KIA continues to amaze. Using component sets from sister Hyundai, KIA turns out better vehicles—holistic, thought out, complete, though still in need of more finessed engineering. With Soul, KIA clearly took direction from the original Scion xB, which was a fantastic package that might have benefitted from another 20 horsepower.

Soul is an excellent urban box tailored to US needs with good exterior design, excellent interior packaging, decent materials, plenty enough power from its Hyundai-engineered motor, and excellent features for the money. A close look clearly shows up the remaining engineering and manufacturing challenges facing the Koreans. The basics are in place. Devil in the details, though.

Prime Numbers

• Price as tested: $20,350
• Engine: 2.0-liter DOHC inline four
• Horsepower: 164 hp @ 6,000 rpm
• Torque: 148 @ 4,000 rpm
• Drivetrain: Front-engine, front-wheel-drive with six-speed automatic transmission, including semi-auto shift.
• Suspension F/R: MacPherson struts/torsion beam
• Length: 162.2-in.
• Width: 70.3-in.
• Height: 63.4-in.
• Wheelbase: 100.4-in.
• Weight: 2,778 lb.

Damning With Faint Praise

 Praise

• Excellent balance between exterior dimensions and interior room. A lot of interior space in a relatively small, wieldy car.
• In top spec ! model, acceptable interior materials though not as well stitched together as in a comparable Japanese vehicle.
• An exceptional automatic transmission. Beautifully damped shifts, precise shifts under heavy throttle, virtually no slop or snatch. Job well done.
• Under heavy throttle, engine is noisy, but it also delivers decent acceleration.
• An IIHS Top Safety Pick, just like Scion xB and Nissan cube.
• Our top-spec Soul ! had a handsome Daisy pattern alloy wheel.
• A rational Bluetooth system, without the overwhelming complexity of Ford’s Sync, or the sort of systems the Germans foisted upon us over the past decade. Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS) is an excellent engineering motto, and KIA’s UVO works well enough.
• Soul glides through sweeping corners, with a great sense of assurance and composure.
• For a boxy people hauler, Soul has fairly well sorted chassis tuning. It’s not a sports car to throw around, but with a smooth hand, it’s satisfying to send it through a steady-state corner.

Damnation

• The rear hatch bears resemblance to a Russian industrial refrigerator. Some might find that intriguing and artful, others clumsy.
• Taillights are a little funky, but again a matter of taste. They hint at late Fifties fins.
• Steering is not fluid and smooth in its feel. On-center feel is a bit gummy.
• Could use heavier sound dampening materials to muffle the loud and coarse engine sounds under heavy throttle.
• The brown-and-tan herringbone cloth is not an ideal match for the olive drab paint our car had. Still, it looks a lot better in person than in our photos.
• KIA has not yet fully mastered techniques necessary to smoothly join interior surfaces. The join between the dash and A-pillar is not ideal, though gaps and tolerances over most of the dash are perfectly acceptable.
• The switchgear does not have a substantial, well-wrought feel. Hyundai/KIA should improve the quality of their rotary switchgear (rotating knobs for AC, heater, fan speed, etc). The knobs just don’t feel as nice as they should. Ford did this a few years ago, and it’s worthwhile. Customers draw a sense of quality from what they touch just as much as powertrain and suspension refinement.
• The tripmeter reset button is hidden in an odd spot—we chuckled, imagining the arguments between chief engineer, interior engineer and designers, resulting in a statement like, “Oh, hell, just stick it there and shut up. I’m tired of this topic.” It’s a funny detail, and a rare point where Soul does not exhibit very well thought out ergonomics and placement of switchgear.
• The brake pedal feel and travel should be more linear and a bit firmer. We have a preference for firmly progressive pedal action, and the Soul’s brake pedal is a bit mushy. You either have too little, or press harder and end up with too much. A calibration issue that could be fixed in a few months if the chassis engineers got to it.

