Kia goes soulful
22/04/09 09:28 Filed in: Road
tests
Kia make cars you buy with your head,
not your heart. They’re a bit like sensible shoes. Reasonable
price, practical and backed by a five year warranty. But they are
not going to get the pulse racing.
As a result Kia has tended to appeal to older buyers. People who just want a reliable, no-nonsense car. Unencumbered by concerns about style and image, Kia buyers have tended to be very focussed on price.
With their new Soul, Kia aims to shake some of the dust off that image. Its funky looks were inspired by Kia’s US design team in California and the newcomer is clearly aimed at the young, or young-at-heart. Kia hope that Soul buyers will be more style-conscious and expect them to look at the colour options and the accessories, before they focus on the bottom line price.
In describing the Soul, Kia use the new language of car manufacturers. This is not a hatchback, or family car, it is an “urban crossover... ideally suited to the world’s urban jungle”. The word jungle is significant because there is more than a little 4x4 about the Soul’s looks. It is a boxy design with dummy front and rear off-road skid plates. There is even a hint of Range Rover in the looks, accentuated by the dummy grille and indicator repeater on its flanks, just below the windscrean.
The happy coincidence is that this very boxy styling is probably the most practical shape in packaging terms. Space is good, with outstanding headroom front and rear and good access through the four passenger doors. The boot is deep and spacious.
The interior is equally different from the Kia norms. On some Soul models there are brighter colours, but the Soul 2 test car was largely black and grey. The dashboard is topped by what looks for all the world like a giant cup holder. It is actually an oddments tray taking the place of the big front speaker fitted to the Soul Burner.
Other storage includes a small cubby on the dashboard. Once you have found the fiddly way to open the catch and lift it, the surprise is that this small cavern in the dash is finished in bright red. So is the two-tier, but rather small glovebox. Satisfying the target audience there is an impressive line up of iPod, USB and jack plug sockets on the centre console.
There is no disguising the fact that this is a budget price hatch. The interior of Soul 2 has a considerable amount of black and grey plastic in this interior, but – that accepted this is quite a pleasant place to be. I never did manage to work out if the steering wheel rim was leather or plastic. If it was the former, it felt rather like the latter!
My road test car was the Kia Soul2 CRDi. There will be a three tier model line up in the UK starting with Soul Originals, plus Soul 1 and Soul 2. Mine was the Soul 2. Rather unusually, Kia plan to ring the changes with a rolling programme of special models that will be refreshed about once a year.
The 1.6 turbo-diesel in the test car proved to be a quite a revelation. It is refined and reasonably quiet. It is also willing with respectably eager uptake at overtaking speeds. The benchmark 0-60 is 10.7 seconds. Unusually, in a six-gear world the gearbox is just five speed.
The Soul does not appear to have an mpg read out, so I cannot give you my actual mileage over the test period. But the official combined mpg figure is 47.9 mpg suggesting that an average of 40 mpg should be realistically in reach.
I was impressed with the handling. I had feared a rather sloppy ride with degrees of lean that might be expected from a tall, boxy design of this type. The reality is remarkably flat cornering and good handling. It won’t get you enthused in the way that a Mini will, but it is a competent and pleasant companion on country roads.
On dual carriageways, however I did notice the Soul needed more steering adjustments than I had expected – particularly on one day with strong cross winds.
Ironically, at the end of the day I think the story of the Kia Soul does come back to price.
Kia have made it clear in their press information that they are gunning for the Mini and the Fiat 500. The Soul cannot provide the same degree of style or desirability, but it can offer a keener price.
The Soul range starts at £10,495, with the diesel coming in at a £12,495 – a £1,000 premium over the equivalent petrol Soul 2. With, at best, a 4.4 mpg advantage for the diesel, it would only be highest-mileage users that would be likely to justify the extra.
As a result Kia has tended to appeal to older buyers. People who just want a reliable, no-nonsense car. Unencumbered by concerns about style and image, Kia buyers have tended to be very focussed on price.
With their new Soul, Kia aims to shake some of the dust off that image. Its funky looks were inspired by Kia’s US design team in California and the newcomer is clearly aimed at the young, or young-at-heart. Kia hope that Soul buyers will be more style-conscious and expect them to look at the colour options and the accessories, before they focus on the bottom line price.
In describing the Soul, Kia use the new language of car manufacturers. This is not a hatchback, or family car, it is an “urban crossover... ideally suited to the world’s urban jungle”. The word jungle is significant because there is more than a little 4x4 about the Soul’s looks. It is a boxy design with dummy front and rear off-road skid plates. There is even a hint of Range Rover in the looks, accentuated by the dummy grille and indicator repeater on its flanks, just below the windscrean.
The happy coincidence is that this very boxy styling is probably the most practical shape in packaging terms. Space is good, with outstanding headroom front and rear and good access through the four passenger doors. The boot is deep and spacious.
The interior is equally different from the Kia norms. On some Soul models there are brighter colours, but the Soul 2 test car was largely black and grey. The dashboard is topped by what looks for all the world like a giant cup holder. It is actually an oddments tray taking the place of the big front speaker fitted to the Soul Burner.
Other storage includes a small cubby on the dashboard. Once you have found the fiddly way to open the catch and lift it, the surprise is that this small cavern in the dash is finished in bright red. So is the two-tier, but rather small glovebox. Satisfying the target audience there is an impressive line up of iPod, USB and jack plug sockets on the centre console.
There is no disguising the fact that this is a budget price hatch. The interior of Soul 2 has a considerable amount of black and grey plastic in this interior, but – that accepted this is quite a pleasant place to be. I never did manage to work out if the steering wheel rim was leather or plastic. If it was the former, it felt rather like the latter!
My road test car was the Kia Soul2 CRDi. There will be a three tier model line up in the UK starting with Soul Originals, plus Soul 1 and Soul 2. Mine was the Soul 2. Rather unusually, Kia plan to ring the changes with a rolling programme of special models that will be refreshed about once a year.
The 1.6 turbo-diesel in the test car proved to be a quite a revelation. It is refined and reasonably quiet. It is also willing with respectably eager uptake at overtaking speeds. The benchmark 0-60 is 10.7 seconds. Unusually, in a six-gear world the gearbox is just five speed.
The Soul does not appear to have an mpg read out, so I cannot give you my actual mileage over the test period. But the official combined mpg figure is 47.9 mpg suggesting that an average of 40 mpg should be realistically in reach.
I was impressed with the handling. I had feared a rather sloppy ride with degrees of lean that might be expected from a tall, boxy design of this type. The reality is remarkably flat cornering and good handling. It won’t get you enthused in the way that a Mini will, but it is a competent and pleasant companion on country roads.
On dual carriageways, however I did notice the Soul needed more steering adjustments than I had expected – particularly on one day with strong cross winds.
Ironically, at the end of the day I think the story of the Kia Soul does come back to price.
Kia have made it clear in their press information that they are gunning for the Mini and the Fiat 500. The Soul cannot provide the same degree of style or desirability, but it can offer a keener price.
The Soul range starts at £10,495, with the diesel coming in at a £12,495 – a £1,000 premium over the equivalent petrol Soul 2. With, at best, a 4.4 mpg advantage for the diesel, it would only be highest-mileage users that would be likely to justify the extra.