While the Toyota is a great-looking vehicle, the Kia has the right dimensions for the urban environment. And the Skoda is the most compact of the 3.
BHPian karan561 recently shared this with other enthusiasts.
This is an Ownership Review of my 3 cars from the same segment: Skoda Kushaq 1L Torque Converter A/T v/s Toyota HyRyder Hybrid 1.5L eCVT v/s Kia Seltos 1.4 GT Line DCT.
The above video is divided into the following chapters as below:
- 0:01 – Intro
- 0:36 – Exterior Walkaround
- 3:47 – Driving Experience
- 13:23 – Interiors
- 19:49 – Final Showdown
This thread will discuss how these cars compare with each other, but if you are looking for a much more detailed & technical analysis then you can also view the individual ownership review threads of each of these cars.
- Kia Seltos Thread
- Skoda Kushaq Thread
- Toyota HyRyder Thread
Exterior
^ Let’s start with the Toyota HyRyder Hybrid as this is the latest of all the 3 I own. In the flesh, this looks the longest out of all the 3 cars here and has a very respectful street cred thanks to the TOYOTA badge. I personally feel the HyRyder is a great-looking vehicle, especially in the white monotone shade making the car look taller than it actually is & highlighting the panoramic sunroof prominently. I also like the alloy wheels which are pretty (not the prettiest which IMO are of the Kia’s).
^ The Kia is the oldest car of the lot but in my opinion, it looks the most modern, especially the front which is absolutely beautiful, right from the way the LED headlamps are designed to the implementation of the GT Line elements everything looks spot on and made to measure. The side profile too is just perfect and though the Kushaq’s alloys are great looking I feel the Kia’s alloys are the most well designed. Overall the dimensions are just right with the right amount of presence and size to fit in the urban environment.
^ Coming to the Skoda the design has typical European influence with clean lines and a great paint job. Front is a combination of being rugged and athletic whereas the rear is in line with the typical Skoda SUV design language. The highlight for me in the side profile of the Kushaq is the 17″ Atlas alloy wheels which really enhance the looks. However, the Kushaq is the only car here which doesn’t get rear disc brakes and makes do with a drum setup. The overall exterior design of the Skoda Kushaq is the most compact out of all the three.
Interior
^ I really like how the dashboard layout is in this Suzuki – Toyota partnership product. The leather treatment on the dash works really well and the seats too provide that continuity. Cabin is feature loaded and has a good amount of buttons to play around with, I particularly love the A/C controls. The HyRyder gets the best A/C cooling / performance out of all the 3 cars in the discussion here. The rear legroom is the most in the Hyryder, however, the headroom and the boot space are the least.
^ The cabin is in line with modern Skoda designs, however, it feels most dated to me. Be it the touchscreen operation and software or the cluster knobs which though clear and simple but look dated. This is the only car that doesn’t have a HUD whereas the rest of the two have it.
I know there have been reports about A/C Performance issues, however, my car doesn’t face any such issues, but the performance in comparison to the Toyota’s is average.
Kushaq having the most compact dimensions on the exterior really surprises with the interior space & space management, particularly in the rear seat which gets great headroom, knee room and legroom too is adequate.
Missing features like No 360 Deg. Camera, No Powered Seats, No TPMS, no HUD, No Blind Spot Monitoring System / Camera etc are all missed and present in the Kia Seltos, which we discuss next.
The Kia gets the most modern interior IMO and I personally find it the best out of the 3. The GT Line treatment/spec helps in the overall vibe of the cabin. My car being the 1st lot (Oct. 2019) GTX+ I have no complaints with the interior quality, fit & finish. Feature list too tops in the Kia as this is the most equipped of the 3. The wireless charger is also the best performing (worst performing is of the Toyota). HyRyder won the A/C Cooling contest, but interestingly the Seltos’ seat cooling performance feels better. The Kia also gets the best music system (BOSE Audio). Rear Seat & Boot space is well managed too in the modified K2 platform product.
Driving Experience
Starting off with the Kia Seltos as this is the most exciting car to drive of the lot.