Alternatives To Consider

• Nissan cube SL. Another IIHS Top Safety Pick, and another car that patterned its marketing and overall engineering after the original Scion xB, with lots of accessories, and a bit of funk. Nissan smartly decided to offer several trim levels, each one adding more “stuff.” One hears a lot of nasty comments about “soul-sucking CVTs” from “enthusiast” journalists, but most of them don’t understand why people buy cars, and can’t understand why everyone isn’t driving an AMG. cube is an excellent scooter, and like Soul has a great balance between exterior size, interior room, mpg, and sense of humor that the original Scion xB had. We’ve recommended cube to a number of folks, and none are dissatisfied. But Soul wins on power, and also has a roomier rear seat. Also, the Koreans and/or their engineering partners have clearly mastered transmission calibration.
• Scion xB. Second-gen car has been mistakenly blamed for some loss of “groove” at Scion. Negatory. It’s the economy, stupid—and besides, “enthusiast” journalists dumped on Scion when it launched. Consumer Reports gives Scion highest marks for quality; the owners are loyal and love the cars. Hey, Gen Y moved home to mom’s house, and is likely hanging onto that old xB. Current xB is super-roomy, has incredible cargo space, and is extremely well screwed together, hence that high quality rating. Engine is last-gen, without dual variable cams, and hitched to an older four-speed transmission, so mpg is merely OK.

SOUL IMPRESSED IN MANY RESPECTS, but with a few problem areas remaining. Soul is the second KIA we’ve driven that bears legitimate comparison with similar Japanese vehicles. As with the Sportage we reviewed this time last year, I’m surprised by my positive conclusions, though there are several key points needed for Soul to be first-rate, no excuses. Most comes down to issues of refinement and build quality, particularly as it relates to interior assembly.

Engine, Transmission, Drivetrain

KIA has an aggressive development rhythm, hence the new 1.6- and 2.0-liter engines arriving a couple of years after initial market launch. Our Soul ! had the top-spec 2.0-liter with dual variable cam timing and direct injection, spooling out more power, more torque, lower emissions and better MPG compared to the older KIA engine. Hyundai developed the engines, and deserves credit for their apparent quality and measurable capability.  On this front, they have drawn all the primary benefits of dual variocam and the precision of direct injection.

Under heavy throttle, Soul’s engine is fairly noisy, but also delivers decent acceleration. At steady throttle on the highway, the engine is not intrusive, thanks to a relatively high sixth gear that keeps revs fairly low. Soul’s engine is not as obnoxious as the Chevy Cruze 1.4-liter turbo, but the upper intake sounds at higher revs are not sweet, as one expects from a Honda or Toyota. A bit of tuning and refinement of the engine’s upper intake would help, and perhaps a bit more sound dampening material under the hood. As Hyundai/KIA has only recently started developing engines with variable cam timing on both the exhaust and intake, perhaps they do not have the engineering experience to control the sound from all those moving bits and pieces. I also wonder about damping of sounds generated by the major internal moving pieces (crank, pistons, rods) contained within the crankcase and block. The crankcase may not have substantial enough webbing.

Soul’s six-speed transmission is the star of the powertrain, holding revs to redline, and then delivering well-damped yet relatively crisp shifts. The transmission engineers did a great job matching the shift logic to the engine to “mask” shifts. Whether in full-auto or semi-auto manual shift mode, Soul delivers precise shifts under heavy throttle, without slop or snatch. You have to muddle the throttle input (jump off the throttle) just as you bang a hard downshift to create any shift shock at all. Calibration is very precise, so by squeezing the throttle pedal you can kick down one, two or three gears all at once or one gear at a time. Calibration between throttle pedal and transmission is excellent. Very impressive. Whether that’s Hyundai or KIA engineering, doesn’t matter. Job well done.

As a side note unrelated to Soul, this new engine family, developed by Hyundai, has us scratching our heads on one point. We wonder why Hyundai didn’t make this 2.0-liter version the standard engine in the Veloster instead of using the relatively gutless 1.6-liter—that would make for a much more entertaining car, though perhaps the smaller engine is in place for reasons of insurance and mpg, and to leave space for the Veloster Turbo. An underpowered car is much cheaper to insure when Junior, your teenage son, is at the wheel.

Suspension, Steering, Brakes

Soul suspension proved well tuned for daily life, within limits. The ride is reasonable when cruising at 65-70 mph on a choppy Southern California freeway, though harshness enters the cabin, most likely because of the big alloy wheels. Because it’s a box design, you get a bit of rear suspension rumble.

