Expectations of the Korean driving experience have traditionally been low. A sloppiness, noisiness and lack of cohesiveness has often left us uninspired.
However, the trend has been improving. The Hyundai i30 and Kia Cerato have both demonstrated that Korean cars can be enjoyable on the road as well as appealing to the hip pocket.
Now comes the Kia Soul; a Gen Y urban funkster to the spin doctors, or a five-door small hatch with a square-edged exterior if you're not hip to the lingo.
Designed, developed and engineered in the USA, Europe and Korea as an image flagship for the Kia brand, the Soul drives like no other Korean before it. Surprisingly, it takes the trend too far away from the traditional wobbliness, replacing it with a harsh edge.
Or at least that's what we encountered during the national launch based around the Blue Mountains and western Sydney, where most time was spent in the top spec Soul3 riding on 225/45 profile 18-inch rubber. The tyres did plenty for the looks, but they definitely subtracted from the ride quality.
Our Souls have a European suspension tune, which means they are set up more firmly than the alternative American specification Kia Australia could have chosen.
The result is a harsh ride from the Soul3 (or Cubed), particularly out of the torsion beam rear-end on rougher roads. Not only does it fail to shield impacts, sometimes it felt like wheels were struggling to stay in contact with the road.
There was also plentiful suspension and tyre bump-thump to contend with, as well as road roar off both the Hankook and Kumho tyres sampled on different Soul3s. While the front-end rode better, the overall set-up would be too focused for plenty of potential buyers.
The good news is that the switch to the 205/55 16-inch wheels standard on Soul2 (or Squared) immediately produced a better ride quality and quelled the amount of bang and crash over bumps and lumps. And the car still looked pretty good.
That overall tautness was still apparent, keeping the tall body pretty flat when cornering, while the attitude was neutral with plenty of grip.
Kia's new electronic power steering tune draws mixed results. It's heavy for slow-speed work and lacks any suggestion of intimacy when cornering. However, there's none of the rattle and kickback some front-wheel drive cars exhibit.
Not too much rattle out of the turbo-diesel engine either. It is only noticeable at start-up or at low speeds. Paired with the four-speed auto, it works well in urban slow speed situations and is peppy enough on the highway. But once the roads turn hilly the diesel slows significantly.
It's the same story for the petrol engine, although it feels more potent on climbs because of its happiness to rev around 2000rpm higher up the rev range than the diesel. Our test 2 came with the standard five-speed manual transmission, and its long, indistinct throw was very much a reminder of Korean days gone by. The clutch was vague in its engagement.
The problem for the Soul is its drivetrain limitations - while not dramatic - won't help when it comes time to exploit the car's sizeable interior.
Four adults will fit in this car, and not just vertically challenged ones either. Six-footers-behind-six-footers will find plenty of toe, knee and (especially) headroom, if not that much under-thigh support. The driver will benefit from the high seating position, clear views in every direction and a compact 10.5m turning circle.
All passengers will also be able to find places to store their paraphernalia. However, people-room comes at the expense of luggage space. The 340 litres offered behind the seats is quite deep and narrow. There's also less rear-seat flexibility than rivals like the Skoda Roomster. The Soul's rear-seat does split-fold, growing luggage capacity to 671 litres.
For all the hype about the interior, the standard presentation of all three Soul variations is straightforward variations on grey. The most startling effect is the red trim on the inside of a centre stack storage box and the glovebox. Unexpected that!
The presentation of controls and the dashboard is cohesive, efficient and stylish. The feel of the various buttons and dials is high quality. It's the same when it comes to the look of the neatly integrated centre stack and triple dial instrument cluster. It's only when you touch the rock-hard plastics that traditional Korea automotive deficiencies comes to mind.
There are other deficiencies, like stability control unavailable on the base model, no cruise control (coming in August on the diesel) and the lack of reach adjust on the steering wheel. Those omissions hurt more when you consider the pricing of Soul places it in the heart of the small car category. It's not expensive, but nor is it 'cheap' Korean anymore.
Pricing starts at $20,990 for the Soul, grows to $22,190 for the Soul2 and finishes up at $27,390 for the Soul3. The diesel engine add $3500 to the price of the 2 and 3, the auto transmission $2000 to the Soul and 2.
First Drive - Kia Soul
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Originally Posted by Dan_3MPS
