2012 Kia Soul review

Unusual looking cars are definitely becoming something you see more and more of on the streets and Kia has made one of their own with the Soul hitting the ground. Starting at about $14,400 (The model shown in this review is about $22,800) offering 5 seats and some cool upgrades with the 2012 model year Kia hopes to get even more onboard its Soul bandwagon. So let’s break down this truck-like concept car.

DESIGN

The box-like shape is a love-it-or-hate-it look aesthetic, certainly. A front end that looks generally spacey with its huge light clusters, huge lower air intake, Alien body-colored in our “!” (or “Exclaim”) model, and black plastic yet pinched grille. The (fake) vents at the leading edge of the front doors are reminiscent of a Range Rover. With a look like this I wasn’t jumping for joy so I can definitely say I was in the ‘hate it’ group (At first. Read on).

A squared roof leaves the Soul looking short in profile despite not sacrificing headroom once you get inside. While the back of the vehicle there’s one big square hatch with more oversized lights on either side. The 18-inch alloys – standard on the Exclaim model are eye-catching to say the least.

INTERIOR

Every model gets a Bluetooth stereo with USB, aux-in connections, and iPhone connector (anything prior to the iPhone 5), power windows and door locks, remote keyless entry, push button touch engine start, and a tilt/telescoping wheel. The Exclaim gives you a 7-inch center console touchscreen and voice control along with Navigation/Sirius XM satellite radio (with a free three-month subscription), a separate amp in the trunk space, center speaker, subwoofer and cool looking speaker-lights (with Mood or Music settings). All versions of the Soul gives you a 60/40 folding back seat split. You also get 6 cup holders in total – 2 in the center, 1 in each front door, and 1 in each backseat door.

The seats are two-tone leather with the word “Soul” etched into the seat back. Needless to say climbing kids and clean up should be a breeze. The leather does get pretty hot so owning the Soul in climates such as in Florida probably isn’t a good idea. If you live in the colder climates you’ll be happy to know that this model comes with heated front seats. To say the “trunk” space is small is an understatement. I wouldn’t suggest this car to a family who likes to travel. The seats do fold down and there, of course, you will have a hefty amount of space, especially considering the high roof. You also get some much needed under floor tray storage in the trunk (see picture at the bottom of the post) which I image would be nice to hide Christmas presents in as long as your kids don’t know that space is there.

I am not liking the manual seat adjustments. There are 3 settings: moving the seat forward or backward to reach the pedals, moving the seat up and down for short people like me who need to see above the steering wheel, and of course moving the back of the seat forward or backward so you can sit upright. All of which are not powered and must be done by pulling, lifting or pushing. With all the upgrades Kia has made to their other cars I think the Soul deserves to have automatic seat adjustments and a plus would be the memory seat buttons on the door like the Kia Optima Turbo has.

Safety features include 3-point belts for all five seats, dual front airbags, front seat-mounted side airbags, and full-length side curtain airbags – totaling 8 airbags in the vehicle! A tire pressure monitoring system flags up warnings on the dash if you have a low wheel, and there are LATCH (Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children) mounting points for car-seats.

ENGINE AND PERFORMANCE

You get a 2.0L 4-Cylinder Engine with 6-speed automatic transmission w/ active Eco System. The Eco System package gives you low rolling resistance tires and an auto-stop system that shuts the engine off at stop lights and restarts it when the driver lifts off the brake (Kia calls it ISG, for Idle Stop and Go). The Eco Package boosts EPA estimates to about 29 MPG city/36 MPG highway.

Anti-lock brakes (ABS) with brake-assist for emergency stops (BAS), Electronic Brake-Force Distribution (EBD), Electronic Stability Control (ESC), a Traction Control System (TCS) and Vehicle Stability Management (VSM) are joined by Hill-Start Assist Control (HAC), and yep it’s all standard in every type of Soul. And talk about acronyms!

On the road the ride isn’t as smooth as I would have liked or expected. I would definitely recommend not doing any off-roading even if the car can handle it you might get a little car seat when all is said and done. corning is a breeze thanks to the short wheel base. Kia added extra sound insulation into the cabin, therefore you get a quieter travel than ever before and I can definitely say the ride is quite.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I was very taken back by the appearance (and color) but once after driving the Soul for a few days I quickly fell in love. The Soul is good to drive, offering great visibility and surprisingly good handling and grip. Kia’s done an outstanding job of improving the Soul where improvement was needed, while not moving the price up.

Is it worth the purchase? I think if you are buying this for your teen as a first car or if you are single this is the car for you. Not to say a family shouldn’t own this but if you have a stroller you can’t fit much else in the trunk for the space to be worth it.
If you’d like to shop local deals and get competing quotes without having to go into a dealership.