Like almost every other car company, KIA is still struggling with the eccentricities of electric power steering. Simple, reliable, cheaper, more durable, fewer parts, no hydraulic fluid to impact the environment—all wonderful benefits of electric power steering. But feel and action are still not there, probably why BMW continues to use hydraulic steering on most of its vehicles.

Soul’s steering has a gummy feeling on-center and for about two inches of travel in either direction when turning. Odd sensation, as if there’s Hubba-Bubba jammed in the steering wheel hub. It’s not a major negative, but not what one would hope to find. I suspect it’s an effort to give an electric power steering system on-center feel, though KIA has also eliminated the “sneeze factor” when the car is tracking straight on the highway: Soul proved darty at times. In the end, one can adapt to the Soul within a few days and most owners will forget the issue. However, again, it’s a point of engineering pride. We look forward to the day we don’t have to comment on issues related to electric power steering in reviews of virtually every car.

One of our favorite tests on our 90-100-mile loop is a big sweeper that is lightly traveled and well maintained. You can enter at 45-50 mph and squeeze the throttle, exiting with considerably more speed without being an idiot or menace to society. The Soul glided through beautifully, almost as well as the Nissan Juke. I found that pretty stunning, a real sign of rapid maturation of KIA’s suspension tuning. I wonder if they’re getting help from a European or British engineering firm. Perhaps. But the result is a car that will enter smoothly and track predictably through steady-state corners.

A brake disc rides behind each wheel, promising great performance. But the pedal effort is not well calibrated, one of those points of refinement mentioned at the start of this piece. Updating and refining the feel of the pedal can be a running change if the chassis engineers spend a few weeks at the proving grounds, and push through the changes with the supplier of the braking system. Clearly, the engineers were trying to give the pedal a very light touch with commensurate limited braking in the first couple inches of pedal travel, something that is often done to appeal to older drivers and women, but beyond a certain threshold there’s suddenly a lot of braking. We prefer a pedal with a more even and predictable progression. Customers will adapt and probably not have a care, but it’s a point of pride for engineers. If I were product planner, I might keep a light pedal feel to suit the needs of the majority of customers—perhaps a bit firmer—but at the least I’d make the stroke of the pedal more linear and predictable.

Body, Design, Quality

Body build is equal to and in some ways beyond Detroit standards, and most buyers won’t notice the difference between a Soul, cube or Scion xB, though differences can be found under close inspection. There’s a reason Scion has garnered quality accolades from Consumer Reports.

Soul has LED daytime running lights, giving Soul that upscale Audi presence we liked with the Sportage.

From my notebook, these comments: “A more European design than Asian, a European take on the Scion xB “box car” concept. More attractive from the front and sides than the rear. I can’t develop much love for the rear hatch and the taillights. They’re a bit odd, but maybe I have prejudices about crisp design. KIA is well served by the distinctive shape of the grille. Not as successful as the very attractive Sportage, but Soul is handsome enough. Looks better in darker colors that mask some of the heft in the rear end.”

Soul has tall side windows and a fairly upright windshield, making it feel light and airy inside. The only place where this is not true? The rear roof pillars, which are a bit heavy, and even with the tiny porthole window rear three-quarter visibility is not as good as it should be.  I find the rear exterior design of the Soul less than successful, and it also impacts rearward visibility.

Interior, Ergonomics

With one minor exception, switchgear is logically sited, but as we noted in our Sportage review, the Koreans need to step up their game on the engineering and construction of switches to equal the Japanese. The dials do not turn with precision, and detents for, say, the fan speed do not have a satisfying feel and stop. The best of these from the Japanese and Germans feel almost like a well-oiled rotary lock.

The Koreans first learned to build a pretty good steel body, then partnered with Daimler to develop a good big-bore four-cylinder; they now have a fairly good small-displacement four-cylinder, and excellent transmissions. The dials are emblematic of the need for refinement. It’s down to details now, like how your switches and knobs rotate and feel, or how sweet the sounds of your engines. Details, details.

