Compare the2025 Hyundai KonaVS 2025 Kia Seltos

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.

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 Hyundai Kona has achieved the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety’s (IIHS) highest rating of “Top Safety Pick Plus” for the 2024 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 has not yet been fully evaluated by the IIHS for 2024.

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.

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.

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.:

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

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:

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.

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).

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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.

The Hyundai Kona outsold the Kia Seltos by 32% during 2023.