the EX and S X trims that is located just to the kind of to the right and down a little bit of the gauges there. So all I'm going to do is simply put my foot on the brake and press that engine start button there. And so, but then once started up, tachometer is on your left speedometer is on your right. There is a fairly large digital display front and center, which by the way can be controlled by using the steering wheel mounting controls on the right side of the steering wheel. It's going to tell you different things like how many miles you have left until you hit empty. There's a digital speed readout with driving mode you're in. There's a compass, some safety features, all kinds of things really. The list goes on average miles per gallon, but definitely a very nice gauge set up for the Celtos. Then touching on overall interior quality, you will find a power sunroof for the EX and it's going to be actually optional for the S X Turbo that we do have it here today. Wireless phone charger coming with the EX and S X trim levels along with automatic climate control and LED interior lighting again for those two trims. Audio dimming rear view mirror coming with the S X trim level only. Overall a very nice finish to the interior. I actually like the gloss black trim on the doors and it kind of ties into the speaker events which I originally thought were dented but it's not. There's actually a design. It's kind of like a rocky terrain design to the speaker covers and they continue down below as well. We'll get more into the sound system which we'll be testing out a little bit here but still kind of cool speaker covers, I will say that. Just in front of the shifter is where you're going to find that wireless phone charger. It's going to kind of be on its own shelf there. You have a few different hookups just below that. USB charging port, phone charger, 12 volt power outlet. Just around the shifter, another thing I wanted to mention is there is an all wheel drive lock button to the right of the shifter. That is something I've used plenty of times on my own Hyundai Santa Fe. It definitely something that comes in handy a little added traction for when it does snow out. At least that's what I use it for. There's also behind the shifter a lecture mechanical parking brake with an auto hold button. Just behind that a little bit of storage space, dual cup holders. And of course you have some more storage space within the center armrest as well. So again, certainly no issues for me. Nothing that really pops out is absolutely amazing. Like perhaps the super soft headliner in the Kia Telluride that I love so much, but definitely a very purposeful interior. And again, no issues whatsoever for me, but let me now get to one of the best parts about the Celtos being the tech display. And so this is going to differ slightly. Honestly, eight inch color touch screen display coming with the LXS EX and S turbo. However, for that S X turbo trim level that we have today, you will find a 10 and a quarter inch color touch screen display, the same one found in the Telluride. So quite a large digital display up there. That's pretty cool. Bluetooth and audio streaming coming standard Android auto apple car play for all trim levels. So that is definitely a huge plus. Essentially what that means is all you need to do is hook your smartphone up to the Celtos via USB cable and you have the ability to like and dislike your Pandora songs as well as free navigation up on that tech display. That's the best part of course. If you wanted to factory navigation system that comes with the S X turbo. Although you don't really need it today with the Android auto and apple car play. And of course with this 10 and a quarter inch screen you can choose to make things larger or smaller. If you wanted the navigation up there you can either make that take up the entire screen or you can make it a smaller portion of the screen with some maybe radio information on the right side or whatever you want to do. So it is very configurable. So however you want to set it up. So that's pretty cool. It's a perhaps one of the corkiest things about the Celtos on the infotainment screen though is the button labeled sounds of nature. So if you press that you essentially have a few different sounds of nature you can experience while driving including calm sea waves which honestly is probably the best one. There's also rainy day open air cafe warm fireplace and snowy village. I think snowy village is pretty cool. It essentially sounds like somebody walking through the snow but calm sea waves has to be my favorite but I absolutely love that that is on the Celtos. It's actually on the Hyundai Sonata. I remember it seeing it there too but that is one of the coolest things. Let me actually let you guys experience that real quick. I'll play the sound clip of some of what those sounds actually sound like here. And so I got to say I was definitely a big fan of that. Also of course you can check out your radio settings up there when it comes to the sound system you will find six speakers with the LX, S, EX and S turbo trim levels. However for that SX turbo trim that we have today you are going to find an eight speaker Bose sound system with some of the coolest looking speaker covers as I had mentioned earlier to you guys with front door speaker lights that can change color and pulsate the beat of the music. That's awesome. Kind of like the Kia Soul but that's super freaking cool. I got to love it. And so having said that, what do you say? Let's go ahead and turn on the radio see what we got playing today and let's test out the clarity of this one. Wonderful wonderful sound system into Celtos. There is a ton of bass in this thing almost rumbling the seats. Bose always kills it. I've said that I've had Bose sound systems in my cars before they've never broken or failed me basically amazing sound system for the Celtos. Let me just say that. But last thing I wanted to mention to you guys on that tech display at least is when you do put these Celtos in reverse you will find a review camera for all trim levels across the board letting you know who or what is behind you which is always is going to lead us into safety. And so to start front side and side curtain airbags will come standard in the back you're going to have latch aka lower anchors and tethers through children for the rear car seats also back there rear child door locks there's a rear occupant alert system that is definitely a plus as well tire pressure monitoring system comes standard and all of the fun advanced safety features is going to come with the S trim level and up and so what that is going to add is forward collision avoidance assist driver attention warning system high beam assist lane departure warning lane keep assist which works beautifully and really any Hyundai and any Kia so that is definitely on point you can almost completely let go of the steering wheel and it'll keep you centered in the lane as long as the system recognizes the lane first don't try it without it not doing that but lane following assist also coming standard as well EX trim level and up is going to add a blind spot monitor with rear cross traffic alert that's a little car indicators in the side mirrors of course and the SX turbo that we have today is going to add in addition to all of that adaptive cruise control and Kia's highway driving assistant almost autonomous driving it won't change lanes for you but it is almost to that point and so when it comes to my final thoughts of the sell to us I absolutely love this thing and be quite honest I could see Kia selling an absolute ton of these things especially given their amazing warranty five year 60,000 mile bumper to bumper 10 year 100,000 mile power train that includes anything with the transmission the turbocharged engine drive train things like that so that is a huge plus and a huge selling point for this as well not to mention this beautiful 10 and a quarter inch color touchscreen display I'm looking at right now there's LED interior lighting so much going for this SUV like I said at the beginning Hyundai and Kia have been killing it lately and this certainly is no exception so honestly for me at this point it would be between the Kia sell to us and the Hyundai Kona and if the sell to us is anywhere near as reliable as the Kona this is a definite shore back Consumer reports put the Hyundai Kona at a well above average liability which is the very highest of course this hasn't been tested yet it's a pretty new model but you guys know Hyundai and Kia typically do share a lot of the same components so you would imagine this would be pretty darn reliable as well so overall sell to us is definitely a very solid pick here but that about rounds out this review guys feel free to follow me on social media at the bottom of the screen there if you like be sure to hit the subscribe and the bell notification button if you're in the new car reviews that is what we do here on this channel after all do appreciate you guys watching more than you know and I will see you guys all in the next video Stay Gold