[Speedtek22]

First and foremost, I love my new ride, it's quick, stylish, comfortable, and fuel efficient.
I don't understand why so many reviews whine about a "clunky" transmission with the DCT. It's a DCT, if you've ever driven a stick, you understand the "feel" and drive accordingly. I've had no issues or complaints in that regards, I think it's actually a nice transmission. Way more responsive than the piece of crap 9-speed auto that was in my Cherokee.

Anyways, I promised a few minor observations for improvement, what are they you ask? Well, let me tell you...

Observation 1:
The dash insert should either colour match the interior or the stitching on the armrest, it's just off that it is all black with black stitching. It's a minor detail, but it's details for sure...somebody dropped the ball on this one. The centre console armrest is black with white stitching..at the very least they should have matched that, but it would have been very cool if they had picked up the contrast of the door armrests (on a different colour interior).

Black stitching on dash

White stitching on console

Or colour pop like the armrest (with, oh yeah, white stitching...what the heck were you thinking Kia? At least match the white stitching)

Observation 2:
I've had a few vehicles over the years that had "tilt on reverse" mirrors. It cannot be understated what an excellent feature this is...even my Cherokee had it. Yes, I know, "but you have a back-up camera"...the tilt mirrors work amazing for seeing the curb edge or lines when you're backing into a spot. I guess they could add the mirror cameras like their higher end models, but tilting mirrors is probably a more cost effective solution on a budget friendly vehicle like this.

Observation 3:
They provide individual user options in the menus on startup which adjusts settings and even the HUD centre position for LOS...why wouldn't they add memory seats and mirrors? That will be one thing that will bug me for the next 3 years for sure...lol

Anyways, that's it for now.
Keep on Seltosing (is that a thing?)

Cheers out...

 

[Xcalibur255]

It's entirely possible your DCT is actually smoother than what some of us have experienced. The transmission tuning is region dependent and has a different feel in different markets. There is also quite a bit of variation vehicle to vehicle. Some people have clutch shudder so bad that the entire vehicle shakes when taking off, and others don't get any stutter at all. I've personally noticed that mine shudders significantly more when the humidity is high during or after rain. It probably is affecting the coefficient of friction on the clutch surface making them a bit more 'grabby' than usual. There is ALSO more than one type of programming for the powertrain control module. Customers who complain a lot about their transmission seem to get switched over to a different software programming that makes it feel very different afterward. Shifts are slower and less crisp than the default behavior to try and smooth out transmission that have more stutter than usual. For some reason some cars seem to have this programming by default too, I suspect some dealers are just doing it preemptively so they don't have to hear the inevitable complaints when they come in for their first oil change.

My biggest complain continues to be how inconsistent the performance is and how bad the shift mapping is programmed. Sometimes it feels great and sometimes it feels terrible, you never know what you'll get on any particular day, and it gear hunts like old cars from 30 years ago did before car makers implemented the first generation of grade logic control. Just wait until your first jaunt down some random city street that has a slight grade and start to notice that it has shifted back and forth between 5th and 6th gear more than a dozen times in the space of a single minute.

If you are happy with your transmission performance that's great, but don't dismiss other people's more negative experiences based on a sample size of one. At the end of the day it's an inexpensive car and nothing is perfect, but dry clutch DCTs are widely disliked and the cost-benefit trade-off of them is honestly not worth it IMO.

 

[Speedtek22]

I've driven plenty of DCT's over the years, I owned a couple VW's with them. VW pioneered the DCT with Porsche and have been perfecting it for years.
This Kia version shifts as smoothly and quickly as any VW one I've driven.
I have been keeping my vehicle in "Smart" drive mode since I got it as it seems to be intuitive enough to switch to sport when required. I have noticed no lag in shifts or excessive chatter in the clutch packs other what is normally experienced in a DCT. I honestly feel that most criticism of DCT's comes from people who have only ever driven a traditional automatic and don't really understand how a DCT works. I would have a DCT over a CVT ANY day...those I do hate...

