Yahoo Finance The Kia Soul Is the Best Subcompact SUV – 2017 10Best Trucks and SUVs
Marketing is a powerful tool. It can transform a Marlboro cigarette into a symbol of masculinity, an Apple computer into a futuristic fashion accessory, or, more recently, a small hatchback into a rugged, adventurous crossover. Or at least that’s how it’s perceived by the coldly rational confines of our head. But these sorts of perceptions—whether attached firmly to reality or not—are undeniably influential in terms of how people buy cars, and the crossover surge of the past few years is proof positive of this psychological phenomenon.
Marketing played a role in the initial success of the Kia Soul, too, even though the first-generation Soul wasn’t necessarily portrayed as a crossover. When it first arrived in 2009, it instead seemed late to the party started by boxy hatchbacks such as the Honda Element, the Scion xB, and the Nissan Cube. And yet, an ad campaign featuring the now-recognizable human-sized hamsters went viral and quickly helped put the practical and affordable Soul on the map. The strong-selling Soul now has outlasted that box-car trend, and its second generation arrived for 2014, just ahead of the wave of subcompact crossovers that broke in 2015.
The current Soul has maintained the funky charm of the first-generation model with design—inside and out—that manages to be both fresh and genuinely attractive, attributes that are often at odds. Kia also made some concessions to the crossover aesthetic by adding SUV-like touches such as extra body cladding and faux skid plates on some trim levels, and the automaker indeed now refers to the Soul as a crossover in its own marketing. But compared with the other shrunken SUVs in its class, the mature Soul seems more focused on substance and less desperate to conform to the sorts of superficial tropes thought up by focus groups and marketers.
We suspect that, to most people, a crossover’s true appeal is more deeply rooted in elements such as a raised seating position and increased interior space versus a car than in mostly pointless off-road ambitions. So while the Soul lacks an all-wheel-drive option, the goodness of its overall package more than makes up for that omission. Its cabin is richly trimmed and spacious—for example, its headroom and rear-seat legroom shame most of the competition—and it affords more cargo space than any competitor. As with many Kias, the Soul’s value equation is strong, with a base model starting below $17,000 and the well-equipped Exclaim (denoted as “!”) model starting under $24,000. Equivalent versions of competitors such as the Mazda CX-3 and the Jeep Renegade cost thousands more, and that’s without the added cost and weight of their optional all-wheel-drive systems.
The addition of a 1.6-liter turbocharged engine to the Soul’s top trim level for 2017 also has elevated the Kia’s fun factor. Its 201 horsepower delivers class-leading performance, and a sophisticated dual-clutch automatic and balanced suspension tuning make for a satisfying and energetic driving experience. The naturally aspirated 1.6-liter and 2.0-liter engines are not quite as spunky as the turbo, but they nonetheless deliver high levels of refinement and competitive acceleration numbers.
So while marketing is surely a factor in the Soul’s sales success, it’s the Kia’s purity of mission that impresses us most. Rather than settling for the mere image of capability and adventurous spirit, the Soul takes the small-crossover ideal a step further and backs up its outward appeal with a practical and enjoyable package that hits its target dead-on.
2017 Kia Soul
VEHICLE TYPE:front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 5-passenger, 4-door hatchbackBASE PRICE:$16,840–$23,500ENGINES:DOHC 16-valve 1.6-liter inline-4, 130 hp, 118 lb-ft; DOHC 16-valve 2.0-liter inline-4, 161 hp, 150 lb-ft; turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve 1.6-liter inline-4, 201 hp, 195 lb-ftTRANSMISSIONS:6-speed manual, 6-speed automatic with manual shifting mode, 7-speed dual-clutch automatic with manual shifting modeCURB WEIGHT (C/D EST):2900–3200 lbFUEL ECONOMY:EPA combined/city/highway driving: 27–28/24–26/30–31 mpg
2017 10Best Trucks and SUVs: Return to Overview
The Competition
As this year marks the inaugural 10Best Trucks and SUVs competition, we couldn't follow our usual 10Best procedure of limiting the invitees to the previous year's winners plus vehicles that are new or significantly updated. Therefore, we also invited some competitors based on our previous experiences, including (but not limited to) comparison-test results. As with 10Best Cars, a competing vehicle must have a base price of less than $80,000 and be on sale by January 31, 2017. Unlike 10Best Cars, our Trucks and SUVs awards are given out by category. Next year, we will invite the returning winners, new and/or significantly updated models, and the models that were unavailable for evaluation this year.
For the subcompact SUV segment we invited the following:
Fiat 500X
Jeep Renegade
Kia Soul
Mazda CX-3