Kia Soul Review
Published: 17th June 2009
Kia Soul
The boot in the Kia Soul test car had a double floor with the lower platform in useful sections to stop cameras and other valuables rolling about and out of sight of prying eyes. Without the under-tray, the load capacity ranges from 340- to 800-litres and with it, the luggage space is reduced to between 222- and 700-litres.
The colour of the Kia Soul test car was an unusual ice-cream hue, aptly named Vanilla Shake, as the Soul was a 'Shaker'. That is not a comment but one of the available, so-called 'Soul Originals'; three special trim levels that are said to more closely reflect the ethos of the original concept. The others are Samba and Burner. The plan is that these will alter on a regular basis in keeping with fashion and fabric changes.
As befits special editions the Samba comes in a single colour - Tornado red, the Shaker, as mentioned, is available in Vanilla Shake only and the Burner has Quartz Black paintwork with a dragon decal on the outside and also on the carpet mats. They all have 18-inch alloy wheels and higher specifications that vary, depending on the model.
Alongside these three are the Kia Soul core models, simply named Soul 1 and Soul 2. The former is driven by a 1.6 petrol engine through a 5-speed manual gearbox and starts the pricing at £10,495. It boasts front and rear electric windows, manual air-conditioning, an RDS radio/CD player with MP3 compatibility and AUX/USB ports, black cloth seat covers, rake-adjustable steering column and a choice of white, black or silver body-colours.
The Kia Soul 2 is £1,000 dearer and adds 16-inch alloys, front fog lamps, electrically adjustable door mirrors, height-adjustable driver's seat, secondary audio controls on the leather-covered steering wheel, a lidded centre storage bin and iPod connection via a cable. Along with these goodies comes the choice of colours is extended to include blue and orange, while the optional, 1.6 CRDi turbo-diesel engine and a 4-speed automatic 'box comes into play. Both engine and transmission options add £1,000 each, as part of Kia's easy pricing system, which makes the 1.6 CRDi Kia Soul 2 with manual box the same price as the Kia Soul Samba with the 1.6 petrol engine and manual change.
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