It wasn't a personal rebuke, just my take on the DCT overall.

I learned to drive on stick and it was pretty much all I ever owned up until this last decade, so I find the reaction of the DCT fairly intuitive. Whenever I start to get a little clutch chatter, give it a little more gas so it engages fully, no more chatter.

So that's what you took out of all of my post? lol
Taking my aside observation of the DCT as a personal attack of your perceptions?
Interesting...

PS: all personal observations are a sample size of one...I'm pretty sure you can find other takes that like the DCT as well.

 

[SHCS]

I drove both just recently, back to back. The DCT first, then the CVT. Going in I was set on the SX with DCT for the better power/torque while my wife was leaning towards the cheaper EX with CVT for the money.

The DCT really performed the way I had expected it to. I found it 'a little' abrasive under hard acceleration from a dead stop. But again, that was my expectation. No surprises.

What did surprise me was just how much I liked the CVT. Better power than I was expecting if truth be told. I had just driven a Chevy Equinox an hour earlier and it was anemic. Just terrible. Bordering on undrivable. I was expecting something similar from the lower HP engine in the EX. But that wasn't the case. It wasn't as quick to accelerate as the SX under power but it was by no means terrible. But what really had me was just how smooth that power train was.

After the test drives my mind was not so much set on the SX any longer. The CVT impressed me that much. I was no longer holding out for the better power drive train. I think I would have been just fine with the 2.0/CVT combination. What surprised me was that my wife had the opposite reaction. She was sold on the Bose audio system of the SX, among some other features.

Ultimately, we ended up ordering the SX, and now we wait.

 

[SHCS]

You missed Observation Four: Fix whatever it is that makes the 10.25" audio system fail to have wireless AA/Carplay.

Pretty sure there have been coaching documents released to the dealers expressly recommending to skirt the question when dealing with prospective buyers. 'Oh the LX EX have wireless AA/Carplay'. 'Here's the Premium and SX models', deceptively neglecting to mention the glaring omission of wireless. Here's a suggestion. Can't fix it, provide a USB wireless dongle free, or at cost, as an apology. Buying at those volumes I'm sure they wouldn't cost much. I wonder how many sales have been lost over the lack of that feature. I was aware there was a work-around so it didn't factor in 'tooooo' much for me. But there are those that aren't aware there's an option to connect a USB dongle to correct the omission, they may have been swayed to a vehicle that had it from the factory. Or worse, purchased believing the 'higher end' trim wouldn't drop a feature important to consumers until it was too late.

Kia should see this more than anything else as an embarrassing moment in Kia history. 15 years from now, some Kia board room ... 'remember those few years we put 'bigger better stereo' into the high-end Seltos, but couldn't figure out the wireless Carplay/AA' ... 'yeah, imagine where we'd be now if that one whoopsie didn't turn us into the laughing stock of the automotive industry.' Get it together Kia. Do what you need to do the correct the omission, whether that be through a firmware update or providing easy, non-exploitive, access to a dongle that adds the feature to customers that thought they had it.

 

[Xcalibur255]

So that's what you took out of all of my post? lol
Taking my aside observation of the DCT as a personal attack of your perceptions?
Interesting...

I didn't take anything you said as a personal attack. You, on the other hand, are putting words in my mouth by suggesting I did. My primary intent was to make some details clear to people who read these forums looking to help them decide if this is the vehicle they want to buy. Namely, that the reason some people are bothered by the DCT and others aren't isn't just because of differing expectations but also because there is variation in the vehicles themselves.

Enjoy your new Seltos.

 

[Speedtek22]

You missed Observation Four: Fix whatever it is that makes the 10.25" audio system fail to have wireless AA/Carplay.

