Whereas both the xb and Cube have a very obvious box shape to them, the Soul has a much easier on the eye body style. With the steep slope of the windshield and the angled windows, and the lines of slightly flared wheel wells drawing the eye from the almost alien-eyed headlights back to the high and wide-set tail lights, you almost forget that you really are just looking at another hacksawed box. Not to mention KIA offering almost everything you can think of to take your attention away from the square body including several different options, and almost every pastel paint color you can think of with the optional off-centered double stripe that travels the length of the body. Sorry KIA, it doesn't matter how many bells and whistles you put on the outside of it, it is still a box.
On the inside however, you almost forget completely about the boxy shell you are sitting within. In the Soul I was able to take for a spin, the highest sport model, there was a very inviting, very fun two-toned black and red leather seating front buckets and rear bench, along with standard leather wrapped steering wheel and shift nob, made for quite the enjoyable cockpit to step down into. With the dash two-toned to match the seating, you can almost tell this is where KIA wanted to get you. It's not until you sit for a moment and take in everything before you finally turn the key to start, that you realize the car has eight, count 'em, EIGHT speakers plus a subwoofer, and an additional speaker located on the dash above the instrument clusters. Not a bad sounding stock sound system for a car not much bigger than a shoe (I'll come back to the size in a moment). And to power the waves through those sizable speakers you get a standard AM/FM/CD stereo, along with a complimentary three month subscription to Sirius satellite radio. Oh, and the standard USB and auxiliary jack for your ipod, zune, or whatever music player you might have, all of which are pushed up a bit more by a 315 watt external amp. Where I think they may have gone a little overboard, is what they have done to the front two door mounted speakers. Around these two speakers they have mounted a color changing ring of light. Now I know we are going for a new retro look, but the lights don't even really change to anything happening within the music being pushed through them. They just randomly fade in and out of several colors.
As far as it being as I said, not much bigger than a shoe, it is quite surprising just how much room there is within the Soul. Not going to lie, being a 6' 5" individual, I had my worries about head and leg room. But KIA actually managed to surprise me with not just inches of room, but what seemed more like acres of area for me to easily maneuver in the sporty cockpit. Even the back seats had a decent amount of leg room for myself. And, another surprise, the little five door had a very reasonable amount of luggage room. Especially when you fold the back seats down. But of course, it can't all be good. Yes it has all the room in the world for storage, IF you can get whatever it is you need through the disappointingly small rear hatch. The lip you have to overcome to get say, groceries, into the rear storage might as well be the bed of a Ford F150 when your arms are loaded with bags.
I know you're wondering when I am going to get to the powertrain in the shoe, but trust me, it isn't all that impressive and there isn't much to say. When I popped the hood, the first thing I though of was, "Toyota". The only thing smaller than the car itself, is that little engine. I mean sure, you might think a 2.0L I4 would push the shoe, I mean Soul, down the road just fine. But you'd be wrong. It was very obviously designed with economy in mind. So much so, that there is a little green ECO light that appears on the speedo when you are driving the car the most efficient way possible. But in a car that looks this fun, I had hoped it would have a little more pep in its step. THe car shows that it really does want to be something sporty with the shifttronic option in the automatic, there just isn't a real reason to ever use it. It already shifts and rides very smooth, so why you would want to ruin that, I am not too sure.
Overall, the Soul is a very fun little retro box. Like all cars, there are the few drawbacks, but the pro's definitely outweigh the con's in the Soul. And, for me at least, I am really sold on this little Soul. Now if only it didn't have K-I-A stamped on it.
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