Kia Soul 2009 Review

Kia Soul

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OVERVIEW
It's easy for a curmudgeonly old baby boomer or Gen-Xer to be dismissive of the Kia Soul. Flat-out, it's not a driver's car and the styling can be an acquired taste. There are other issues such as the $3500 premium for the diesel engine option militating against its wider acceptance also.

Nevertheless, Kia expects to sell a small but profitable number in Australia and most takers will be Gen-Y buyers. Is this any better or worse than Mazda targeting baby boomers for its original MX-5?

Leaving aside the focus on such a narrow demographic, the Soul's business case is a sensible one. In Australia, Kia will target buyers who see the car as both a utilitarian device and a fashion statement in itself. You don't see iPods or Blackberries heavily discounted at retail outlets -- so Kia would appear to be on the right track. That is provided that the company can convince those Gen-Y buyers that the Soul is as cutting-edge as MP3 players and PDAs.

Kia is putting in place all the necessary steps to draw Gen-Y buyers to the Soul. The car is being offered to the public with an extensive range of accessories to customise the car. According to Kia, no two Souls need be alike.

The company is associating the new model with sponsorship of a popular television music program, 'Live at the Chapel'. Finally, Kia will selectively target buyers for the car through targeted advertising streams -- internet rather than TV, for example.

Perhaps Kia won't sell more than the 400 units the company forecasts for sales of the Soul this year -- but more likely they will. Would that more car companies thought outside the box when it comes to marketing cars…

Entry-level buyers will miss out on the diesel engine option available in higher grades, but the petrol engine can be specified with either the standard five-speed manual transmission or optional four-speed automatic.

The mid-range Soul2 is the only grade available with both petrol and diesel engines, each available to order with manual or automatic transmissions. Topping the range, the Soul3 is only available with the automatic transmission, although Kia say that you can order a manual Soul3 as long as you're prepared to wait is for it to be built and shipped from South Korea. Both petrol and diesel engines can be specified for this level of trim.

Prices are: $20,990 (Soul manual), $22,990 (Soul auto), $23,190 (Soul2 petrol manual), $25,190 (Soul2 petrol auto), $26,990 (Soul2 diesel manual), $28,690 (Soul2 diesel auto), $27,390 (Soul3 petrol auto), $30,890 (Soul3 diesel auto).

All grades are fitted with the following comfort and convenience features: electrically-adjustable mirrors, variable-dwell intermittent wipers, remote central locking/keyless entry, 60/40 split-fold rear seat, electric windows, vanity mirrors, timed-delay interior lighting, external temperature gauge, map lights, auxiliary power outlet, MP3-compatible six-speaker CD audio system and air conditioning.

The base model Soul can be identified by its 15-inch steel wheels with wheel covers. It also gets rear drums rather than disc (see MECHANICAL below).

Moving up a peg, Soul2 builds on the base Soul's specification with these features: roof rails, front fog lights, driver's armrest (automatic variants only), leather-bound steering wheel/gear knob, shade band for windscreen, front seat-back pockets, steering wheel-mounted audio controls and 16-inch alloy wheels. There’s disc rear brakes and with them stability and traction control are standard.

At the head of the class, the Soul3 adds: electrically-heated exterior mirrors, privacy glass, luggage compartment 'wetbox', 12-Volt auxiliary power outlet in the rear, a luggage net, speaker 'mood' lamps, an external amplifier for the audio system and 18-inch alloy wheels.

The speaker mood lamps are switchable and pulse with the beat of music through the audio system.

Only the Soul3 can be purchased with ex-factory options thrown in. These include a rear-view camera, electro-chromatic mirror and sunroof. All models can be fitted with accessories to customise the look and comfort of the car.

The lack of a cruise control may hinder sales, although the Soul doesn't strike us as the sort of car that will spend much of its life on inter-city trips. It's more likely to spend its time 'cruising' Sydney's Oxford Street or Melbourne's Chapel Street.