^ This variant is the 1.4 GT Line GTX+ variant; it gets the 1.4 L Turbo petrol motor and a 7 spd DCT gearbox. This is the most engaging car to drive from the lot, thanks to this engine + gearbox combo. Also when it comes to the handling and suspension tuning the Seltos is the best as its the most stiffly sprung and that aids the best handling, it also gets driving modes & specially in sport mode the car feels the best thanks to the weight being added on to the steering.
However, the ride quality is the not best for the lot but definitely is good enough particularly as you are gaining good handling from this stiff suspension. I have done 1 mod which is wide tyres 235/55/ R17 (Michelin Primacy 4ST), this has properly transformed the driving experience of the Seltos. Speaking of a few negatives about the Seltos in this combination is that this gearbox is best suited for driving on open highways, within the city, it gets jerky (like any dual-clutch would).
Coming to the Skoda Kushaq, the variant I bought is the 1L Torque converter A/T, I picked the Tq converter as this is going to be used in the city 99% of the time & did not want the DCT as that would have been torture for the drivetrain for the conditions it’s going to be driven in.
Let’s get one thing straight as we discuss the Kushaq, this gets the best-sounding engine of the lot. I am aware that this is a 3cyl 1L engine but still, it has the most sporty engine sound. The power delivery too is good, especially in the mid-range but there are 2 problems with the engine. Also note that Skoda is the only one from this lot which gets Paddle Shifters (Seltos started offering them later, not in the 1st few lots).
- Being a small engine with a full capacity of passengers and a boot load it feels underpowered.
- Because of being a small 3 cyl big boost turbo engine this suffers from a turbo lag under 2000 rpm.
How does this compare to the Seltos when it comes to the ride quality, in one word Better. Yes, this Skoda suspension is tuned for more comfort than handling. However, the handling is not only about the suspension but also about the platform, the chassis, which IMO out of the 3, has the best chassis tuning making this car feel the best from a driver’s perspective. Very Chuckable indeed.
Right, the Toyota HyRyder
The Hybrid HyRyder gets the largest engine of all the 3 cars I own being a 1.5L but it’s the slowest of the lot and the least engaging to drive enthusiastically. However, once you know how to modulate the throttle response so as to extract maximum EV range before draining the battery out it’s actually fun. Even if you keep repeating the cycle of trying to drive on EV mode draining the battery out then letting the battery recharge & having a driving style conducive to letting the battery pack recharge again is challengingly fun. All of this is fun within the city limits because as soon as you are on the highway this is a boring car to drive, especially after you cross 120 km/h which is the legal speed limit on our expressways.
Coming to the handling, this was a surprise as this is a very mature chassis & the suspension tuning too is very suitable for high-speed driving. One of the cars has a well-tuned sporty suspension but doesn’t have that kinda power to exploit the same. Also if you were wondering which of the 3 cars has the best ride quality then the easiest answer to that question is the HyRyder. Hands down this is the most comfortable car to be in, be it in the city or on the highways, this always makes the driver as well as the passenger feel very good with the way this car drives and behaves on our Indian roads.
To give all these 3 cars a fair chance I devised a Points based rating system to grade them on multiple parameters.
If a car is GREAT at something then that car would get 3 points, if it’s a GOOD performer then 2 points & if it’s just OK then a single point will be rewarded;
- 3 = Great
- 2 = Good
- 1 = Ok
Based on the above the Toyota Hyryder Hybrid wins this contest, with the Kia coming in a close 2nd & the Skoda coming in last. I have not included Safety as a parameter because the Toyota HyRyder is still unrated. However, as an owner if I still had to pick 1 car out of all the 3 I own then that car would be the Kia Seltos as IMO it does everything really well, because it looks the best (from my eyes), tops the feature list (being the oldest of the lot), good on interior space (both front & rear), ride-handling balance (mature suspension), fun to drive (engine gearbox combo) and great balance of reliability (Yes), Economy (Respectable) & VFM (Sale numbers are a good Indicator) which is what the segment demands.
Hope this thread will help the prospective buyers of the segment in their decision-making process.
Keyword: Hyryder, Kushaq, Seltos: Owner of all 3 cars shares his honest reviews