We take the Kia Seltos from the urban jungle that is Delhi to the actual jungle of Ranthambore in Rajasthan. Our goal: to spot everything from small birds to big cats
Story: Harket Suchde
Photography: Saurabh Botre
The nation’s capital may be a throbbing, pulsating metropolis but it isn’t what you’d call relaxing. With surging traffic and ever-growing jams as people rush about like so many buzzing bees in an overturned hive, there’s hardly a moment’s peace to take a deep breath and unwind. City streets aren’t ideal conditions for the avid petrolhead to satisfy the craving to burn some fuel and cover some miles either. That craving is a strong one in those of us who tend to leave our troubles behind in a swirl of wheel-dust and exhaust smoke, though, and I’m definitely not immune to it.
And so, with the call of the adventure growing ever louder and, with it, the need for open roads and fresh air, I set off for Ranthambore. My ride for this journey was the Kia Seltos, the brand-new SUV from the latest carmaker of international acclaim to arrive on our shores.
We started from the edge of Delhi, darting through traffic and making for the highway, the car’s light steering making even lighter work of the traffic slicing effort. And as soon as I left the chaos of Manesar behind and started cruising down the highway, the Seltos really came into its element. The 1.5-litre CRDi four-cylinder turbo-diesel offered robust acceleration for those far-lane overtakes, its 115 hp and 250 Nm of torque providing a perfect platform to gobble up the kilometres. The cabin is quiet — unless you’ve got the excellent Bose speaker system churning out the tunes as I had, of course.
The highway leading to Ranthambore significantly narrows once you bypass Jaipur, but, thankfully, the tarmac stays as smooth as ever. Not that rough surfaces are any deterrent to the Seltos, though, as I found out when I took it off the road and into a gorgeous set of leaf-shorn woods. The car’s supple suspension absorbed all the rough stuff until I pulled over and got out to admire the surroundings and take it all in.
