Our Rides: An Upgrade For Your Soul

For the past 24 years, one of the few vehicles that have found favor within our community was the Kia Soul. It was boxy, funky, efficient, youthful, and affordable. Because of those reasons alone, we love our Kia Souls!

As Soul owners started to outgrow their beloved rides, they began to look for something more substantial. While they were certainly satisfied with the experience with their “hamsters,” one could not ignore the onset of life changes. Having children, multiplying the number of pets, and upward mobility.

Given our collective love with the Soul, staying within the Kia brand was a priority. It took the Korean automaker a few more years – 2020, to be exact – for a model to arrive as a proper upgrade for their little boxes.

The 2021 Kia Seltos was the upgrade Soul owners were looking for. Not too large – yes, even the Sportage was considered “large” to these consumers – but just right. It also offered all-wheel drive – something that was never available on the Soul. The Seltos began to tick all of the boxes consumers wanted in a more mature and spacious upgrade from the Soul.

For 2024, Kia continues to offer the Seltos. This year, the smallish SUV got some mid-cycle updates to bring it in line with current brand design, safety, and technology standards. These updates help maintain the value proposition Kia owners look for in their chosen vehicles.

These updates are more evident up front with a different grille design that makes it sharper. The LED headlamp and other front lighting units are integrated onto the new grille pattern with a new design. What remains from the previous model is a steep angle of approach that is normally found on off-road type SUVs.

The rear taillight unit has been rearranged for 2024, now with a lens dropping vertically against the liftgate, as well as across it. In addition, new wheel designs were added for 2024, including the 18-inch black-and-chrome wheels found on our SX all-wheel drive tester.

From the beginning, the Seltos overall design was a mix of current SUV design standards along with some bold elements designed to keep the Seltos distinctive within its class and the rest of the Kia lineup. The roofline offers a slope giving the C-pillar a triangular piece of glass. In all the profile works perfectly for interior access all around.

Kia’s design language now includes a flat panel for the instrument cluster and infotainment screen. For the 2024 Seltos, the panel is integrated onto the dashboard rather than stand alone in a tablet-like fashion. Within the panel are two 10.25-inch screens. One, is a fully digital instrument cluster with a customizable center readout for vehicle information. To the right of that is the infotainment screen housing all sorts of functions, including smartphone mirroring.

The remainder of the Seltos’ cockpit comprise of familiar switches and controls found on most – if not all – Kia models. They work exceptionally well with the right amount of logic. If you’ve driven a Soul recently, then you should be familiar with the controls in the Seltos.

Our SX tester offered up an eight-speaker Bose audio system for our entertainment. It also has an element of art with additional Sound Connected Mood Lamp. Talk about a groove!

On top of the audio upgrade, this SX tester adds a two-tone SynTex upholstery that looks luxurious. The front seats were pretty supportive and quite comfortable. Rear seat room is very good with plenty of leg and head room for six-footers.

The real upgrade from the Soul is found as soon as you open the liftgate of the Seltos. Cargo space starts with 26.8 cubic feet behind the second row of seats. Once they are folded down, the Seltos offers 62.8 cubic feet of cargo room.

Seltos customers have a choice of two engines. Standard on the three lowest trims is a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine connected to Kia’s Intelligent Variable Transmission. However, our SX tester – along with the X-Line model – is powered by a 195-horsepower 1.6-liter turbocharged engine with 195 pound-feet of torque. It is connected to an eight-speed automatic transmission and Kia’s Dynamax all-wheel-drive system.

The turbocharged engine serves plenty of power when you need it. Passing is done smoothly and swiftly. By switching to a geared transmission over the IVT, you experience more predictable shifts. When it comes to fuel economy, we witnessed an average of 25.2 MPG during our time with the turbocharged Seltos.

We also felt that the ride quality was pretty good for this vehicle. There was minimal feedback when it tackled rougher road surfaces. We also love that the Seltos was light on its feet when it came to evasive maneuvers and cornering. In all, the Seltos felt very much in control wherever we took it.

The steering system had good enough weight on-center. In the turns, it held its own with the right amount of response down to the wheels. The brakes were solid overall. You can experience in the Seltos’ pedal translating into good stopping power in normal and panic situations.

There are five trim levels to choose from on the 2024 Kia Seltos. Pricing starts from $24,390 – including standard all-wheel drive! The sticker price on our SX tester came to $33,085. With the rising cost of automobiles, would you believe that is considered a good value?

That is why you were originally attracted to the Kia Soul in the first place. It was a vehicle that offered loads of personality and quirky design at an affordable price. While more mainstream in design and purpose, the Seltos represents good value with the added bonus of all-wheel drive.

Now that you have outgrown your boxy little Soul, it is time to step up. The Kia Seltos is a natural progression of this upward mobility you seek. If you can fit it in your budget, this will definitely do the trick! You might even fall in love with it.