The all-alloy 'Gamma' petrol engine produces peak power of 91kW at 6300rpm and 156Nm of torque at 4200rpm. In accordance with combined-cycle fuel consumption testing, this engine uses 6.5L/100km with the standard manual transmission or 7.0L/100km with the automatic. CO2 emissions are 154g/km (manual) or 167g/km (auto).

Kia has upgraded the 'U Series' 1.6-litre turbodiesel powering the Hyundai i30 and renamed it the 'U2' engine for the Soul. The engine develops 94kW of power (versus 85kW in the i30) and 260Nm of torque. Combined cycle fuel consumption figures are 5.2L/100km (manual) and 5.9L/100km (auto). CO2 figures for the diesel are 137g/km (manual) and 155g/km (auto).

Diesel models coupled with the automatic transmission feature a diesel particulate filter in order for the engine to comply with the Euro IV emissions standard.

Kia has developed a unique platform to underpin the Soul, which features a MacPherson-strut front end, a torsion beam at the rear, electrically-assisted rack-and-pinion steering, ventilated front disc brakes, solid-disc brakes (Soul2 & Soul3), plus rear drums for the base model. The platform started out underpinning the Rio light car and the Hyundai Accent, but has been extensively modified for the Soul's application. There is, according to the factory, nothing interchangeable underneath the Soul with the Rio.

While Kia is not the only company to market a light or small-segment car with rear drums, the older braking technology in the entry-level Soul is another hint at Kia's lack of focus on driving dynamics for the car. Rubbing salt into the wound, the drum brake-equipped variants cannot be specified with stability control, so there's that added safety concern with the base Soul.

The Soul was styled before the recruitment of Kia's ace designer, Peter Schreyer. His most significant contribution to the production version of the Soul concept was to add what Kia calls the 'Schreyer line' to the styling of the grille.

What would Schreyer have made of the Soul if he had been involved in the car's development from the start? We feel on terra firma in suggesting that the man who penned the c'eed would have dreamed up a very different style of Soul.

From the point of view of this writer, that would have been a good thing. In drawing an aesthetic analogy between the Soul and such gadgets as PDAs and mobile phones, the design team at Kia has conferred upon the Soul a sort of chunky, hand-grippable, fit-in-your-pocket look that has little to do with cars.

One of the visual cues is the 'wrap-around A pillar', which, with the Soul's tapering side glass, recreates the look of Ray-ban sunglasses. That alone says a lot about the prospective buyers of the Soul. Kia should sell trawler-loads of Soul.

And having said that, the writer will bow out of all further arguments on the merits of the Soul's styling, since it's intended for a younger, 'more connected' audience.

But on that point, has Kia missed an opportunity with this car by not directing it at older buyers as well? Thanks to its mini MPV/SUV rather than hatch proportions, both headroom and the car's H-point are ideal for taller and/or older drivers.

Interior plastics quality in the Soul was about middling for a car of this price. In the Soul2 initially driven, the interior colour scheme was bland, with black/graphite for plastics and seat trim. The only lift came from the red sunglass holder and the red interior of the glovebox -- only visible when the sunglass-holder cover was raised or the glovebox lid lowered.

Plainly -- that being the operative word -- the cars provided by Kia for the drivetrain were of the vanilla variety, but buyers will be able to customise interiors to suit their personal tastes.

Among the accessories available to that end are headlight garnishes; a chrome garnish for the rear bumper; bright-finish side indicator garnishes; body graphics; body kit comprising front, rear and side skirts; rear spoiler; coloured gearshift knob, custom door sill scuff  plates, aluminium-finish sports pedals, satin-finish fuel cap and 18-inch 'Black Flower' alloy wheels.

The body graphics include such offerings as 'Dragon body' decals in silver or black and racing-stripe decals in white and black. Headlight garnishes are finished in piano black and are referred to by Kia as the 'Eye Line' accessory. Also finished in piano black is the body kit, which is available as a pack or as stand-alone options (comprising front, side and rear skirts). Kia also market the Chrome pack and the Sports pack for the Soul, the former fedaturing garnishes for side indicators, rear bumper and fuel cap; the latter consisting of a rear spoiler and Eye Line.

