The Kia Soul is the latest entry into the burgeoning box-car market, following the trail blazed by the Scion xB six years ago and soon to be trod on by the Nissan Cube. And like the youth-targeted Scion, the Soul comes with a surfeit of bells and whistles for a vehicle priced well below $20,000.
But while our top-of-the-line Sport-trim test vehicle (sticker price $18,345) came with premium audio, Bluetooth and other electronic accoutrements, it's not on par with what you'll find in, say, a current BMW.
Or arguably a fully equipped Ford Focus.
Audio: The Soul Sport comes standard with the Audio Upgrade Package that includes eight speakers (along with a 7-inch subwoofer), an external 325-watt amplifier and a large center speaker. The system's sound was decent, but deficient in key areas. Bass from the subwoofer in the cargo area was virtually nonexistent. I wasn't sure it was working properly, since I couldn't hear it even while standing at the back of the vehicle with the lift gate open, much less from the driver's seat. I had to put a hand over the grille and feel the vibration to verify that the sub was actually pushing air. But the large opening for the center speaker in the top of the dash is a perfect location to drop in a small aftermarket sub and add some in-your-face bass to the system. In addition to its lack of low end, the Sport's system suffered in other areas typical of OEM setups, namely tight midbass and clear highs, with the former sounding muddy and the latter too bright.
iPod Integration: For integrating an iPod into the audio system, the Soul Sport uses a two-pronged cord that plugs into both the aux-in jack and USB port at the bottom of the center stack, and is a $30 option. Music on an iPod is accessed via the rather clunky controls on the single-CD head unit. It's not the most intuitive interface, but after a week with the car I pretty much had it wired. It's no Sync and, unlike that system found in similarly priced Ford's, the Soul's rig requires taking your eyes off the road and a hand off the wheel.
Bluetooth: But the Soul's Bluetooth hands-free phone system does have Sync-like simplicity, if not features. After effortlessly pairing my BlackBerry 8300 and having the system automatically download its address book (which was a surprise since the owner's manual didn't describe this function), I pressed the voice-activation button on the steering wheel and gave the system a tough initial test. I asked it to call Edmunds executive editor Paul Seredynski, figuring it was a difficult name for the system to comprehend. But it then asked me if I wanted to call Paul at home, work or on his cell. Less impressive is that the system doesn't allow access to a phone's address book other than by voice command.
Tech Extras: The Soul Sport comes standard with cruise, power windows and doors, remote keyless entry, steering-wheel audio controls, three months of Sirius satellite radio and an aux-in jack for plugging in an MP3 player and USB port for playing music files on "thumb" drives. Our test vehicle also had a frivolous but fun feature that, using a switch on the dash, allows lights surrounding the front-door speakers to blink to the beat of the music or change shades at regular intervals.
Disco lights for your speaker may be a gimmick (and something the aftermarket offered a decade ago), but it's a good example of how buying an economy car like the Soul no longer means having to forgo cool features. The bar has been raised by cars like Scion and by systems like Sync, and automakers now know that to appeal to the young buyers shopping the category they have to bring tech to the table.
The 2010 Kia Soul Sport offers quite a spread, although it left me wanting more.
IL Tech Ratings (10 is best): 2010 Kia Soul Sport
Audio: 6
iPod Integration: 7
Bluetooth: 8
Ergonomics/Extra: 6
Overall Average Score: 6.75
firstwagon says:
05:18 PM, 04/ 6/09
I've been looking a lot at sub $20K vehicles with a lot of space and good mileage to replace my trusty but aging 91 Legacy wagon.
The Soul is very high on the list. Too bad the gadgets aren't a match for a current BMW but this is a Honda Fit price were looking at.
You get a lot for the money here and there's not much that can compete for coolness at this price.
hondacura4 says:
05:41 PM, 04/ 6/09
I sat in one of these a few weeks ago and was really suprised by the build quality as everything closed with a nice "thwump". The styling is funky, in a good way and as it demands attention. One more inexpensive car you choose to own not have to own.
I like the Honda Fit even though its a bit on the geeky side (styling), but the Soul (purely based on asthetics and features since I didnt drive it) would be the one Id take home as of now.
cruiserhead1 says:
06:57 PM, 04/ 6/09
who cares about the car, who's the girl driving? more pics!
orangutan says:
02:22 AM, 04/ 7/09
I damn near bought one of these (a plus model) and the bass was just fine in it. Who cares if it matches a BMW? You could buy 2 Souls and have money left over for the same price as the cheapest Beamer. I mean, honestly, what kind of comparison is that? "Well, this Honda Cub gets great gas mileage but it sure doesn't accelerate like an M3."
tryan says:
04:40 AM, 04/ 7/09
Does anyone else see a little (ok, maybe a lot) Mercedes GLK from the front quartering view? Striking resemblence, if not in a smaller package(http://www.mbusa.com/mercedes/#/vehiclesMenu/explorePhotosVideos/?vmf=GLK350W2&yr=2010&vc=GLK)...
Too bad it doesn't offer AWD (yet?), that would allow it to pick up where the last-gen AWD Matrix left off and compete with the AWD Suzuki SX4 Hatch (although the Soul is much more attractive in my personal opinion).
dg0472 says:
05:28 AM, 04/ 7/09
Any idea when we'll start seeing the fruit of HKAG's contract with Microsoft?
dougtheeng says:
06:23 AM, 04/ 7/09
I'm a big fan of the Soul. For sub 20K USD, it seems like there is a lot packed into this little package. It doesn't have Sync, but other then that it seems to match up well against all the other similarly priced small cars. I agree that the BMW comparison is silly.
dougnewcomb says:
07:08 AM, 04/ 7/09
dg0472: Was wondering that myself when writing this. After all, it's been almost a year since the Microsoft-HKAG announcement: http://blogs.edmunds.com/straightline/2008/05/hyundai-to-offer-sync-like-infotainment-system.html
firstwagon & dougtheeng: Apparently lost in translation, but my point is that even though you can get tons of tech on a sub-$20k car these days, you still get what you pay for; i.e., the same tech in a $30k-plus BMW is in many ways better when compared with the Soul. For the Focus, not so much ...
firstwagon says:
06:10 PM, 04/ 7/09
So the gadgets are better on the Focus. Trouble is that's all you get that's interesting on a Focus.
While the Soul has the potential to be a huge hit and maybe a break out car for Kia, the Focus is dull letdown from the previous model which itself was a good car far past it's best before date.
I'm glad Ford has SYNC, now they just need a great small car to put it in.
GT5000 says:
02:06 PM, 04/10/09
I guess I'm in the minority, but I like the Focus. Wish the SVT hadn't been canceled, but a coupe with aftermarket alloys isn't a bad looking car. I really like the Soul too.