Charm in a box
Quirky Kia Soul offers loads of utility, features
“Oh! Cool! I love the Kia,” followed by me rolling my eyes — this is pretty much how every conversation I’ve had prior to my test drive of the car went. An enthusiastic majority of people I’ve spoken with simply love the like Kia box. I for one have always been a little skeptical.
Now, to be fair to the little Soul train, while I have familiarized myself well with the rest of the Korean lineup, the Soul and I had yet to be intimate. So of course, I only had looks to work with and personally, I’m not a fan. The silhouette reminds me of how a five-year-old draws a car. Not the shaky lines I mean, but the generic, 90-degree-angle shape.
For the model’s first decade on the market, Kia gave the 2020 model-year a fresh new face. The Soul’s new front end look probably seems a little familiar, especially if you’re a fan of the Land Rover aesthetic. The formerly bubbly-looking compact crossover now looks all grown up with the adoption of the slitshaped headlights. The brand’s signature tiger-nose grille has been replaced with a massive, hexagonal opening. The square profile remains untouched —it is, after all, the model’s most recognizable feature.
On the inside, the 90-degree angles serve the cabin volume well. Despite a compact footprint, the Soul offers a spacious and open interior space that’s well furnished both at the front and at the back. Seating at the front is comfortable and roomy. The layout of the dashboard and centre console isn’t intrusive and leaves a lot of room to the occupants. Surprisingly, the back seat is just as comfortable and spacious. No cramped leg or restrictive sloping roofline that makes you worried about hitting your head at every road bump. Head and leg clearance are surprisingly good considering the vehicle’s format.
The Soul is surrounded with (relatively) gigantic greenhouse and offers one of the best 360-degree visibility I’ve had in a vehicle in a long time — something that tends to be neglected and replaced by electronic assists. Not even the b-pillar is in the way of my left shoulder check.
Touching back on the dashboard, the EX trim level I drove was equipped with an enormous 10.25-inch touchscreen, underlined with user-friendly controls. The ergonomics are efficient and comfortable and that’s about all I’ll say on the matter.
OK, there is one feature I have to discuss. I admit it, it is perfectly tacky, but it doesn’t matter, because it also made me happy. Let’s talk about the model’s mood lighting for a minute. It isn’t new to the model, the previous generation was already equipped with a similar system. What does it do exactly? Nothing much, but simply put: it’s ambient lighting that pulsates to the beat of the music that’s playing. I told you it’s tacky. The execution is pretty cute and driving at night turns the Soul into your own private disco.
Under the hood, the beating heart of the little crossover is a 2.0-litre naturally aspirated four-cylinder block, teamed with an Intelligent Variable Transmission or IVT, a feature first introduced in 2018 in the new Forte. This is the company’s first venture in the world of continuously variable transmissions and they claim that they were able to learn from others’ mistakes and come up with a more efficient transmission that feels a lot closer to an automatic.
For those of you who have never had a chance to try a CVT yet, this fairly new type of transmission creates a weird situation in which the engine virtually never revs up and remains at a steady (“optimal”) revolution, usually around 2,000 rpm. My personal experience of this type of transmission has mainly been frustrating as I find it creates useless lag and gives the overall drive a very alien feeling. It is claimed these transmissions are designed to help reduced fuel economy, something I have yet to experience.
About Kia’s IVT: Have they succeeded in creating a new and improved version of the CVT? Yes and no. I’ll admit it, it doesn’t feel as intrusive and as frustratingly slow as other CVTs I’ve experienced, however, it still feels like, well, a CVT. Despite the manufacturers best efforts, we’re not quite there yet. Thankfully, the Sport mode helps mitigate the effect and give the ride the pep it deserves.
I thought I wasn’t going to like the Kia Soul. The look had never worked its charm on me and with everyone gushing about it, I had the antagonistic desire to have the opposite opinion. Turns out I’m not that special. The Soul might be quirky, but it seriously checks off most of the boxes on the list of someone on the market for a compact crossover. Versatility, check. Utility, check. Generous features, check. Fun to drive, check. The only box it leaves unchecked is the all-wheel drive, but from personal experience, a front-wheel-drive vehicle isn’t as traumatizing a winter experience as people tend to believe. What more can you ask for less than $22,000?