First Drive Review
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Sole survivor.
The Honda Element is history, Toyota blew it when it overinflated its second Scion xB, and the screwy Nissan Cube was never in the game. The 21st-century “box-car” wars have effectively ended, and it’s the Kia Soul that has emerged victorious. The new, second-generation 2014 version of the Soul is here to dance upon the rubble.
What Kia hasn’t done with this new Soul is mess up the formula that made the first one so successful. At first glance, the new Soul is hardly any different than the old one. It’s still a bolt upright, four-door milk carton with a snub nose; wheels that are pushed to the four corners; a greenhouse that seems to slope down toward the back of the car; and tall taillights mounted high on either end of the flat tail. The lower portion is now more aggressively sculpted, the taillights are better integrated and shine with LED incandescence, and there’s more shoulder to the fenders, but this new Soul is immediately identifiable as the offspring of the first one.
But amongst all that sameness, there are some hints in the new Soul’s appearance of the hot two-door Track’ster concept Kia showed at the 2012 Chicago auto show. Still, Kia could have pushed it further. A two-door variation seems like a natural brand extension should the company ever decide to risk it. And the Track’ster had all-wheel drive and a 250-hp, turbocharged 2.0-liter engine. (While we’re at it, let’s ask for a convertible version like the 2009 Soul’ster concept.)
At second glance, not that much has changed mechanically, either. It’s still a straightforward front-driver built on the same basic structure that underpins the Rio. The wheelbase has been stretched by 0.8 inch to a still tidy 101.2 inches (the same as the Rio five-door), width has expanded by 0.6 inch to 70.9, and the height has plummeted a terrifying 0.4 inch to 63 flat. Yes, the new Soul is 1.4 inches longer than the first-generation model, but it still only stretches out to 163 inches, a scant four or so more than the Rio hatch.
The front struts and rear torsion beam have been tweaked—Kia says the rear shocks are now mounted vertically and are longer than before—and retuned, but not reinvented. Kia also claims that the unibody structure of the new Soul is 29 percent stiffer than before.
Base Souls are powered by a 1.6-liter, DOHC direct-injected four rated at 130 horsepower at 6300 rpm and 118 lb-ft of torque at 4850 rpm. That’s down eight horsepower and five lb-ft from the 2013 edition at the same engine speeds. That powerplant is available lashed to either six-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmissions, but Kia will hardly sell any of the 1.6-liter cars. Mainstream Soul Plus (+) and top-of-the-line Soul Exclaim (!) models are both powered by a 164-horse 2.0-liter four that makes 151 lb-ft of torque. The only transmission with the 2.0-liter is the six-speed automatic. These are the Souls that Kia will sell in volume.
While the horsepower rating of the 2.0-liter is identical to that of the 2.0-liter offered in 2013, that peak power is now made at 6200 rpm instead of 6500. More important, while the peak torque number is up only three lb-ft from the 2013 edition’s 148, where it’s made has slid down 800 rpm to 4000 rpm. That makes this revised four a much better companion to the automatic transmission, even though it’s still a less-than-thrilling pairing.
Specifications
VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 5-door wagon
BASE PRICE: $15,495
ENGINE TYPES: DOHC 16-valve 1.6-liter inline-4, 130 hp, 118 lb-ft; DOHC 16-valve 2.0-liter inline-4, 164 hp, 151 lb-ft
TRANSMISSIONS: 6-speed manual, 6-speed automatic with manual shifting mode
DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 101.2 in
Length: 163.0 in
Width: 70.9 in Height: 63.0 in
Curb weight (C/D est): 27502900 lb
PERFORMANCE (C/D EST):
Zero to 60 mph: 7.28.5 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 16.016.7 sec
Top speed: 110125 mph
FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST):
EPA city/highway driving: 2526/3032 mpg
Continued…