Pretty sure there have been coaching documents released to the dealers expressly recommending to skirt the question when dealing with prospective buyers. 'Oh the LX EX have wireless AA/Carplay'. 'Here's the Premium and SX models', deceptively neglecting to mention the glaring omission of wireless. Here's a suggestion. Can't fix it, provide a USB wireless dongle free, or at cost, as an apology. Buying at those volumes I'm sure they wouldn't cost much. I wonder how many sales have been lost over the lack of that feature. I was aware there was a work-around so it didn't factor in 'tooooo' much for me. But there are those that aren't aware there's an option to connect a USB dongle to correct the omission, they may have been swayed to a vehicle that had it from the factory. Or worse, purchased believing the 'higher end' trim wouldn't drop a feature important to consumers until it was too late.

Kia should see this more than anything else as an embarrassing moment in Kia history. 15 years from now, some Kia board room ... 'remember those few years we put 'bigger better stereo' into the high-end Seltos, but couldn't figure out the wireless Carplay/AA' ... 'yeah, imagine where we'd be now if that one whoopsie didn't turn us into the laughing stock of the automotive industry.' Get it together Kia. Do what you need to do the correct the omission, whether that be through a firmware update or providing easy, non-exploitive, access to a dongle that adds the feature to customers that thought they had it.

Yeah it's kind of odd they don't offer it on the larger screens, although I have driven a few Hyundai models that had it a couple years ago and it was awful. Constantly disconnecting with no option to connect via cable. Maybe they kept it out because they were having issues with the software?
I don't know, it wasn't really a deciding factor for me and the carlinkit works pretty slick so I'm fine with the omission for now. If they add it later I'll be grumpy because I spent $130 on the adapter...lol.

Would have been nice to have a power liftgate as well, but I get why they didn't ($$).

Oh, I got one...
What the hell is with the 30 pound hood?? That thing is small, what the heck did they make it out of? Pretty sure composites, aluminum or even a couple gas hood struts could have gone a long way on that one... 🤣

 

[Speedtek22]

I didn't take anything you said as a personal attack. You, on the other hand, are putting words in my mouth by suggesting I did. My primary intent was to make some details clear to people who read these forums looking to help them decide if this is the vehicle they want to buy. Namely, that the reason some people are bothered by the DCT and others aren't isn't just because of differing expectations but also because there is variation in the vehicles themselves.

Enjoy your new Seltos.

lol, it's all good...I understand your points. (I'd say sorry, but I don't want to be a stereotype...lol)
I'm kind of glad mine doesn't seem to be experiencing them...maybe they got it figured out.

Cheers M8

 

[Speedtek22]

Observation/Fix - Kia could have spent a few $ more and put one of these in the centre console.

SKTU Compatible with 2020 2021 Celtos Car Center Console Organizer Insert ABS Black Materials Tray Armrest Box Glove Secondary Storage Box with Coin and Glass Holder, Center & Floor Consoles - Amazon Canada

SKTU Compatible with 2020 2021 Celtos Car Center Console Organizer Insert ABS Black Materials Tray Armrest Box Glove Secondary Storage Box with Coin and Glass Holder in Center & Floor Consoles.

www.amazon.ca

The centre bin is just a big hole otherwise.
I highly recommend getting one of these, it fits perfect and gives you a two tier console bin with a semblance of organization.

installed:

The piece:

 

[SHCS]

RE: Console organizer. I saw one, for the Seltos, on Amazon and one of its features was a 'cable' pass-through so a cable could pass through the organizer. Made me wonder if they put a USB port inside the console. I've seen them before. But I've never heard of anyone mentioning one. I know the higher tiers have USB on the back of the console.

 

[Speedtek22]

RE: Console organizer. I saw one, for the Seltos, on Amazon and one of its features was a 'cable' pass-through so a cable could pass through the organizer. Made me wonder if they put a USB port inside the console. I've seen them before. But I've never heard of anyone mentioning one. I know the higher tiers have USB on the back of the console.

