Kia Soul
Expert Rating:
Introduction
Believe it or not, Kia will actually allow you to go to one of its showrooms and come back out having bought a mini-SUV on 18-inch black polished alloys with a giant tribal dragon plastered down the side, sporting a bright red interior and speaker cones that pulsate with red light in time to your music. How times have changed.
But regardless of Kia's intentions, that's not the kind of Soul that most people will leave the showroom with. Most will leave with one of these: a Soul 2 diesel. It might, perhaps, be painted in the slightly ostentatious burnt orange of our test car, but that's about as showy as it will get. So, once all the options list razzmatazz is stripped away, does Kia's urban crossover mini SUV MPV hatchback type thing cut the mustard?
What are its rivals?
Because the Soul is a crossover, by definition it merges a few different segments, so its rivals are many and varied. Really though, as much as Kia would like to think the Soul is gunning for the trendy young patrons all desperate to buy a MINI or Fiat 500, the Soul is very much in Honda Jazz territory - the staple of the happily retired.
But that's no bad thing. The Soul is a very good value and functional car, because it combines the relatively tiny dimensions of a small hatchback with the relatively massive interior space of a family hatchback - it's as roomy as a Nissan Qashqai in the cabin, but it's not that much longer than a Ford Fiesta, for example. It's not revolutionary - the Nissan Note and Renault Modus arguably do a similar thing - but it's still fairly unique in looking like a shrunken down Range Rover. But one that starts at a bargain-hunting £10,500.
How does it drive?
With reassuring refinement, given its tall, boxy proportions. The worry with cars shaped like this is that the laws of physics work against them, but the Soul allays those fears with its impressive composure in most situations. Kia wanted to imbue the Soul with the easy manoeuvrability of a small hatchback but the tall, commanding, 'safe' driving position of an SUV - and in those respects it has succeeded, as it marries the two well. The Soul is all about comfort, space and visibility, and it's got those things in good measure.
Only two engines are available - a petrol and a diesel - both of 1.6-litre capacity and with only 2bhp separating them, but it's the diesel that stands out. The 126bhp unit has all its pulling power available below 2,000rpm and while it never feels quick, it's strong enough to avoid feeling strained like the 124bhp petrol unit does. Everything about the Soul, particularly in diesel form, is geared towards driving in the chilled out manner appropriate to family motoring. Do so, and you'll get close to the oil burner's claimed 54.3mpg fuel economy.
What's impressive?
Cabin space. If there's one thing the Soul immediately charms you with it's the airy spaciousness of the cabin, which offers limo-like head, leg and elbow space. Slight exaggeration there, obviously, but for a car that also feels almost as small and nimble behind the wheel as a regular hatchback (albeit a tall one), that's impressive. And as we alluded to earlier, it's also unfazed by most driving situations, which is to say that it's set up with a nice balance of blanket-y softness and controlled firmness. It can tend to thump over the more poorly surfaced of roads, but mostly it's comfortable and planted.
It also has a well arranged cabin, though bland if fashioned from varying shades of grey - as it is in all but the high-end cars; however, it seems built to last. The dash top could do with being covered in something softer to touch, but the design of the interior is such that it feels modern rather than typically Korean (i.e. cheap).
What's not?
The boot. The Soul's biggest problem (or smallest, as the case may be) is the proportion of the cabin assigned to boot space. Why allow all that room for people - and indeed, why aim the car at young families - then forget to give them anywhere to put their stuff? Try squeezing an average size buggy in the boot and there'll be no room left for anything else, which could prove a real issue. For that reason, the Soul might appeal more to the 'empty nester' fraternity, who don't always need the space, than it will to those with full time family lugging needs.
Should I buy one?
If you want to be a little bit different and like the idea of plenty of passenger space and that high, commanding driving position on a budget, the Soul makes a lot of sense. The base level version is spartan, but 'Soul 2' spec and onwards has all the kit you should need of a humble hatch at a very reasonable price. It drives well, is cheap to run and insure and comes with a five-year warranty too - so there's lots to recommend from a buyer's perspective.
That said, we're not convinced the Soul has quite hit the mark as the leftfield urban wagon of choice for the trendy buyers Kia hopes to attract to the brand, because in 'value' form (near the bottom of the range), it basically does what a Honda Jazz does only not quite as well. Further up the range, where things get all kooky and madcap, it starts looking too expensive. It's charming and fun, but it's not quite the brand epiphany Kia was hoping for.
