New Year’s delight — Road tripping with the Kia Seltos X Line

I love road trips; unplanned ones more than the planned ones. And whenever a car shows up for even a slightly longer duration than a hectic shoot schedule, I don’t miss a beat and head towards the mountains. There is something amid the breezy mountains that fills the void in our lives. And what better companion I could have asked for other than the Kia Seltos X Line with the 1.5-litre turbocharged engine. To put it through its paces, I planned on hitting the ghats of Mussoorie for a weekend worth of fun.

The timeline I had chosen for the road trip was near perfect, soon after the New Year week. The crowd was filtered but my New Year energy was intact. Starting early in the morning, my friends and I left in pitch dark, as it always unfolds a scenic sunrise along the way. The Seltos X Line looked beautiful as the streaks of the sunlight glistened its matte body panels. Its matte paint diffuses light rather than reflecting, thereby boasting a smooth and uninterrupted stance, no matter what the lighting conditions are. A bigger highlight for me was its tendency to look immaculate despite being covered with all sorts of filth. As you can tell, I was already loving the X Line.

But thanks to the roads of Gurgaon which are a better depiction of craters than worldclass infrastructure, the Seltos X Line was quick to put us abreast to its stiffly-sprung suspension. The Seltos has not really been the most comfortable SUV in its class, and the X Line with its 18-inch wheels doesn’t help its case. You are tossed around on speedbreakers and potholes, and larger ones translate a strong thud inside the cabin. Drive it calmly and the suspension is bearable. Of course, its stiff suspension shines when hustling but we shall talk about that later.

Once we were settled on the smooth highway heading towards Dehradun, the Seltos came into its rhythm with minimal body movement and supreme refinement. Its 1.5-litre turbocharged engine purrs under the bonnet unnoticed but comes into action as and when summoned. Its impressive mid-range torque meant minimal gear changes for overtakes and easy cruiseability. And to my surprise, it turned out to be fuel efficient too. On the highway, with cruising speeds ranging between 85-100kmph, the Seltos X Line displayed 20kmpl. That’s fantastic, given the load of three over-sized adults and their luggage. Of course, it changes dramatically under city limits, ranging between 10-13kmpl, depending on the driving conditions.

As we traversed through the lush green trees adjacent to the highway, the distance went unnoticed and the Seltos’ Bose sound system kept the audiophiles in the car happy. As I think of it, the Seltos X Line is as premium as any other entry level German luxury car; it has all the features one could ask for and the quality to match your expectations. Put all of it into one piece and it’s hard to comprehend the level of competence the mass-market carmakers have achieved over a few decades. The dashboard gets soft-touch stitched texture, the seats have ventilation and leatherette upholstery and then you have a long long list of features. The only two features it misses out on are the powered co-passenger seat and the powered tailgate, which restrict it from becoming an undeniable premium car.

Once entered the busy streets of Dehradun, the dual-clutch transmission of the Seltos showed one of its facets which had gone unnoticed up until now. You see, in plain surfaces and highways, the Seltos’ DCT performs as one would expect, fairly smooth and easy to use. However, as the elevation changed, the DCT started to feel clunky and sometimes transferred too much torque to the front wheels at once, making the experience slightly unnerving. However, not even once did it heat up, which typically has been a concern with dry-clutch DCTs, despite being stuck in long traffic for over an hour. A better tuning for the DCT in such conditions would improve the ownership experience by a long way.

But what came around as a genuine surprise were the dynamics. The Seltos X Line feels surefooted around the bends, especially in the Sports mode. The flick to Sports mode puts the engine thumping above 2,000rpm, dials up the weight of the steering wheel and also changes the display theme of the instrumentation. All of these relatively small changes combine together to offer an enjoyable experience.

The steering starts to feel more communicative and gives much better feedback. You can flick its nose into the corner and its tyres ensure that you lean on the line you have taken with no protest. The stiff suspension negates any sense of unnecessary body roll and the brakes ensure that you are back into composure immediately after a bit of fun. For years, we automotive enthusiasts have held the Germans in paramount regard, and while the Seltos is still not there yet, it is surely catching up. I hardly kept track of the distance while gunning through the ghats as the roads leading from Dehrarun to Mussoorie are a driver’s delight.

Nestled in the lower reaches of Mussoorie is a cantonment town called Landour that’s famous for its calm and picturesque lanes and cottages one could spend days admiring. It was a no-brainer for us to pay a visit to Landour and soak in the beautiful sunset it’s famous for. Another phenomena that has spread quite a bit is the Landour Bake House, which now results in waiting lines spreading several meters. We conveniently avoided being part of it and found a small corner on the rooftop of a cafe. Steaming hot coffee, a setting sun behind the canvas of lush green mountains turned out to be the perfect setting to mark a slightly delayed but fresh beginning to the New Year.