Inside, the Soul can be equipped with a hands-free Bluetooth accessory, iPod cable, boot liner, cargo net and portable ashtray. The gearshift knobs for manual transmission variants come in red, black and grey colour options. Buyers can opt for red or beige carpet mats to offset the interior trim.

Kia has not supplied pricing for the accessories and packs, but according to one of the presenters at the car's local launch, a Soul3 fitted with all the available options would still come in for around $35,000 or thereabouts. Given the sheer number of accessories and ex-factory options available, that seems like reasonable value if your heart's set on being different to that degree.

The standard audio system and HVAC controls in the Soul were simple and sensible. In the case of the former, the controls were clearly marked with text to describe the function and the HVAC controls resorted to conventional graphic icons.

The switchgear layout for the audio was relatively stylish but the one gripe would be the location of the volume control knob on the left side of the interface, hinting at the car's LHD design origins. That ceases to be a problem once you specify a car above the base model's level of trim, since the steering wheel comes with remote audio controls for the Soul2 and Soul3. Those controls -- on the left-hand spoke of the steering wheel -- are basic, but allow the driver to adjust volume, channel/tracks, mode and mute without taking a hand off the wheel.

The large 'bowl' above the centre fascia appears to lend itself to all manner of commodities, including coins, snacks, house keys, trinkets, etc.

There's quite a large range of fore/aft adjustment for the front seats, but even with the seat adjusted as far back as it will go, there's still adequate rear-seat kneeroom for adults and space for the feet underneath the front seat.

The driver's seat has a folding armrest on the left ('Captains chair' for Soul2 and Soul3) when the automatic transmission is specified.

Like the sunglass-holder, the glovebox in this car also featured that bright red plastic interior. As far as gloveboxes go, it's functional and robust as well as providing the interior with a cosmetic lift. The lid was solid, nicely damped and lined.

Sensibly, the electric windows rise and lower when the key is switched to 'Accessory' position, which is useful and not always the case with other cars. It sure beats having to flounder around for the key just to lower the window when someone approaches the car to speak with you while you're parked listening to the radio.

Seats in the front provided a reasonable mix of comfort and support, without being exceptional, but they were an appropriate choice for the Soul.

Kia has designed the Soul with a relatively high loading lip for the luggage compartment. Some buyers may find that a problem. The luggage volume itself seems to be no better than that of some larger light cars in the VFACTS segment (this is an entry in the small-car segment, remember) and yet the rear bumper -- in this reviewer's opinion -- projects just far enough to the rear to soil clothes if you're so small you have to lean forward to reach anything hard up against the 60/40 split-fold rear seat.

We discovered during the drive program that the tailgate provides quite good shelter from the rain -- handy to know if you're caught in a deluge. It opens high but remains close to flat in the open position, meaning it shouldn't hit the ceiling in garages, but also shouldn't 'brain' users.

Where the tailgate proved useful in the rain, the C-pillars undid that good work by blocking the rearward field of vision. For a car likely to spend much of its time in high-density urban areas, that may pose a problem for owners.

Based on computer modeling, Kia anticipates that the Soul would rate a five-star crash safety rating if tested by Euro NCAP, but the car is yet to be officially tested by the safety authority. According to Kia, the Soul will be tested by Euro NCAP some time during the first half of this year.

Following the lead of most other manufacturers in recent times, Kia has designed the Soul to crumple progressively through different tensile strengths of steel applied at strategic points for added reinforcement and to divert load paths in the right direction in the event of a crash.

During the media presentation, Kia also cited cars that wouldn't necessarily spring to mind as competitors to the Soul, such as the Nissan Dualis and the Suzuki SX4. Presumably the former provides some lifestyle differentiation for buyers just as the Soul might. The Suzuki has the headroom and the pricing to place it on a par with the Soul, and as is the case with the Dualis, it's available with four-wheel drive.

