Thursday, June 4, 2009

Kia's Soul has heart, stamina

Uniquely designed compact cruiser is a surprisingly good, affordable ride

I laughed when I first saw the Kia Soul at the Los Angeles Auto Show. It's the opposite of nearly every compact on the road -- the competition went small; Kia went tall. It looks like a computerized roller skate.

I snickered again when the Soul showed up in my driveway. Good Lord, the red model looks like the Diablo Hell Boys Edition: red dash, red steering wheel, red lights inside the stereo speakers. Blasting the radio at night eerily lights up the cabin as if you're Arnie Cunningham in a 1958 Plymouth Fury.

It may have aerodynamics slightly better than Christine, Stephen King's fictional Fury, and mood lighting that can thump to the bass of Frank Beckman's voice, but the Soul is no laughing matter. It's a pretty good road runner designed for a new breed of customer who wants enough head room to wear a fedora, good enough fuel economy to avoid weekly fill-ups and something cheap enough to actually afford.

My fully loaded Soul sport was $18,600 -- you can't spend more than that for the Soul -- and a nicely equipped base model starts at $13,995, including $695 shipping. Those are reasonable digits.

The Soul is part of a growing segment American carmakers have not embraced. The inexpensive multi-passenger compact cruiser. Cheap and cheerful is back -- it comes as a box and plays loud music.

The Soul joins the likes of the Nissan Cube, Scion xB and the high-end (meaning it can cost more than $20,000) Honda Element. It's almost enough chopped blocked body styles to play a game of Yahtzee.

This particular car-truckie-van thing has more charm than any inexpensive compact car and a surprisingly good ride. During a week of test-driving, I took it all over southeastern Michigan. Who says personality and a full tank of gas won't take you far?

Actually, the Soul will take you well over 300 miles on a single 12.7-gallon tank. That's not a bad start. (I managed 28 miles per gallon overall on two tank-fulls.)

Too much Soul?
The trim level names of the Soul, however, give me pause. Instead of sticking to something familiar -- the touring, the sport, the base -- Kia uses some strange text-messaging code for some. Soul+Kia=Soul!

From base to high-end, Kia named its trim levels the following: Soul, Soul+, Soul! and Soul sport. It's OK; I rolled my eyes, too. I don't know if you need to yell "Soul" at the dealership to make sure it isn't confused with the base model.

What people won't confuse is the originality of this package. Nothing in any dealerships looks like the Kia Soul. Many people may not even like the polarizing design, but that's precisely the point. Love it or hate it, but at least it makes you feel something.

Straight-laced sides, a steep windshield and a high roof that slopes down from front to rear like a tin shanty are the basic bones of this vehicle. From the side, the back end bubbles out as if the rear axle was pushed too far during the design to create more space in the cabin. The backside looks oversized with a tiny door tacked between two pillars of tail lights. In the front, the little open grille and sweeping headlights give the Soul the expression of an emoticon instead of powerful vehicle.

That's probably fitting as this was not designed as a muscle van. The 2-liter four-cylinder engine (this is the optional bigger engine) manages 142 horsepower and 137 pound-feet of torque. It never struck me as powerful. Zippy, maybe, but never potent.

But sometimes zip trumps force. In city driving, the Soul can give you those bursts of speed needed to wedge into the turning lane. Overall, it's only 161.6 inches long, and that means it will easily squeeze into tight city parking spaces or the third spot on a suburban driveway.

The five-speed manual transmission provides longer-than-expected throws but gives the driver more control to eek out every pony under the bonnet. An optional four-speed automatic is available for the 2-liter engine.

Well mannered on the road
The high roof makes the body roll more than a car through corners, but it never felt loose or nearing out of control. On the highway, it could get tossed around in the wind at high speeds, but once again, it felt sure-footed and well-balanced, thanks to the independent front suspension and torsion beam rear.

The engine-speed-sensitive power steering was excellent in city driving with an exact feel and good return to center. The highway steering, however, felt slightly numb and disconnected from the road. This is a cruiser, not a missile.

High tech appeal
The Soul launches to life inside the cabin -- even the red one. There are lots of neat tech features that will appeal to the growin group of gizmo consumers who need to stay connected to their outside world all the time.

The interior takes a minimalist approach with only three knobs on the floating center stack. The zig-zag lines that separate the buttons on the stereo add a playful touch.

Music also plays an important role inside the Soul. Even the base model includes an auxiliary jack and USB port for connecting your iPod to the stereo -- which can be controlled by the stereo or steering wheel buttons.

Other optional features include Bluetooth hands-free connectivity for your cell phone and an upgraded stereo with center speaker, subwoofer and 315-watt amplifier.

Even entering and exiting the Soul is made easier by the low floor and tall door. The seating position is comfortable and more upright than a car's.

Some of the materials could have been better or higher quality, particularly the cloth seat covers and some of the plastic on the dash. But considering the price level, it felt appropriate. The pleasant surprise was the lack of lines across the dash. It looked like one solid piece, which takes away from many of those potential bad fits between pieces that can turn into squeaks and rattles in the future.

Touch points were also nicely padded, meaning your elbows didn't get sore on long hauls from pressing against a hard arm rest.

More importantly was the room the cabin provides. The high roof makes the cab feel extra large, even though the vehicle isn't. The second row will easily fit three adults with room to spare. The trunk is a deep well that provides lots of space (19.3 cubic feet) and if you need more, just fold the 60/40 second row seats down for 53.4 cubic feet of storage.

It's the versatility that gives the Soul a step over its compact car competition. All things equal, such as mileage and price, the Soul can just carry more people and stuff.

The appeal to younger buyers may also spark interest in older ones searching for ways to express their inner teen, though the only thing new and hip about them, is, in fact, their new stainless steel hip.

The Soul fills a void in a niche that no one knew existed a few years ago. Kia managed to do it with style.

It's like rolling all fives on the first try. Yahtzee!

Detroit News

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