Thursday, June 18, 2009

Examiner: 2010 Kia Soul road test

Small vehicles with small, fuel-sipping engines and squarish truck shapes are all the rage these days. The Scion xB started it and now the Nissan Cube and the Kia Soul have joined the fray. This is a report on the 2010 Kia Soul.

The Kia Soul is a new inexpensive, but highly styled five-door panel truck it calls the Soul. Kia, in a return to humorous advertising, shows many hamsters in cages and a hamster named Larry sitting in the passenger seat of the new Soul and he is rocking out to the music in the company's latest round of television commercials.

There is actually more styling to the Soul than is apparent at first glance. It is indeed a two-box design. But the exterior style features a tapering greenhouse, a bold character line and a friendly face.

Once you are behind the wheel, you will discover that none of these new boxes are "sporty" to drive, but the Soul may indeed by the most fun-to-drive. The base engine is a 1.6-liter four-cylinder rated at 122 horsepower, but there is an available 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine rated at a stronger 142 horsepower. That one has my recommendation. The 2.0liter engine can be matched to a five-speed manual transmission or a four-speed automatic transmission and surprise, the EPA fuel economy rating is the same with either transmission – 24 miles per gallon in the city and 30 miles per gallon on the highway.

We found the interior well finished and the controls to be straightforward. The Kia, from South Korea, has some things in its favor in addition to the low price. It has a long warranty and it has a long list of standard safety features including anti-lock brakes (ABS) and electronic stability control. Prices range from $14,000 up to more than $16,000 but there should be some fantastic deals out there. On our scale of one to five, four tires and a spare, the 2010 Kia Soul rates a four.

One thing to note about automobiles imported from South Korea. The build quality is better than ever and the service should be acceptable, but the resale value may be lower than Scion or Nissan. It's just something to keep in mind.

If you are in the market for a new small truck from Asia, all the available trucks (including a used PT Cruiser (from Chrysler and built in Mexico), a new Chevrolet high heritage roofline (HHR), Scion xB, and Nissan Cube should be on your short list. Test drive all of them and select the one you like the best or the one on which you can get the best deal. There should be deals available on all new vehicles by now.

Michael Anson
examiner.com

No comments: