Cool looks; urban practicality; diesel a sensible choice; value
Polarizing styling (but if you don’t like it, you don’t get the Soul and you won’t get the Rukus)
Attention Kia Soul we’ve got a bunch of young families or individuals in the metropolitan area who need to carry sports gear, beach gear or just the stuff families need – are you up to it? Well, yes actually, Kia’s groovy, boxy hatchback is just perfect for this job.
In fact those boxy, modern, California-inspired looks make the Kia Soul stand out wherever it goes, so maybe this isn’t just for families after all. Maybe corporate fleet buyers should look at the Kia Soul as a hip, cool, mobile billboard for their ‘Road Warriors’.
Kia Soul Overview
Well Kia Soul is a five-door, five-seat hatchback…but that’s not the end of the story. Soul is boxy and hip with lots of available colour schemes and an interior which doubles as a family runabout or weekend adventurer.
An urban hatchback designed to bring newfound practicality/versatility while maintaining the footprint of a regular hatchback, Kia Soul doesn’t pretend to be the car for everyone. But – taken to the extreme – Kia Soul can deliver new levels of individuality with lots of available colours and trim choices.
Different looks, functionality, individualism…that can’t be bad can it?
Kia Soul Engine
Lift the bonnet and Kia Soul is 1.6-litre…your choice is petrol or turbo-diesel. We’ve previously tested petrol-powered Kia Souls, but this time Kia strapped us into a turbo-diesel variant and to be frank it’s now probably our preferred call.
With 94kW at 4000rpm and peak torque of 260Nm at 1900rpm, the diesel Soul has a lot more available torque than the petrol’s 156Nm and this translates into much better acceleration. Fuel consumption for the diesel is rated as low as 5.2l/100kms (five-speed manual) or 5.9l/100kms for the four-speed automatic as tested.
Kia is a huge seller in Europe so its no surprise the diesel powerplant was engineered and developed at its European R&D base in Russelsheim, Germany. Kia Soul diesel was quiet and refined at all speeds – just as you’d expect from a Euro diesel.
Kia Soul The Interior
Inside is where the California-based designers who created the Kia Soul made their intentions clear. At once you have small car which provides spacious accommodation for five people and enough luggage space to contain a full-size golf bag and more…but can easily fit two mountain bikes when you fold the 60/40 split-fold rear seat flat.
It’s called versatility/practicality and that’s exactly what young families and urban-residents look for…but in small, easy-to-park packages.
In our range-topping version there was also a surprising array of luxury, starting with the nice driving position, good seats and stylish, leather-wrapped steering wheel. You do sit high in the Kia Soul but higher-spec models as tested come with height-adjustment for the drivers’ seat.
Instrumentation is a relatively conventional three-gauge setup with nice red illumination and modern graphics. The centre stack wraps over the dashboard top in the modern way and contains the six-speaker CD/USB/Bluetooth audio system with speed-dependent volume control.
Te rear seat is amazingly spacious even with three seated and those wide-opening rear doors were welcoming for adults and children alike.
But the key to Kia Soul is to check the options list for hip colour combos which can make your Soul super-individual (you may have to wait just a while for production and shipping however). That could include black, shiny seats, Street Demon red seats or Retro Chic beige seats with either matching or contrasting carpet mats.
Best to visit your Kia dealer and work through the range.
Kia Soul Exterior & Styling
German Peter Schreyer, Kia’s superstar Chief Designer - who came from the Volkswagen Group - put it this way: “Conceived in the USA, developed in Korea and fine-tuned in Europe, the Soul will be a breakthrough vehicle for Kia on its journey to be seen as a design-led company and the maker of distinctive cars which consumers aspire to own.”
As the predecessor to a range of superbly styled cars – Sorento, Sportage, Optima, Cerato – the Soul has indeed shown the new direction for Kia. And a very stylish direction it is.
