Kia Soul – Long Term Review
July 30, 2009 by Alborz Fallah
2009 Kia Soul3 CRDi – Long Term Review
I’m not sure which supermarket Elvis is in this week, but Shrek is definitely in residence at CarAdvice HQ, at least a very green Kia Soul has taken up Long Term Test residence with us for the next few months.
By David Twomey
It you didn’t catch it, Nadine Armstrong was firmly convinced when she reviewed the Soul recently that it was just the car for Shrek, that loveable cartoon character.
When the people from Kia suggested that we add a Soul to our fleet I agreed, provided it was a diesel, automatic as I felt we should test this configuration, a most appealing city use combination, even if it is a fairly steep $30,890.
When told that was fine, and that we could have any colour we liked provided it was green I knew the car’s fate was sealed.
As soon as the Green Tea coloured Kia Soul3 arrived at the office it was roundly christened ‘Shrek’ by the bunch of wags I work with and there you have it.
So let’s meet ‘Shrek’ and give you some initial impressions.
Aside from the exterior colour the Soul3 (that’s Cubed in Kia-speak) is the range topper and has pretty much everything that’s offered on the range, except for some peculiar reason the Soul2 (yes, you guessed it that Squared) gets roof rails but these are deleted on the Soul3, although you can add them as an option.
Power in the CRDi version of the Soul comes from Kia’s 1.6-litre, variable geometry turbocharged engine that produces 94kW at 4000rpm and 260Nm between 1900rpm and 2750rpm.
This makes it particularly frugal but at the same time offers good performance, which would only be enhanced by the use of a six-speed gearbox, instead of the four-speed currently on offer.
The four-speed automatic does a good job of masking its lack of ratios by utilising the torque of the diesel engine, but you are constantly aware that it could all be just that bit more refined if there were one or two more gear ratios on hand.
That said, around town particularly the Soul3 is a match for any traffic situation and can surprise some much bigger and more powerful cars with the smart way it moves off from the traffic lights.
It moves through the gear briskly and with a minimum of fuss, mostly picking the right gear, it’s just that the car would be even better if it had five or six ratios to play with.
It would also mean a taller top gear, which would provide a more relaxed freeway cruise, and mean that the car didn’t have to relay quite so heavily on its engine torque to get on with some overtaking manoeuvres.
The Soul certainly has fuel efficiency at its heart and Kia quotes a combined cycle fuel consumption of 5.2L/100km for manual transmission and 5.9L/100km for the automatic.
More than 1000 kilometres of very mixed driving, freeway, inner city and suburban produced an overall figure of 7.4L/100km, a reasonable real world result given that quite a lot of that was heavy freeway traffic and inner city driving.
Around the city the Soul is very easy to handle with the light, direct steering meaning city traffic and parking are a breeze. At the same time there’s not a huge amount of feedback, so the Soul can feel a bit dull, although it is responsive and well-behaved which means it rarely gets out of shape.
The shape and proportions of the Soul mean that getting into city parking spaces is not a challenge, however the high lip on the rear window does mean the area directly behind the car is a complete mystery.
Our Soul has neither parking sensors, I would consider them a must for this car, nor the $2000 optional rear-view camera, which very niftily displays in the rear view mirror, which would be a great help in this regard.
The Soul’s firm ride is very European, and something I don’t mind, and its McPherson strut front suspension and coupled torsion beam axle at the rear do a good job of dealing with our sometimes-rough roads.
The 18-inch alloys with 225/45 tyres look smart and don’t seem to make the ride unduly harsh.
Build quality of ‘Shrek’ is overall very good and so far the car has shown no signs of any problems. Everything fits where it should and provided you don’t open the glove box too often (it has the brightest red liner!) then all is well with the world.
Internally I have to agree with Nadine, this car is a Tardis, it looks quite compact from the outside but once inside you cannot believe the space.
It can take five adults, it has usable luggage space and will certainly swallow the weekend supermarket shopping in the luggage space with ease.
The audio upgrade in the Soul3 includes an additional centre speaker and sub-woofer. As well there’s iPod or iPhone connectivity through and optional cable, which as an iPhone devotee I can assure you does a great job of putting your favourite tunes at hand.
Of course if you really want to swing, there’s the mood lighting effect, which causes the front speakers to pulsate with red light – very Disco Stu.
Safety is well covered in the Soul3, with dual front, side and full-length curtain airbags; ABS; EBD and Brake Assist, plus Electronic Stability Control (ESC) and TCS.
All of this gets the Soul a five-star EuroNCAP rating, although I must mention that the base Soul in Australia does not have ESC and therefore would not be a five-star rating.
It’s about time for ‘Shrek’ to meet a bigger challenge, the weekend away so we’ll see how he copes with a full load of family and dogs.
One thing for sure the Soul has already confirmed what I thought, Kia is rapidly moving from “need” to “want” in the automotive stakes and with a lot more to come from this Korean company it will be interesting to see ‘Shrek’s’ Soul-mates!
Tags: Kia Soul
Sorry, but no matter how much stuff it comes with, I could never buy one over a base Golf or a 308. That really is too expensive for what it is, especially considering how tacky it is (the “soul” seat trim and the lights in the speakers for instance). Usually I’d say that I’m sure it has a market, but does it?