No USB ports inside my console…it’s just an empty bin

 

[ALAP]

Don't fret about the stiching on the console arm rest. Several months of resting your arm on it, the threading will darken! LOL

 

[smrtech]

I find that once the DCT warms up just a little bit, the stutter is barely noticeable at all, goes away. Pretty much like driving a stick. Having driven a CVT for years, this is new, but as far as I can tell, it's operating as designed. As someone said, give a touch more gas when you feel it and it disappears.

 

[Benmobile]

This entire post deserves more than just a 'like'. But I'll give it one anyway.

You missed Observation Four: Fix whatever it is that makes the 10.25" audio system fail to have wireless AA/Carplay.

Pretty sure there have been coaching documents released to the dealers expressly recommending to skirt the question when dealing with prospective buyers. 'Oh the LX EX have wireless AA/Carplay'. 'Here's the Premium and SX models', deceptively neglecting to mention the glaring omission of wireless. Here's a suggestion. Can't fix it, provide a USB wireless dongle free, or at cost, as an apology. Buying at those volumes I'm sure they wouldn't cost much. I wonder how many sales have been lost over the lack of that feature. I was aware there was a work-around so it didn't factor in 'tooooo' much for me. But there are those that aren't aware there's an option to connect a USB dongle to correct the omission, they may have been swayed to a vehicle that had it from the factory. Or worse, purchased believing the 'higher end' trim wouldn't drop a feature important to consumers until it was too late.

Kia should see this more than anything else as an embarrassing moment in Kia history. 15 years from now, some Kia board room ... 'remember those few years we put 'bigger better stereo' into the high-end Seltos, but couldn't figure out the wireless Carplay/AA' ... 'yeah, imagine where we'd be now if that one whoopsie didn't turn us into the laughing stock of the automotive industry.' Get it together Kia. Do what you need to do the correct the omission, whether that be through a firmware update or providing easy, non-exploitive, access to a dongle that adds the feature to customers that thought they had it.

 

[Toddasaurus]

Oh, I got one...
What the hell is with the 30 pound hood?? That thing is small, what the heck did they make it out of? Pretty sure composites, aluminum or even a couple gas hood struts could have gone a long way on that one... 🤣

Hah, I was thinking the exact same thing! Feels like the hood is made out of iron it's so heavy for the size. Lol.

Not that it matters. Kia doesn't GAF about what we think and they are never going to make any change based on what we post on this forum.

 

[peter47]

Ok, sorry, late to this party, because I only just found this forum. For the record, absolutely love my GT-Line (ie top model in Oz), and it's the best cat I've ever owned really. Mainly because everything works so well, and it has lots of safety features I never had before. Like smart cruise, that will creep in slow traffic, head up display, cross traffic warning, auto braking forward and reverse, and the DCT is amazingly smooth. Maybe I was just lucky, in light of some other's experience, but I've owned many manuals and autos, and I love this box the best of all. In fact, it's so smooth I sometimes wonder if mine is a more orthodox auto, but I know it isn't. Just sayin'...

 

[Speedtek22]

Ok, sorry, late to this party, because I only just found this forum. For the record, absolutely love my GT-Line (ie top model in Oz), and it's the best cat I've ever owned really. Mainly because everything works so well, and it has lots of safety features I never had before. Like smart cruise, that will creep in slow traffic, head up display, cross traffic warning, auto braking forward and reverse, and the DCT is amazingly smooth. Maybe I was just lucky, in light of some other's experience, but I've owned many manuals and autos, and I love this box the best of all. In fact, it's so smooth I sometimes wonder if mine is a more orthodox auto, but I know it isn't. Just sayin'...

Couldn't agree more...and I also don't understand why so many have complaints with the DCT...I love mine, it's flawless, quick and smooth. Mind you I drive mine pretty much exclusively with the handle over in the S mode, I find the regular D mode to be just too sluggish.