Kia's boxy car has plenty of Soul

Folks either love or hate the current brood of boxy cars. In my mind, Kia's new Soul is the cutest of the bunch.

Perhaps Kia has managed to inject a little soul into its boxy creation. Soul comes in four models, the base, the +, the Sport and the ! (or Exclaim.)

My test car was the upscale Soul! Starting price is $17,900 and only adding a $695 delivery charge ended up at $18,595. Not cheap, but not so pricey as to rule out its major buying demographic of younger folks, probably working at their first job.

For that you get a fairly peppy and smooth 142-horsepower engine, good handling, stability control, good seating for four adults, good storage made better by split and fold-flat rear seats, a tall sitting and driving position so you don't feel you're in a smaller car, a hatch, easy in and out, a fun and well-finished interior, 18-inch tires and alloy wheels, 4-wheel disc brakes, air bags front and side, plus side air bag curtains, a tire pressure monitor, air conditioning, MP3 hookup, remote keyless entry, tilt steering, power sunroof, fog lights, variable wipers, a rear wiper and a 10-year, 100,000-mile powertrain warranty.

Plus, I loved the car's looks, its feel and its performance at this bargain price. And if you need a bigger bargain, drop back to any of the other three levels. The base starts at $13,300, but you drop down to a 1.6-liter I-4 engine that only generates 122 horsepower. That might feel a bit slow, so a better option might be the Soul+ at $14,950, which includes the 2.0-liter I-4 that was in the test car. The Sport also uses the same engine and each adds a few more goodies until you hit the ! model. All start off with a 5-speed manual gearbox until the 4-speed automatic-equipped version of the !.

Soul looks fun with its upswept front roofline and profile.

The 2.0-liter I-4 gives it decent acceleration, even with an automatic transmission. I'd save the added expense and pump up the fun with the standard 5-speed manual. Even so, the automatic shifts smoothly and the test car never felt underpowered or like it was struggling, even zipping onto the freeway.

Handling is light and easy with quick turn-in at corners and only a touch of body lean. It's that light breezy feel that gives the Soul such pleasant road manners. Wind doesn't seem to bother it much. Riding on a 100.4-inch wheelbase the car has a good ride for a small vehicle. Railroad tracks and other more uniform bumps are no problem.

Braking is excellent thanks to 4-wheel disc brakes, the front being vented. Add to that stability control, standard on the Soul!.

Inside may have been an even nicer surprise with a handsome look, quality fit and finish and good tactile feel to all the knobs and controls. The test car featured a textured tan dash top with black trim atop the doors and three round gauges right in front of the driver behind a tilt steering wheel. A trip odometer button is just to the right of the wheel.

Kia also puts both the cruise control and radio control buttons on the steering wheel hub, something you'd expect to pay extra for in most small cars in this price range.

Mid-dash is a big radio speaker at the top with a sunglasses holder below that, followed by a CD and MP3 player, and the radio with Sirius satellite service for the first 3 months. All the buttons and knobs are good sized and easy to figure out and Kia also provides 3 large climate control knobs to make that a simple operation.

Obviously aimed at the younger market, the center stack also has two power outlets, an iPod and a USB plug.

The seats are comfortable and sit high so you feel more in control, and less like you're in a small vehicle. These were cloth with a checkered pattern on the top one-third (including the headrest) that looked particularly youthful. There's also a pump handle on the side to raise the seat and the seats themselves are moderately contoured. Head and legroom are excellent and the car will seat four adults pretty comfortably.

My only complaint would be the somewhat modest storage behind the rear seat, although the seat does split and fold flat.

Overhead the Soul! includes a sunroof and sliding shade, plus solid sun visors that slide to the side to help with side sun. The visors have mirrors, but no lights.

Other pluses include storage under the cargo floor, a rear wiper and a big glove box and arm rest/storage box between the front seats.

I got 27.6 mpg in about 60% highway driving, which is what I'd expect with an EPA rating of 24 city and 30 highway.

Mark Savage
jsonline.com