With the driver seat and steering column adjusted to suit my six foot three inch frame, I could comfortably sit in the rear seat, with plenty of foot, leg and knee room, enough that I could stand a drive of 10 or 20 miles across LA. The interior is logical and well designed, and a drive from LA to San Francisco would pose no hardship for the driver and front passenger. Elementary school children would be fine for a long trip in the rear seat. Soul has an especially well done interior package, with excellent use of interior space.

Dash layout is excellent. Materials? Pretty good for a car in this price range. Assembly? Here’s another detail of evolution. On a Japanese car, the joining of the A-pillar cover and the dash top would be a very tight, smooth seam. KIA does not know how to mask this joining yet. It’s the difference between a master woodworker who can execute any sort of join with flawless style and a smooth finish and someone who is still a journeyman carpenter still learning his trade. The gap between the softskin piece that covers the dashtop and the base of the A-pillar is irregular, and fairly wide. Will it impact long-term durability? Perhaps not, but again it’s point of pride, and an indication that not all techniques have been mastered. I bet there are guys in Korean pulling apart dashes from Japanese cars to see how they join the different panels.

That said, there was no quivering or shaking of the dash when the Soul went over rough surfaces. The fundamental pieces making the interior are fairly well screwed together. Using two-tone materials was bold, as that simply accents the gaps and joins, bringing attention to the lack of super-tight gaps.

Cargo? Well done. Flat cargo floor, tie downs, decent space. Fold the rear seats and you have room enough to haul a Shetland pony, or at least a well-fed Mastiff.

Soul ! comes with a small dash-mounted LCD panel, slightly larger than an iPhone screen. It links to a backup camera. Not a big screen, but it brings a touch of luxury and tech to the dash, and backing up is far easier and safer. KIA’s backup camera projects colored bars onto the screen image, showing the trajectory of the car’s back end.

And you need the camera. As referenced above, the rear roof pillars are massive and the tiny porthole window offers only the slimmest view for the driver when backing up or checking the rear three-quarter for a lane change—the view to the rear three-quarters is mostly blind. Backing out of a parking spot onto a city street can be a moment of excitement. But the other roof pillars are relatively slender and upright, so the view forward and to the sides is pretty good.

(With rollover crash testing now part of the certification regime, we wonder if all cars will end up with squatty greenhouses and massive roof pillars, making the interiors feel like bunkers, or well-upholstered tanks. For those of us who love a tall, airy greenhouse that affords excellent views to the quarters, the future is in doubt.)

Soul ! comes equipped with alloy wheels that follow the KIA “Germanic Daisy” pattern. They look fantastic. Not hard to see that KIA’s chief designer is German.

Product Planning

For the Soul, KIA essentially cribbed the first-gen 2003 Scion xB: basic layout, marketing, offer of special edition models, and much of the product planning. Where KIA product planning experimented in the first two years with far too many trim levels, they have now rationalized, having discovered what works and what sells.  Good. Shows they’re fast on their feet.

In 2012, KIA has rationalized to three trim levels. In particular, the base car is no longer a penalty box with a rough, old engine and a manual transmission. Now you can get the six-speed automatic in any of the three trim levels. Frankly, that makes the base level car MORE appealing to local businesses like florists who want a funky vehicle with ample cargo space. (Admittedly, most such local businesses now buy Ford TransitConnect, a fantastic workhorse for small business—funky enough to be distinctive, with big sides for signage. If only Ford could or would offer TransitConnect with a Diesel.)

Conclusion

Soul ! is an inventive rethink of the original 2003 Scion xB. It’s slightly bigger and more robust for crash safety, with six airbags, yet achieves that same trick of a roomy interior in a small box of a car that’s perfect for threading tight urban alleyways and the narrow streets of California beach towns.

Design is interesting, though not a success to match the very attractive KIA Sportage. The interior shows that the Koreans have still not mastered the fine art of joining materials and panels together with tight seams and gaps.

That you get so much equipment, like HD Radio, big alloys, a backup camera and LCD screen, power windows and mirrors, four-wheel discs and a six-speed automatic for 20 grand and change is the main story for KIA Soul. Details of calibration and refinement and assembly aside, this is a pretty good deal.

For the money, Soul delivers tremendous value and capability.