I have to disagree Alex. I think it looks fantastic and they’ve certainly improved from where they once were.
I’d certainly buy one.
I was thoroughly impressed with this car at MIMS09. It really is a huge step forward for Kia (more so than the Cerato) because everything about it is so much better than previous Kias.
Although I admit the price for the 3 is abit exxy, it does come with alot of kit. Competitors, the Mini/MiTo (that is, highly customisable youthful cars) are alot more expensive and do come with less kit, but I think I’d rather a Skoda Roomster thanks. Drives a million times better (it’s Euro – of course it does!), much better value and the quality is much higher.
KIA is now very close to the ‘norm’ (just a few niggles as opposed to the niggle being the whole car for previous models) and with the next gens of their cars they’ll do it. They’ll be a better alternative! Very funky this car! :D
Highly, highly interested to see how it fares out long term, as this is one of the few cars I’m toting to replace my Golf with (blasphemy, I know..)
I agree the price point is really pushing it, but its one of the few cars that I’ve seen on the road recently that has made me go “I want” (which I guess is what KIA wanted).
I looked at it for our second car – I’m in my mid thirties but I didn’t think it was bad at all. Quite different but with neutral colours I don’t think it’s embarrassing to drive.
A big plus is practicality of the boot and reasonably fuel efficient but it is a little overpriced. I would have seriously considered it for $20K driveaway.
If it has sat-nav and leather trim then I would consider buying one at $30k.
Looks like an aquarium on wheels. $30k – tell ‘em the’re dreaming.
Kia Soul is a joke.
It will rollover easily if you brake too hard, or in any sharp corner cutting. The base of support is narrow and it is lanky. ANCAP doesn’t test this risk.
And 30000 for a Kia? That’s Kia’s dream, and customer’s nightmare if they were sold into this enigmatic crap.
Kia Soul earned Euro NCAP maximum five star safety rating.
http://www.euroncap.com/results/kia/soul/360.aspx
The Soul was awarded the maximum five star safety rating by the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP).
http://www.ancap.com.au/results/328/
The Kia Soul awarded ‘Top Safety Pick’ from Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the US.
http://www.theautochannel.com/.....74102.html
I think basically this car is a good one. Kia Soul was chosen over Nissan Cube by motortrend.com. Moreover, Edmunds.com and top gear UK reviewed this car with positive attitude. Considering Top gear is really harsh on Korean cars, verdict of 13/20 for Soul is pretty good.
However, Kia’s pricing policy is very stupid. In the US, sport model with 2.0l with 142 hp starts with 16,950 USD. Kia has to reconsider the price, if they wanna sell this car here.
Confused, cars don’t roll that easily. It takes an awful lot to roll a car, not just taking a corner quickly. Besides, ever heard of stability control? It’s not just a gimmick, it works.
And at the end of the day, people got by with cars taller and slimmer than this for years and years without stability control and didn’t roll.
Confused indeed.
Quite agree with you, Alex. Cars generally have to trip on something to cause them to roll. Having said that, I once had to drive a Daihatsu Terios across town, and felt terrified.
Confused the reason ANCAP dont test this is because they dont expect drivers to take corner very fast, and besides with all the active and passive safety new cars have it would only be a really bad driver who rolled their car.
I stay in regular contact with my Soul customers and the one thing they all talk about is the attention Soul gets every were they go. And it’s all positive. One client lives in a retirement village were the car has become the unofficial mascot. The village committee request my client to attend all functions (As long as she brings her Soul with her)
Another client finds the panic alarm handy to keep people away from her Soul; parked at work she can see it from her office.
.
Boy are you full of it. Really.
The Salesman; One client lives in a retirement village where the car has become the unofficial mascot. The village committee request my client to attend all functions.
Spitfire; Says it all really. Anti Spam word, Hummer, lol, lol, lol.
Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy over the odd$, needs to be like in USA, priced the same as a RioHatch, why the so stupid extra here in Oz Fletcher?
Its a $15k driveaway vehicle, and thats for the Soul3 model, the others are under $10k.
LOL not charging Japanese like prices, but European! bwahhhhhhh!
you are dreaming if you think these should be $15k
i agree they are a tad overpriced but it seems to be aimed as a niche type enthusiast vehicle
i don’t necessarily agree it’s that good but they seem to have plenty of buyers… i’d rather have a i30 wagon or a Cerato 5 door hatch/wagon whenever that arrives
how cheap do some of you think it is to make a car??? any brand!
the factories are huge and the overheads collosal.
then pay for the materials, the machinary, the people to finish off the cars.
the shipping and transport costs.
at least with a kia you get what you pay for, unlike other brands where you are paying more, just for the badge on the bonnet.
Quality? cant have a 5 year unlimited Km Warranty without the quality to back it up. they would go broke pretty quick.
Don’t worry. nowdays Kia is not a your mother’s holden.
I want one. I’d trade in my 2005 Honda CRV 2.0 4×2 for a 1.6 VGT Soul3. But at 30,000, I completely agree that Kia has gone bonkers. Solution? Buy it directly from Korea. Soul3 costs only 16K USD or 18,000,000 Won. Maybe I’ll do just that. For 16K, its a bargain!