KIA SOUL 1,6D SMART AT

WHEN a recent cross-country drive came up, taking the comfortable Kia proved a no-brainer. The reasons were two-fold: I wanted to experience the Soul across a multi-day, open-road drive; and I’d like to get the odo up to a round 20 000 km before it goes back to Kia.

A confession, though: I didn’t drive the Soul to Johannesburg on the first leg of the trip. Photo- and videographer Kian Eriksen was behind the wheel while I was conveniently ensconced in an airplane seat on a two-hour flight from the Mother City. However, I did take on driving duties coming back, and the 1 600 km from the East Rand into Cape Town proved illuminating.

On the N1, the firm suspension tuning in conjunction with the large wheels and low-profile tyres made the ride less supple than it would have been in, say, a Volkswagen Golf, but the flip- side was a planted feel at cruising altitudes.

While I’ve found the 1,6litre turbodiesel’s performance (100 kw/300 N.m) perfectly sufficient in town and on my daily commute, on the N1 there were times when I wished I had access to slightly more power and torque. Overtaking could still be done safely with the throttle pushed to its stop, but the higher the speed, the more the Kia started to struggle.

Not helping the cause was a boot full of heavy luggage and camera equipment, and that also had an impact on the Soul’s fuel consumption. Before the trip, the Kia consumed an average of 6,6 L/100 km of diesel, but that figure soon shot up to between 7,0 and 7,5 L/100 km. Back in Cape Town and into the groove of commuter duties, the Soul’s consumption dropped back to the original figure.