Compare the2025 Hyundai KonaVS 2025 Kia Seltos

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Servicing Ease
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Hyundai Kona have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Kia Seltos doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

With its standard Forward Collision-Avoidance Assist, the Hyundai Kona is better at preventing collisions with pedestrians than the Kia Seltos, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety:

	Kona	Seltos
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
	Crossing Child - DAY
12 MPH	AVOIDED	AVOIDED
25 MPH	AVOIDED	-20 MPH
	Crossing Adult - NIGHT
12 MPH Brights	AVOIDED	-1 MPH
12 MPH Low beams	AVOIDED	AVOIDED
25 MPH Brights	AVOIDED	-13 MPH
25 MPH Low beams	AVOIDED	-3 MPH
	Parallel Adult - NIGHT
25 MPH Brights	AVOIDED	AVOIDED
25 MPH Low beams	AVOIDED	AVOIDED
37 MPH Brights	AVOIDED	-21 MPH
Warning Issued-Brights	2 sec	1.4 sec
37 MPH Low beams	-33 MPH	-5 MPH
Warning Issued-Low beams	1.2 sec	.3 sec

The Kona Limited has a standard Surround View Monitor to allow the driver to see objects all around the vehicle on a screen. The Seltos only offers a rear monitor and rear parking sensors that beep or flash a light. That doesn’t help with obstacles to the front or sides.

The Kona has a standard blind spot warning system that uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. Only the Seltos S/EX/X-Line/SX offers a blind spot warning system.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the Kona has standard Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning and Rear Cross-Traffic Collision-Avoidance Assist automatically engages the brakes to help avoid a collision. Only the Seltos S/EX/X-Line/SX offers Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning.

Both the Kona and the Seltos have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors and available all wheel drive.

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety does 40 MPH moderate front offset crash tests on new cars. In this updated test, results indicate that the Kona is safer than the Seltos:

	Kona	Seltos
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Structure	GOOD	GOOD
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck Rating	GOOD	GOOD
Chest Rating	GOOD	GOOD
Thigh/hip Rating	GOOD	GOOD
Thigh Forces L/R	22/22 pounds	495/270 pounds
Leg/foot Rating	ACCEPTABLE	MARGINAL
Thigh Forces L/R	22/22 pounds	495/270 pounds
Restraints	GOOD	GOOD
	Rear Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck Rating	GOOD	ACCEPTABLE
Chest Rating	GOOD	GOOD
Thigh Rating	GOOD	GOOD
Restraints	ACCEPTABLE	ACCEPTABLE

Side impacts caused 23% of all road fatalities in 2018, down from 29% in 2003, when the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety introduced its side barrier test. In order to continue improving vehicle safety, the IIHS has started using a more severe side impact test: 37 MPH (up from 31 MPH), with a 4180-pound barrier (up from 3300 pounds). The results of this newly developed test demonstrates that the Hyundai Kona is much safer than the Seltos:

	Kona	Seltos
Overall Evaluation	GOOD	MARGINAL
Structure	GOOD	MARGINAL
	Driver Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Neck Tension	201 lbs.	268 lbs.
Neck Compression	-112 lbs.	67 lbs.
Torso	ACCEPTABLE	ACCEPTABLE
Shoulder Deflection	1.1 in	1.42 in
Shoulder Force	178 lbs.	290 lbs.
Pelvis	ACCEPTABLE	POOR
Pelvis Force	915 lbs.	1383 lbs.
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD
	Passenger Injury Measures
Head/Neck	GOOD	GOOD
Neck Tension	67 lbs.	112 lbs.
Neck Compression	-134 lbs.	201 lbs.
Torso	ACCEPTABLE	MARGINAL
Shoulder Deflection	2.09 in	2.17 in
Torso Max Deflection	1.61 in	2.01 in
Torso Deflection Rate	10 MPH	14 MPH
Pelvis	GOOD	GOOD
Head Protection	GOOD	GOOD

The Hyundai Kona has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2025 model year. This distinction is based on its exceptional performance in IIHS’ rigorous battery of safety tests. Specifically, it earned a “Good” rating in the latest, more stringent moderate overlap front crash test, a “Good” result in the updated side impact test, and a “Good” score in the revised pedestrian crash prevention test. The Seltos is not even a standard “Top Safety Pick” for 2025.

Warranty

The Kona’s corrosion warranty is 2 years and unlimited miles longer than the Seltos’ (7/unlimited vs. 5/100,000).

Hyundai pays for scheduled maintenance on the Kona for 3 years and 36,000 miles. Hyundai will pay for oil changes, tire rotations, air filter replacements, cabin filter replacement, brake fluid replacement, inspections, and any other required maintenance. Kia doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Seltos.

Reliability

J.D. Power and Associates’ 2024 Initial Quality Study of new car owners surveyed provide the statistics that show that Hyundai vehicles are better in initial quality than Kia vehicles. J.D. Power ranks Hyundai third in initial quality, above the industry average. With 1 more problems per 100 vehicles, Kia is ranked fourth.

Engine

The Kona N Line/Limited’s standard 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder produces 44 more horsepower (190 vs. 146) and 63 lbs.-ft. more torque (195 vs. 132) than the Seltos’ standard 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder.

