The "hamster car" is pretty good. It looks weird, but it's pretty good.
Its odd shape on the outside is compensated with a great interior and drive.
The Kia Soul has had to do some "soul searching" (pun very much intended) from its creation. It was designed to be different and "urban" looking, with short dimensions made for city life. These early models didn't fair too well on the highway due to the very boxy design. The updated model for 2014 curves more of the edges and is slightly longer, allowing for a smoother drive. While the looks on the outside haven't changed much, the inside has grown up a lot and it's a big improvement.
Lets take a look:
Different Styles:
The Kia Soul only comes as a tall, 5 door hatchback. It comes with 2 engines choices: a 1.6L, 4 cylinder or a 2.0L, 4 cylinder. You can have either a 6-speed manual or 6-speed automatic with shift gates.
Styling and Comfort Impressions:
With the outside of the Kia Soul, you either love it or hate it. A good number of people hate it. It is very boxy looking. But the bright colours and large lights and wheels give it a modern look. While the windows are not super huge, they are square which gives the best overall size and space, especially for a boxy car like this.
Going inside, the impression is both good and bad. The bad: it only comes in black. The good: there are 3 different types of black that you can get (cloth, sport cloth, and leather).
The media and air controls are nothing special but they don't look ridiculously cheap either. It is well laid out and even with the touch screen there are enough buttons left to still allow easy use. The overall layout, design and material used make it look relatively sporty. The sound system is pretty good; it comes with 6 speakers standard and you can get 2 more.
The seats offer a high, upright sitting position, combined with the high roof-line means you have plenty of room for head, and legs in any spot.
Take a look inside:
The seats themselves are quite comfortable and offer good support. You can get heated front seats, rear seats, and steering wheel. Heated steering wheels really should be a standard feature in Canada... You can also get a cooled drivers seat, which is fantastic.
Visibility is very good in every direction, even out the back.
Finally, the trunk. While it may not be very deep, it is decently wide and high. With the rear seats folded down flat, you have a very large and square cargo area.
Driving Impressions:
While this is a boxy and tall hatchback, it drives like a smaller, sportier looking car. The driver's seat has a lot of different positions so you will always find a comfortable driving set up. The engine is relatively quiet when idling and cruising, and just a bit rough under hard acceleration. The 1.6L feels a bit under-powered but the 2.0L provides enough to zip you around the city and is enough for the highway as well. The overall sound level is quiet in the city and decently quiet on the highway. Unlike the tall Fiat 500L, the suspension on the Kia Soul is decently tight so it isn't too bouncy but not too rough on uneven roads, even on 17-inch wheels. It come with 4 disk breaks standard so stopping is quick. The turning is tight so parking and narrow streets are no problem. There is also an Eco setting that dumbs down the acceleration and shifts early to force you to drive more efficiently. It can be overridden by pressing hard enough on the gas pedal. It is a pretty fun car to drive and with the ground clearance you should have no problems with any sort of speed bumps. Heck, if you stick on a set of tires with big tread, you could also use it for some light off-roading with a confidence that you are not going to bottom out on a gravel road.
One strange feature: there is no spare tire....why Kia, why?
Overall:
This is an odd looking car, but the inside and the drive are quite nice. If you like the looks, that's even better for you. If you don't, think about how it is relatively inexpensive, has a nice spacious interior, and a fun drive. The Kia Soul would be a great first car for a single person, couple, or new family. It would also be a good "larger" car if the first one is a small 2 door, or if you are used to larger SUVs but understand that smaller can be better.
Facts/ Figures:
Price (for mid trim level): was about $24,000+
FWD
Max HP: 130, 164
Max Torque lb/ft: 118, 151
MPG (approx*): 24, 23 city. 30, 30 highway.
Cargo room (approx*): 15 CuFt
Length: 163"
Width: 71"
Tank Size (gal): 14.2
Miles on one tank (using combined MPG figures): 383, 369
Average used price with 60,000KM or less: $18,000+
* when I say "approx" I usually am using the numbers given by the actual manufacturer or Consumer Reports, minus 1 to be a bit more realistic.
**No pictures featured are my own, they have been taken either from Google images or the manufacturer's website and their rightful owners should get any credit for them. This review featured all pictures from the manufacturer's websites ( some through Edmunds.com).
Enjoy!
Happy Holidays everyone!
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J.K.
