Putting a bit of Soul into a long drive

The Kia Soul has a real ‘love it or hate it’ look

There’s no getting away from it – the Kia Soul is an unusual looking car.

Squat and square, this car garnered a lot of attention, and I spotted passers-by stopping to investigate it when it was parked on the street.

A real love it or hate it, the exterior shape wasn’t liked by any of the people I asked about it, with comparisons ranging from ‘a Range Rover Evoque with bigger windows’ to a London cab.

I think the rear side profile almost has a military look to it.

The interior of this car is great, however, with the test car having snazzy patterned fabric upholstery, quirkily designed speakers stacked on air vents and circular mood lights on the doors.

There’s plenty of cubbies too, with a large glove compartment, a covered storage box which doubles as an armrest in the centre console and two cup holders.

The door bins hold bottles upright.

There’s also underfloor storage in the boot, which has easy access via a divided flip-over pull-up cover. The parcel holder is also like this, making it easier to get items out.

The interior in the Kia Soul is really interesting, with stacked speakers and mood lighting just two quirky design features

The boot itself is deceptive looking. While it’s not particularly big, three overnight suitcases and other bits and bobs fit easily.

Rear seats fold to make the boot even bigger and they almost lie flat.

The driving seat in this MPV is beautiful and high, with good visibility all round.

The cabin is really spacious and there’s great leg and headroom back and front.

My passengers, my mom and my aunt, liked the ‘Goldilocks’ seat height – not so high you have to climb up to it and not so low you have to pull yourself out of it – just right.

Two adults would fit comfortably in the back and there’s also a pull down arm rest with two cup holders. Each of the rear passenger doors have hooks for hangers which don’t block the driver’s view.

Infotainment is well provided for via radio/CD/ USB (well placed at bottom of centre console), easy to set up Bluetooth and music streaming. The sound quality in the stereo system is very good.

I didn’t like that the radio changed stations while looking for the best signal on a long journey through the country – not good when it happens in the middle of the news and you’re cruising down the motorway on your own at 120kph. No doubt it’s a setting that can be changed.

Speaking of speed, the standard cruise control and speed limiter are activated via buttons on the steering wheel and are easy to use.

The test car also had a very good reversing camera. However, the touch screen in the EX test car, which doubles as the reversing camera, is very small. The higher specced Platinum trim comes with an 8in screen.

Our route in the Kia Soul took is all over the country – on narrow city streets, motorway, and country roads.

The Kia Soul has a square rear end which provides easy access to the boot

The car we were driving had a six-speed manual gearbox with a manual hand brake. It offered a choice of three driving modes – Comfort (light for city driving), Normal and Sport. Sport was my favourite as it was tight and precise.

I enjoyed driving this car, not least because of its great commanding driving position.

While not the fastest car, it is respectable at the lights and can hold its own on the motorway.

It’s also easy to manoeuver and to park in the city and it handled winding country roads fine, working nicely through the gears.

Because of its shape, I was concerned about how it would handle adverse weather conditions on the motorway.

I was on the M7 during atrocious weather at the weekend. It was very, very wet and it handled it well – the wipers could have moved a bit faster though. Thankfully we didn’t also have to contend with high winds.

Overall, I really liked this car. It’s spacious and practical and I think would suit a range of people, from families to older people to young trendy urbanites. The happy mood lights also put a smile on my face.

The Kia Soul is available now, with prices starting from €24,495.

Tech Spec
Engine: 1.6-litre 128ps diesel
Acceleration: 0-100kph in 11.2 seconds
Maximum Speed: 180kph
CO2 emissions: 132g/km
Combined fuel economy: 5l/100km
Annual road tax: €270

Visit the Kia Ireland website or its Facebook page for further details.

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