Korean car manufacturer Kia has released a new economical car. Its a weird
looking small car designed to compete with other cool micro cars like the
Fiat 500.
Up until now Kia have come up pretty boring looking cars that gave a lot
of value but were pretty dull to look at. Kia is trying to make its image
more cool right now. They released the Cerato earlier in 2009 which looked
quite nice but the new Soul really shows they are trying to shake their
dull image.
The Soul is a radical looking car. This kind of styling has been around
for a while in some Asian countries (most notably Japan) but we're yet to
see it very much outside of the continent. The Soul is an
economical
car with a very tall and boxy design. It has wrap around glass
and some four wheel drive styling. Its very bold to look at and Kia hopes
it will be popular with younger people. Similar to the Mini, the Souls looks
can be customised with different paint, chrome and plastic exterior parts,
and adhesive graphics.
The car is powered by a 1.6 litre 4 cylinder petrol 'Gamma' engine. It generates
91 kW and is combined with either a 5 speed manual or automatic gearbox.
The 5 speed manual gearbox returns a fuel mileage of 6.5 l/100km and CO2
emissions of 154 g/km. This fuel economy is quite high, making the Kia Soul
an economical car to own and run. One of its biggest competitors, the Fiat
500, is a cool looking economical car with very similar figures to the Soul.
It returns 6.3 l/100km and 149 g/km. Kia's automatic gearbox is slightly
less economical at 7 l/100km and 167 g/km of CO2.
When driving the Kia Soul its engine feels lively around town largely thanks
to short gearing. The downside of this short gearing is apparent at freeway
cruising speeds when the engine is noisy and revs high. You need to take
it easy on the freeway to get the best mileage from this economical car.
The brakes feel good but the manual gearbox is a disappointment. It has
vague shifts and has an imprecise clutch.
Body lean is controlled pretty well going round corners. This could so easily
have been a downfall of the car consdering its so tall so full marks to
Kia here. Overall handling is not all that great though - the Kia Soul has
imprecise steering and loud, rough suspension.
The Kia Soul is available in 3 models. All models have USB and iPod connectivity
which is important for the cars target market. Other standard features include
air conditioning and electric windows - the base model is basic but then
its also very cheap too. The middle and upper models are called the Soul2
and Soul3. They have more features and are the most customizable. Options
such as a sunroof, better audio system and rear view camera are only available
on the Soul2 and Soul3. Different trim colours are only available on the
Soul3. The other two models are only available in black trim.
The interior of the economical Soul looks quite conventional in contrast
to the cars exterior. However the interior looks a bit plastic and cheap
and its design doesn't seem to be very well thought out. That said, cabin
space for passengers is excellent thanks to the cars boxy design and how
tall the car is. Rear passengers have good leg room and good head room for
such a small car. The boot is small but theres a lot of luggage space available
with the rear seats folded down.
The Kia Soul is a safe small car with a 5 star NCAP rating. It has 6 airbags
- fronts, sides and curtains - and anti lock brakes are standard. Stability
control is an option but isn't available on the base model.
The Kia Soul
economical car is a decent attempt by the
car maker to change its boring image but the car is let down by its mechanics
and road handling which aren't up to scratch. Also, with the target market
in mind, its surprising that you can't customise the base model all that
much. Positive points are the large interior space (though this is let down
by small boot space) and modern looks. I don't think its stylish looks will
save this economical car though.