As tested in Motor Trend the Kona N Line/Limited 1.6 turbo 4-cylinder is faster than the Kia Seltos 4 cyl.:

	Kona	Seltos
Zero to 60 MPH	7.7 sec	8.3 sec
Quarter Mile	16 sec	16.5 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	89.2 MPH	85.5 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Kona gets better mileage than the Seltos:

			MPG
Kona
	FWD	SE 2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	29 city/34 hwy
		SEL 2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	28 city/35 hwy
	AWD	SE 2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	27 city/29 hwy
		SEL 2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	26 city/29 hwy
		1.6 turbo 4-cyl.	24 city/29 hwy
Seltos
	FWD	2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	28 city/34 hwy
	AWD	1.6 turbo 4-cyl.	24 city/27 hwy

Brakes and Stopping

In an emergency stopping situation, many drivers don’t press the brakes with enough force to stop the vehicle in the shortest distance. The Kona has standard Brake Assist to detect emergency braking situations (by how hard and how quickly the brake pedal is pressed) and then automatically apply maximum braking immediately in order to help prevent a collision. The Seltos doesn’t offer a brake assist feature.

The Kona stops shorter than the Seltos:

	Kona	Seltos
60 to 0 MPH	118 feet	123 feet	Motor Trend

Tires and Wheels

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the Kona N Line/Limited has standard 19-inch wheels. The Seltos’ largest wheels are only 18-inches.

Suspension and Handling

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Kona’s wheelbase is 1.2 inches longer than on the Seltos (104.7 inches vs. 103.5 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the Kona is 1 inch wider in the front and 1 inch wider in the rear than the average track on the Seltos.

The Kona Limited AWD handles at .83 G’s, while the Seltos S pulls only .77 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

The Kona Limited AWD executes Motor Trend’s “Figure Eight” maneuver 1.6 seconds quicker than the Seltos S (27.2 seconds @ .62 average G’s vs. 28.8 seconds @ .56 average G’s).

For greater off-road capability the Kona has a greater minimum ground clearance than the Seltos (8.1 vs. 7.3 inches), allowing the Kona to travel over rougher terrain without being stopped or damaged. The Kona N Line/Limited’s minimum ground clearance is 1 inch higher than on the Seltos (8.3 vs. 7.3 inches).

Chassis

The front grille of the Kona uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Seltos doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

Passenger Space

The Kona has 2.2 cubic feet more passenger volume than the Seltos (101.2 vs. 99).

The Kona has .3 inches more front legroom, .8 inches more front hip room, 1.3 inches more front shoulder room, .2 inches more rear legroom and .5 inches more rear shoulder room than the Seltos.

Cargo Capacity

The Kona has a larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Seltos with its rear seat folded (63.7 vs. 62.8 cubic feet).

Servicing Ease

The Kona uses gas struts to support the hood for easier service access. The Seltos uses a prop rod to support its heavy hood. It takes two hands to open the hood and set the prop rod, the prop rod gets in the way during maintenance and service, and the prop rod could be knocked out, causing the heavy hood to fall on the person maintaining or servicing the car.

Ergonomics

The Kona’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Seltos has a lever-type parking brake that has to be strenuously raised to engage properly. It has to be lifted up more and a button depressed to release it.

The Kona’s optional front power windows open fully with one touch of the switches, and the driver’s window also automatically closes, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Seltos S/EX/SX/X-Line’s passenger windows don’t open or close automatically.

The Kona has a standard Proximity Key that allows you to unlock the doors from either front door handle, open the cargo door, and start the engine, all without removing the key from the pocket or purse. Only the Seltos S/EX/X-Line/SX offers a Smart Key.

The Kona’s LED headlights produce a whiter, brighter light (up to 3x) using five times less power than the Seltos’ standard projector halogen headlights and light instantly. LED lights also last over twenty times longer than halogen.

On extremely cold winter days, the Kona Limited’s standard heated steering wheel provides comfort, allowing the driver to steer safely and comfortably before the vehicle heater warms up. The Seltos doesn’t offer a heated steering wheel.

The Kona SEL/N Line/Limited’s standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. The Seltos doesn’t offer dual zone air conditioning.

The Kona Limited’s Smart Parking Assist can parallel park or back into a parking spot by itself, starting, stopping and changing direction automatically. Remote Smart Parking Assist will park and retrieve your car remotely: press a button and watch it park itself. This is ideal for tight locations. The Seltos doesn’t offer an automated parking system.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Hyundai Kona and the Kia Seltos, based on reliability, safety and performance.

Motor Trend performed a comparison test in its August 2024 issue and they ranked the Hyundai Kona Limited AWD first. They ranked the Kia Seltos SX eighth.

J.D. Power and Associates rated the Kona second among small suvs in owner reported satisfaction. This includes how well the vehicle performs and satisfies its owner’s expectations. The Seltos isn’t in the top three.

A group of representative automotive journalists from North America selected the Kona as the 2019 North American Utility Vehicle of the Year. The Seltos has never been chosen.

The Hyundai Kona outsold the Kia Seltos by 37% during 2024.

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