2017 Kia Soul

WHAT WE LIKE: Our long-term Kia Soul has a lot of moxie. Mostly, that stems from it being the Exclaim trim, equipped with the 201-hp turbocharged inline-four and seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, a powertrain that tops the tiny-crossover segment for accelerative ability. The Soul’s boxy shape has plenty of rear-seat room for adult-size passengers and/or lots of cargo.

We’re also enjoying the panoply of features on our well-optioned long-termer, including power-folding mirrors, a leather-trimmed cabin, and the ease of use that stems from thoughtful attributes such as the illuminated USB port at the base of the center stack. A backlit USB port that you can see as soon as you start the car may seem like an inconsequential thing—until you get into a car at night and try to plug your phone into a hidden port in a dark, unreachable corner. We cite that just as an example of how well thought out and organized the cabin is; all the functions a driver routinely accesses seem to be exactly where you first look, and they work just as you’d anticipate. The first routine service (oil change, tire rotation, and inspections) also included a manufacturer-recommended fuel additive, about which we might complain except that the whole thing cost less than $80. So we like that, as well as the 27-mpg average we’re recording, which is pretty good considering how often we tap into that turbo power.

WHAT WE DON’T LIKE: As much as it excels in the commuter/weekend-shopping duties that are the lot of most small crossovers, the Soul can let us down when asked to do more. Pack in three adults and their stuff for a weekend trip out of state, as Buyer’s Guide assistant editor Annie White did for a solar-eclipse-viewing journey to Kentucky, and a sensitive driver notices things such as the degraded ride quality in a vehicle that otherwise does well considering its short wheelbase and tall stance. Similarly, given a load to carry and a traffic jam, the dual-clutch automatic’s shift quality that seems responsive in around-town duty with only the driver aboard instead feels both harsh and indecisive.

WHAT WENT WRONG: Nothing, except for that time an inattentive dolt at a gas station backed into our Soul and smudged the paint on the front bumper cover. We’ll repair it at the end of our 40,000-mile test, along with any other battle scars the Kia accrues, and report back on the cost.

WHERE WE WENT: To Kentucky for the solar eclipse. Otherwise, our Soul has racked up most of its miles in routine daily driving and weekend chores, with brief ventures a few hundred miles away within Michigan or in Ohio.

Months in Fleet: 7 months Current Mileage: 12,140 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 27 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 14.2 gal Fuel Range: 380 miles
Service: $78 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door hatchback

PRICE AS TESTED: $28,215 (base price: $23,695)

ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injection

Displacement: 97 cu in, 1591 cc
Power: 201 hp @ 6000 rpm
Torque: 195 lb-ft @ 1500 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 7-speed dual-clutch automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 101.2 in
Length: 163.0 in
Width: 70.9 in Height: 63.5 in
Passenger volume: 97 cu ft
Cargo volume: 24 cu ft
Curb weight: 3205 lb

PERFORMANCE: NEW
Zero to 60 mph: 6.3 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 17.6 sec
Zero to 120 mph: 35.5 sec
Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 6.6 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 3.4 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 4.6 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 15.0 sec @ 93 mph
Top speed (drag limited): 129 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 177 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.84 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA combined/city/highway: 28/26/31 mpg
C/D observed: 27 mpg
Unscheduled oil additions: 0 qt

WARRANTY:
5 years/60,000 miles bumper to bumper;
10 years/100,000 miles powertrain;
5 years/100,000 miles corrosion protection;
5 years/60,000 miles roadside assistance

More than one highly regarded philosopher has claimed that everybody’s got a soul. Which, with a sly wink about capitals and capitalization, Kia is bent on twisting into everybody drives a Soul. Kia’s execs sometimes seem as surprised as anyone else to see its simple shoebox of a transportation appliance multiplying like so many road rodents, but it has become the brand’s top seller, with more than 145,000 American buyers in 2016 raising their hands to say, “Yes, please—I’ll take one of those.” That’s about five times the number who sprang for the Rio.

The Soul is usually classified as a subcompact crossover based on the Rio platform, which brings us to another surprise: The little rascal scampered off with a 10Best Trucks and SUVs award, anchoring the affordable-and-parkable end of the spectrum. One reason was the 2017 model’s new option of a turbocharged inline-four making 201 horsepower, enough to make it the speedster in a category that also includes the Jeep Renegade, the Mazda CX-3, and the Honda HR-V. The pre-turbo Soul placed second in a six-way comparison test, in part because it lacks an all-wheel-drive option, something all the others had. (For what it’s worth, Kia often calls the Soul an “urban passenger vehicle” rather than a crossover. That’s a categorization not widely recognized in the industry but one that tacitly acknowledges its lack of off-road capability.)

To see what it’s all about, we’ve just added to our long-term fleet a 2017 Soul Turbo—or, in Kia parlance, a Soul Exclaim, rendered “Soul !” on the window sticker but nowhere on the car itself. We’re subjecting it to 40,000 miles of hard labor in service to our demanding staff. We put it to work early in a supporting role to an outdoor family wedding, where its tall and spacious cargo hold readily accommodated all the beverage coolers, lawn tools, and oddly shaped decorations we threw at it.