If you're interested in the Soul but can't remember what it's like to pack your mates in a car and go cruising with the 'duf-duf' music blaring, you might also consider the Honda City, an altogether more conservative car, but one that shares some of the Soul's packaging virtues.

And if packaging is of overriding importance, there are other light cars (Honda Jazz, Mazda2, Ford Fiesta) that will come close to what the Soul has to offer. Bear in mind though that these alternatives are 'light cars' or B-segment cars, whereas the Soul is a nominal 'small car', a C-segment car. Kia's own Rondo is a car that might be an option for buyers, although it doesn't have a diesel engine option -- yet.

Finally, if you want something that's quite 'out there' for styling (although lacking the customisation potential of the Soul) and remains quite spacious, you can't look past the Skoda Roomster. It's higher priced, but has the diesel and petrol alternatives and frankly, is a much better drive.

In some respects this is a return to the bad old days for Kia… It's certainly not in the same dynamic envelope as the Cerato, for instance.

Weighting of the electrically-assisted steering was inconsistent, becoming relatively heavy from as low as 20km/h and then changing the level of assistance exiting bends too. Steering turn-in was good, but the feel was not to the liking of this reviewer. The way the steering responded to input from the driver was slow and the driver was required on wider radius turns to correct the line; so the car's tracking was ill-affected by the lack of feel in the first instance and slower variations in assistance in the second place.

Kia Australia believes the suspension tune is the same as the American Sport option, but the factory hasn't been entirely transparent about that. Whatever the case, the Soul rides fairly harshly. It's markedly better with the 15-inch steel wheels on the entry-level Soul than the 16-inch alloys of the Soul2. We didn't drive the Soul3 on its standard 18-inch wheels, but a reliable colleague described the ride of that car as "rubbish".

The Soul2 jumped and skipped over bumps mid-corner. With more give in the base Soul's 15-inch wheels and higher profile tyres, the car was less inclined to be deflected offline in the same scenario.

Handling and general grip were up to snuff, although there was some torque steer evident on the saturated roads of the Blue Mountains. The Soul is throttle-sensitive in the sense that it tracks better through a corner (ie: more consistently) if you get your braking done early and accelerate through it.

The petrol engine in the Soul is quiet and provides adequate torque at lower revs, but loses interest in proceedings after about 4000rpm; the driver might as well change up at that point. Acceleration below 4000rpm is roughly the same as above that engine speed, but NVH is considerably better. Overall, the petrol engine provides far less urge than the diesel and the latter would be the more acceptable option -- even at the $3500 premium.

At 1.6 litres like the petrol powerplant, the diesel is a pretty good unit. It feels almost as 'driveable' as a 2.0-litre turbodiesel. It's a quiet unit, but emitted some noise on freeways. There's little to nothing in the way of vibration below 1500rpm and the engine makes up for the lack of ratios in the four-speed automatic transmission.

While it's shy one gear, the automatic box compensates by holding lower gears when accelerating or holding higher gears when decelerating. There's less engine braking but the box is fairly smooth in the way it shifts. That's some trade-off for the limited range of ratios.

Since the diesel engine provides plenty of torque, the auto is effective enough with that powerplant, but is an unknown quantity where the petrol engine is concerned. We didn't drive the Soul in a petrol/auto combination, so can't comment on that. With manual transmission specified, the Soul provides acceptable shift quality.

Overall, the Soul was a mixed bag. Despite qualms about ride and steering, the Kia proved to be fairly surefooted, even in the base grade with its 15-inch wheels. The entry-level variant was also the best-riding car -- precisely because of those wheels.

In fact, here's a test for any would-be buyer of the Soul; walk into your Kia dealer and find out whether you could pick up a Soul3 with the base model's steel wheels. That would be a true indicator of Kia's "mass-market customisation" strategy at work.

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