2010 Kia Soul

Designed in California and manufactured in South Korea for a global market, the Kia Soul joins the expanding and economical box-style segment manufacturers prefer to call mini MPVs (multi passenger vehicles). The Scion xB and the Nissan Cube are competitors.

The Soul debuted at the Paris Motor Show in 2008, it was first available in February 2009 in Europe and a month later debuted in North American dealerships.

With its varied trims, engines, colors and accessory options, Kia proudly declares the 2010 Soul is available in more than 10,000 combinations.

The Weekly Driver Test Drive

By coincidence, I drove in consecutive weekly test drives, the Nissan Cube followed by the Kia Soul. Both vehicles are innovative and in some ways, they’re a lot of alike — versatile, Utilitarian Hatchback Vehicles or UHVs (I made up the term.)

I primarily drove the Soul in city jaunts, the grocery store and other routine life tasks. Like the Nissan Cube and Scion xB, it’s nimble and a lot of fun while scooting around town. Parking lots, parallel parking, U-turns — all easily handled.

I’m about as far removed from being a soccer mom as possible. And nor am I a youth baseball coach. The trio of box cars leaders won’t car the whole team and the supplies. But the Soul is a good, economical alternative for transporting about half the team.

Kia Soul Interior

The Soul is the first Kia that breaks the manufacturer’s traditional simple equation: economy means boring. The instrumentation panel and console features are still straight-forward, but they’re now curved and come in color patterns, matched with an interior decorator’s closest of upholstery offerings, including two-tone and sometimes non-matching seats and console.

One oddity: There’s plenty of leg and head room. But that means Kia has opted for the comfort of the passengers (a good thing), and not a lot of room for passengers’ stuff.

Kia Soul Exterior

While grouped in the box-and-wheels segment, Kia Soul designers have taken the best features of other models, like the Sonata, and incorporated those curves and refinement into the Soul. It’s the most stylish of the three major players in the class.

Kia Soul Performance

I like manual-drive cars, and it’s a treat to shift gears in a vehicle one might expect to be offered only as an automatic. The five-speed manual shifts smoothly and the zero to 60 mph standard test rating of 8.8 seconds seems soft. The Soul seems surprisingly quick for its segment and its 2.0-liter, 142-horsepower numbers. Neither the Cube nor Soul are quiet on the highway, but the Soul ride gets more bumpy at higher speeds. The 18-inch wheels help the cause.

Likes:

Like all Kia models, the good-value pricing and industry-leading warranty are hard to ignore.

What’s your favorite color or three? The Soul has a near unlimited supply of color schemes.

Great head and leg rooms for front and rear seat passengers.