The 24 cubic feet of cargo capacity comes standard on every Soul, which starts at $16,995 with the base engine, a naturally aspirated 1.6-liter inline-four making 130 horsepower and mated to a manual transmission. The mid-grade choice is a 161-hp 2.0-liter four with a six-speed automatic. You must step up to the Exclaim trim level to get our car’s turbocharged 1.6-liter coupled to a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic, which puts your starting price at $23,695.

Opting for the most powerful hamster wheel under the hood brings a lot of other equipment as well, including automatic climate control with an ionizer, leather and cloth upholstery, a flat-bottom leather-wrapped steering wheel littered with buttons, and more. Also standard at this level are 18-inch aluminum wheels, a drive-mode selector, plus red-stripe highlights on the exterior that make our Titanium Gray example look like a 1960s-era high-top sneaker, such as a PF Flyer or a Converse All-Star, with an accent on the side of the sole (a pun opportunity we’ll skip this time—you’re welcome).

We then indulged in some checking of the option boxes, starting with the $3000 Technology package. So, although all Exclaims have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility, we also have an in-car navigation system with an 8.0-inch display, a Harman/Kardon audio system (with speaker lights!), HID low-beam headlights, LED fog lamps and taillights, power-folding outside mirrors, power-adjustable seats in both front positions (the driver’s has lumbar support), heat for the front and outboard-rear seats, a heated steering wheel, blind-spot monitoring, and USB charging ports in the center console.

Our Soul also ached for a panoramic sunroof with which to enjoy the six weeks of annual Michigan sunshine, adding another grand to the price while sacrificing the mounting points for a roof rack (a decision that in the long run may prove controversial among our ranks). We also ticked the boxes for carpeted floor mats ($125) and for a rear spoiler ($395). All in, you’re looking at a $28,215 Soul, which might send some buyers looking for vehicles one class larger, such as the Mazda CX-5. The price also triggers some grousing about the lack of paddle shifters for commanding the gearbox and about how the rear seats don’t fold fully flat.

On its trip to the test track, our long-termer turned in slightly better performance numbers than did the Soul Turbo we tested earlier—but only after we filled it with 93-octane premium fuel. Compared with the results on regular, our Soul was 0.4 second quicker to 60 mph (6.3 seconds in a class where nine is normal) and covered the quarter-mile 0.3 second sooner, going 2 mph faster. That 0.3-second margin also applies to the 30-to-50-mph and 50-to-70-mph runs, so when you need to dart around Winnebagos on the back roads, premium-grade fuel is worth the investment.

We’ve noted no glitches in the Kia’s first month in service, and the only mishap was when an unsecured cooler full of soda flipped forward and doused us in ice. Clean-up was simple (even after hearing the hiss of an overcharged can of lemon-lime Faygo under the passenger seat), and we put the Soul back to work.

No one has signed up for a multistate adventure in it, so far, but for the daily chores of commuting and shopping, the Soul is a small wonder to which the turbo engine now adds an element of scoot.

Months in Fleet: 1 month Current Mileage: 2613 miles
Average Fuel Economy: 28 mpg Fuel Tank Size: 14.2 gal Fuel Range: 390 miles
Service: $0 Normal Wear: $0 Repair: $0

Specifications >

VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door hatchback

PRICE AS TESTED: $28,215 (base price: $23,695)

ENGINE TYPE: turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve inline-4, aluminum block and head, direct fuel injection

Displacement: 97 cu in, 1591 cc
Power: 201 hp @ 6000 rpm
Torque: 195 lb-ft @ 1500 rpm

TRANSMISSION: 7-speed dual-clutch automatic with manual shifting mode

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 101.2 in
Length: 163.0 in
Width: 70.9 in Height: 63.5 in
Passenger volume: 97 cu ft
Cargo volume: 24 cu ft
Curb weight: 3205 lb

PERFORMANCE: NEW
Zero to 60 mph: 6.3 sec
Zero to 100 mph: 17.6 sec
Zero to 120 mph: 35.5 sec
Rolling start, 5–60 mph: 6.6 sec
Top gear, 30–50 mph: 3.4 sec
Top gear, 50–70 mph: 4.6 sec
Standing ¼-mile: 15.0 sec @ 93 mph
Top speed (drag limited): 129 mph
Braking, 70–0 mph: 177 ft
Roadholding, 300-ft-dia skidpad: 0.84 g

FUEL ECONOMY:
EPA combined/city/highway: 28/26/31 mpg
C/D observed: 28 mpg
Unscheduled oil additions: 0 qt

WARRANTY:
5 years/60,000 miles bumper to bumper;
10 years/100,000 miles powertrain;
5 years/100,000 miles corrosion protection;
5 years/60,000 miles roadside assistance