2010 Kia Soul Review

It's funny, but for now I can't think of a single bad pun to head this review. Maybe it's because the Kia Soul is actually quite a serious car with a strange name. One of those few cars that make it from concept to production without too much dimming down of the design, the Soul is just the sort of urban funk car you would have thought Kia would never build - but here it is.

Billed as the new face of Kia the Soul is a five seat hatch which Kia claims is more like a crossover vehicle than a small family car, and one that doesn't have to pretend to have four wheel drive or go anywhere ability.And when you stand next to the Soul you'll find it's actually a lot bigger than it looks on the outside. On the inside the square exterior shape liberates plenty of room, especially in head space.

The Soul is available in three flavours, an NZ$29,990 five-speed manual 91kW (122hp) 1.6 litre petrol, which Kia readily admits is the one that allows the 'from underNZ $30,000' line, because the others are rather more pricy. Inside the base Soul you don't get much - not even power door mirrors, although you do get a stereo capable of playing MP3s and connecting an i-Pod. The gear change is reasonably easy though, and while you do have to rev the engine right to the redline in most situations it's enough to get you around.

The next model up is the Soul Plus. At NZ$33,990 it's likely to be the volume seller in the range, with a leather clad steering wheel, heated door mirrors, as well as 16-inch alloy wheels. The only available engine and drivetrain in the two upper models of Soul is a 1.6-litre turbo diesel with 94kW (126hp) and 260Nm (191 lb ft) of torque and a four speed automatic gearbox.

It's when you get to the NZ$39,990 Soul Burner that things get a little weird. The 'Burner' name is from a previous Soul concept, and I'm thinking of parking it in a church car park on Sunday morning to see what response it gets.In the Burner, you can spec a bright red, retina searing dashboard, and the speakers light up in either a slow pulse or in time to the music you're playing. Thankfully you can turn the speaker lights off.

Strangely enough, all of the Souls with black dashboards have bright red glove box interiors...

On the road all versions of the Soul drive the same, with only the ride quality changing as you move towards lower profile tyres. On rough roads there's an odd pitching movement as if the front and rear suspension isn't working together, but overall the Soul is a decent car to drive.

All models come with all the ESP and other safety devices known to man, including six airbags.It will be interesting to see how many people buy this car for its funky image, and who will buy it as a promo vehicle. As one journalist put it, "The Soul is the car for radio stations that can't afford a Hummer."