The latest 2011 Model Year changes may have given the range-topping Kia Soul 1.6 CRDi as tested more sophisticated detailing, but the basic premise remains the same – the Kia Soul proves it’s hip to be square. While Kia Soul’s 4.1-metre length is on par with conventional hatchbacks, it’s relatively long 2.55-metre wheelbase and 1.6-meter height depart from the conventional (Soul’s windscreen base is 135mm higher than normal hatchbacks).
The front does feature a relatively ‘regular’ Kia corporate grille, but the large headlights and prominent centre for the front bumper show the city car intentions of the Soul.
Profile view is dominated by the flat roofline, vertical C-pillars, rising beltline, bulging wheel-arches and relatively low door-tops. Smart ‘blackout’s for the A and B-pillars give the impression the side glass is one piece and the smart-looking indicator repeaters and front guard air vents are modern touches.
The rear sees the Soul hallmark bulging hatch glass (to look like a backpack) and vertical real lights.
Kia Soul On the Road
In a quirk of timing, the first task of our Kia Soul, straight from pick-up, was in the hustle-bustle of school pickup in heavy rain. The Car Showroom juniors attend a State school with over 900 students so family new car buyers will readily picture the pandemonium in Melbourne’s cold, wet weather.
And – family buyers take note - that’s an immediate big green tick for the Kia Soul thanks to its wide-opening rear doors, abundant rear seat space and easy-open tailgate.
In fact, during our week behind the wheel we found ourselves handing out plenty of big green ticks for the Kia Soul. Sure it’s not everybody’s cup of tea, but in its environment this boxy beauty kept coming up trumps.
If we were buying a Kia Soul, the diesel model as tested would loom large in our thoughts. Much as we’ve enjoyed previous drives in petrol-powered Souls, the extra torque of the diesel (260Nm to 156Nm) was appreciated in both city freeway merging and in the country.
Regardless of the powerplant, buyers in this segment will appreciate Kia Soul’s miniscule 10.5-metre turning circle when parking in tight city laneways or shopping mall car parks. Our female testers also commented on the relatively high seating position and good glasshouse which made parking our Kia Soul just that bit easier.
Over our high-speed mountain roads loop the 1.6-litre diesel was as good as most 1.6-litre turbo-diesels and we were impressed by the feedback from the electric power steering. Chassis balance on smooth roads was good.
Kia Soul Challenges
While Kia Soul is a city car, in Australia rural roads are never far away. On those poorly maintained, bumpy, pot-holed secondary roads, ride in the Kia Soul did get a tad hard (particularly in the rear seat).
Kia Soul Verdict
We were impressed with the Kia Soul when it was first launched and now, having driven the improved 2011 model year diesel version, we remain impressed. Our Kia Soul test vehicle delivered city car practicality, family sensibility, diesel fuel economy and a definite luxury feel inside with surprising inclusions…all at a handy $30,890 sticker (diesel Soul starts at only $26,690).
Sure for the same money you can get Kia’s outstanding Cerato in sedan or hatchback variants…but that misses the point of the Soul.
While it could be argued the Cerato might be a more refined highway cruiser, the Soul is all about urban cool. Sure, take the Cerato on your Sydney-Brisbane road trip, but day-to-day in the tight confines of places like Paddington in Brisbane, Balmain in Sydney or Richmond in Melbourne the Kia Soul shows its talents.
Lots of space, versatility, up for the occasional rough stuff and cool inside with hip lights and style, the Kia Soul is at home in the city. For those CBD and inner-urban residents the Kia Soul is a smart buy.
No wonder Kia Soul has been popular with many city-based businesses – it gets the job done, is comfortable to be in and looks ace when signwritten.
Kia Soul The Competition
Toyota Rukus is the one but it’s pricier than the Kia Soul and there’s no diesel.
In the same styling direction but not as “pure” as the Kia Soul and Toyota Rukus, you could consider the Skoda Yeti but it’s even pricier than the Rukus.
