Review: 2010 Kia Soul Sport, Take Two

Frank Williams
by Frank Williams

Marketing to a particular demographic is a tricky business—just ask Honda or Toyota. Honda introduced the Element in 2003. Toyota brought us the Scion xB in 2004. Both machines were designed as funky vehicles to fit the twenty-something lifestyle. Needless to say, their room and versatility immediately found favor with the quintagenarian crowd. Now Kia’s taking a shot with the Soul. Our own Eddie Niedermeyer, squarely in the demographic Kia’s aiming for, liked it. But then there are us pesky demographic-bustin’ Boomers. Will we see more Souls parked at the old farts’ home than on college campuses?

Kia’s California design team obviously placed the xB in their sights when they designed the Soul. Fortunately, they managed to give it flair of its own, instead of simply copying Toyota. The Soul’s not as boxy as the original xB nor as bloated as the second gen. From its stubby hood to the “Li’l Coffin”-ish D-pillar, the styling works.

Kia offers the Soul in four trim levels. The base model starts at just over $13K, fitted with a 1.6L 122 hp engine. Upgrade to the Soul+ (Plus) and you get 400 more cc’s and 20 more horses. Going on to the Soul! (Exclaim) nets more toys: 18″ alloys, Bluetooth, sunroof and upgraded audio. Moving all the way to the Soul Sport (what . . . no punctuation?) adds a “sport-tuned suspension” and “unique front and rear fascias.” By now you’re pushing $18K, but that’s about as far as you can ride on the Soul train. That is, unless you spend too much time talking to the finance guy with the fat accessory catalog and pictures of his starving children.

What color was our Soul Sport tester’s paint? The Shadow knows. (For those who learned colors in kindergarten instead of marketing school, that’s black.) Depending on the model chosen you can also buy your Soul in Alien (pea soup green), Molten (red), Java (dark brown), Dune (beige), Titanium (brownish gray), Clear White or Bright Silver. The interior color is keyed to the model chosen, not the exterior color.

In the case of the Sport, you get a red instrument panel with black trim, and black seats and door panels with red trim. It looks a lot better in person than in the photos, and it’s a nice break from the sepulchral theme prevalent in other econobox interiors. After all, we Boomers will be spending a lot of time inside a dark box soon enough; no need in rushing the inevitable.

The Soul’s interior has enough space for four six-footers to sit comfortably if somewhat upright. However, if they’re going on a road trip, someone better have splurged for the roof rack from that accessory catalog. There’s adequate space behind the rear seats for normal errands; anything more will require folding the rear seats. Once that’s done, there’s ample cargo capacity for a couple of large dogs, a Costco run, or two or three walkers. There’s also a deep, subdivided well under the rear floor where you can stash the Depends, Metamucil or other such necessities.

Driving the Soul is bound to stir memories in those who drove an original VW Beetle in college. The seats sit upright and are fairly firm. The steering is light and the shifter has the same vague rubbery feel as the original Beetle’s. It’s kind of awkward, just like the first time you drove a Beetle, but you soon get used to the feel, clunking it in and out of gear without a second thought.

Also like the Beetle: you can drive the Soul flat-out and never break the law. It has more than adequate power for dealing with traffic. Its short wheelbase and tight turning radius let you pull off parking lot maneuvers you’d never attempt in the Crown Vic or LeSabre. If you really want to push it, the Kia Soul will make the run from zero to 60 in just under 9 seconds. Just be prepared for a Beetle-ish cacophony, this time coming from the front end instead of the rear.

One area that’s definitely un-Beetle-like: the braking. Hit the Soul’s center pedal hard enough and Kia’s four-wheel disks whoa you down from 60 in 119 feet. Safe! As the young ’uns like to say. I think.

Cruising at 70 (miles per hour, not years old) feels fairly relaxed. As you’d expect from the blocky shape, there’s a lot of wind noise. Never mind. Simply crank up Steppenwolf on the eight-speaker stereo and let the throbbing red front speakers drown out the wind with “Magic Carpet Ride.” Fantasy will set you free.

The speakers are gimmicks, and most Boomers will end up turning them off. However, everything else hits the mark. During my week with the Soul, I saw two other examples, both piloted by middle-aged white guys. Kia, I think you’ve found your demographic.

[Kia provided the vehicle reviewed, insurance and a tank of gas.]

Frank Williams
Frank Williams

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  • Grammpa2 Grammpa2 on Feb 22, 2011

    Help greatly appreciated.We live in Ohio bought our Kia soul exclaim in august and thought we loved it. Seemed to handle well enough in our snows in dec & jan and most of feb. Yesterday feb 21,2011 and snow and slush of course, touching the brakes made a noise like someone dropped a bucket of rock filled cans at your feet. The Dealer said that was normal noise for the ABS kicking in but they will check the (car??) tomorrow. I read that the Soul is popular for use as Taxis in Chicago. Would sure appreciate input from some one in that area. Your weather if anything is worse than ours, I live south of the snow-belt. I have a lot of trouble believing that anyone would ride more than once in a Cab that sounded like this everytime you touch your brakes in a slushy snow. Planned to leave for Florida 2/25 or 26. Would a Dealer tell me to travel 2,000 miles plus in an unsafe vehicle? THANX

  • Jjrbus Jjrbus on Mar 13, 2011

    Come on guys. The collage grads here could not have all slept all 4 years. The high school grads must have some common sense! reasonably bright 12 year olds can see through this. Would you really design a car for the 50+ crowd and advertise it for old people? How about a jingle for this. "The new Kia Soul designed for old pharts" or "developed with your inner child in mind" How bout accessorys, Denture trays would be a top seller, or maybe urine proof seats for those adult diaper failures! If they really developed it for the 20 somethings, where are the bike racks? Kayak mounts? If the rear had enough room for a horizontal waltz, I might think maybe it was for the young crowd. Rambler figured that one out many years ago. Kia did a good job on this one. JIm

  • ToolGuy This might be a good option for my spouse when it becomes available -- thought about reserving one but the $500 deposit is a little too serious. Oh sorry, that was the Volvo EX30, not the Mustang. Is Volvo part of Ford? Is the Mustang an EV? I'm so confused.
  • Mikey My late wife loved Mustangs ..We alway rented one while travelling . GM blood vetoed me purchasing one . 3 years after retirement bought an 08 rag top, followed by a 15 EB Hard top, In 18 i bought a low low mileage 05 GT rag with a stick.. The car had not been properly stored. That led to rodent issues !! Electrical nightmare. Lots of bucks !! The stick wasn't kind to my aging knees.. The 05 went to a long term dedicated Mustang guy. He loves it .. Today my garage tenant is a sweet 19 Camaro RS rag 6yl Auto. I just might take it out of hibernation this weekend. The Mustang will always hold a place in my heart.. Kudos to Ford for keeping it alive . I refuse to refer to the fake one by that storied name .
  • Ajla On the Mach-E, I still don't like it but my understanding is that it helps allow Ford to continue offering a V8 in the Mustang and F-150. Considering Dodge and Ram jumped off a cliff into 6-cylinder land there's probably some credibility to that story.
  • Ajla If I was Ford I would just troll Stellantis at all times.
  • Ronin It's one thing to stay tried and true to loyal past customers; you'll ensure a stream of revenue from your installed base- maybe every several years or so.It's another to attract net-new customers, who are dazzled by so many other attractive offerings that have more cargo capacity than that high-floored 4-Runner bed, and are not so scrunched in scrunchy front seats.Like with the FJ Cruiser: don't bother to update it, thereby saving money while explaining customers like it that way, all the way into oblivion. Not recognizing some customers like to actually have right rear visibility in their SUVs.
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