[Piyush46]

Hello Everyone !
I would like to make it very clear that it is my first attempt to write anything so pardon me if I get boring.
Also I would like to start with a bit of honesty that this car actually belongs to my brother who lives in Nepal and thus I might not be able to be with the car always.
This is the ownership thread of our KIA SOUL. The car is with a us for quite a while now and it has covered around 45000kms. I know its late to start an ownership thread but I got through the membership process recently and then I thought "Better late than Never."

What I like about it :

• Punchy diesel engine which never disappoints.
• Spacious and comfortable interiors.
• Fuel efficiency is high despite of the fast and torquey engine.
• Pliant ride soaks potholes well.
• Very practical car with lots of storage spaces.

What I don't like about it :

• Low ground clearance is a pain over bad roads and speed breakers.
• The boot space is too less (maybe to liberate more room for the passengers).
• The touchscreen music system has merely 4.3' TFT display.

A bit of boring part (History) :
The need for a new car was realised last to last year when the work for a new business setup was going on. There was no requirement at that moment. Any car would work irrespective of SUV, sedan or hatchback as long as we like it .
In Nepal, one doesn't get too many options for car in a particular price band and prices of vehicles are way too high owing to the insane tax rates in Nepal on automobiles. Take this, the cheapest car in the world costed around 7 lakh Nepal rupees (about Rs 5 lakh) in 2011, the humble swift zxi costs around 30 lakhs nepali rupees. After that, prices have only increased.

This left us with the following options in our hand :-

• Kia Sportage
• Kia Rio
• Mahindra XUV500
• Hyundai Elantra
• Hyundai Tucson
• Toyota Hilux

Yes, you read it correct, the soul wasn't in the list. We were least interested in it simply because we didn't know about it that well. We were evaluating all options and realised that we wanted a vehicle with some serious road presence so all the sedans were out of the list immediately i.e Kia Rio and Hyundai Elantra.
One by one, We visited Kia, Mahindra, Hyundai and Toyota showrooms and took a taste of all the vehicles which, as any usual Team-BHP member, confused us even more.

Now I would cut the long story to short, one by one all the other cars were removed from the list because either they felt expensive for what they were offering or didn't fulfil our needs.
When we were in Kia checking out Sportage, we found it bit expensive. So we asked the sales person for something which have good road presence and feels like true VFM product. He then showed us the soul saying it will fulfil all our needs but the only fly in the ointment is the minimal boot space. We had a casual look over it and left from there. We were quite impressed with the space inside. Next day, we went again to take a test drive and we were now quite amazed by the pliant ride and spacious interiors. Me and my brother both are about 5'10" and 6' respectively and we were able to sit behind each other comfortably. Later on, we did our research and our interest was on this particular car and all other options were dumped.

[Piyush46]

Booking and Delivery Process

The booking and the delivery experience was ordinary with no drama to write about. The variant was selected because it was readily available, all other variants required at least 5 months waiting period and thus we literally had no other choice of any variant and had to settle for whatever was available. As far as colour was concerned, Kia soul comes in twin colour combination (different for roof and different for rest of the body), at a premium off course. The showroom had two ready cars, one was the twin colour one and the other grey. The twin colour option was booked by someone else and he wasn't ready to let it go even at a premium so we had to settle with the grey colour. The whole process took a week's time and the soul was ours.

Specifications

No. of cylinders: Water cooled 4 Cylinders
1.6 L CRDI Diesel Engine Displacement (CC):1582cc
Maximum Power (Ps/rpm): 128 ps @ 4000
Maximum Torque (Kgm/rpm): 26.5 kgm @ 2750

Transmission:
Type: 6 speed Manual

Suspension:
Front: Independent MacPherson Strut with Stabilizer
Rear: Coupled Torsion Beam Axle

Brakes(with Anti-lock Braking System):
Front: Disc
Rear: Disc

Dimensions (mm):
Overall Length: 4140
Overall Width: 1800
Overall Height: 1593
Wheel Base: 2750
Ground Clearance : 165
Fuel Tank Capacity: 54 ltrs

Some other features:
Since Hyundai owns part owner of stakes in Kia motors so as the norm of Hyundai goes, it has tons of features which are mostly shared with those of santa fe and verna in India. Some of the endless feature are -

• Dual airbags
• TFT 4.3' display with bluetooth
• Front and Rear sensors with rear camera
• Automatic climate control AC
• Adjustable 3 mode power steering (like santa fe) i.e. comfort, normal and sport
• 1 Gb of internal storage
• 4.3' lcd multicolor driver information system
• Smart key and push button start
• Auto power folding mirrors
• Auto headlights
• Front and rear centre armrests.

Driving Report

Now as per my personal speculation, the engine of the kia soul and the verna is same with only slight difference in state of tune. So, the driving character is almost the same as far the engine is concerned. It is very responsive and is always ready to sprint forward. Its very easy to drive in city traffic while it also shines on highway. There is definitely a bit of turbo lag below 1800rpm but after that the engine runs like a mad horse. Overtaking on highways is a breeze and also covering the small gap in traffic doesn't require much effort. Since there are 6 gears, the engine is at ease while on cruising speeds and thus it doesn't feel strained even with a slightly spirited driving.

Ride and Handling

As it is evident by now, most of the soul's DNA are derived from Hyundai and it is a common known fact that ride and handling is not the strong point for them. BUT I would like to differ with the general impression here. The ride is on the firmer side, no doubt on that, but the car feels sure footed on highways too. It is no Volkswagen or Skoda but there is no boat type effect for which Hyundai is famous in India. Body roll is very well controlled considering the shape of the vehicle. Rough patches are soaked smoothly. One thing that do bother is the ground clearance. It is very easy to scrape the underbody of the car on slightly bigger speed breakers or big potholes. It kind of decreases the confidence while going over rough surfaces. With the kinds of road in our nations, one needs to be careful about it. The steering is good and since I am no expert so can't comment much on it, but it is definitely in the latest league of elite i20 and creta rather than old Verna or Elantra. The tyre profile 205/60 R16 suits well to the profile of the car.

Fuel Efficiency

The car delivers around 13-14kmpl in city condition and 17-18kmpl on highways consistently. The fuel tank of 54 litres combined with such excellent figures of mileage gives an impressive range and there is no need to visit the petrol pumps too frequently.

[Piyush46]

Exteriors

The looks of anything is a very subjective part. What may look extra beautiful to me may look bad to others. Kia soul is no different. Personally i like the looks of the car very much. The front and the rear provides hint for two different types of cars. The rear looks much more sophisticated than the front. But, come what may, it do attracts a lots of attention in the road because of its unusual looks. In fact, while driving behind me in another car, my friend later on said me that it looked like an animated car is running in real roads. Anyways, I would let you people decide for yourself by judging from the following pics.

The front of the car looks imposing to me. The glossy black part on the bonnet may look weird at times but nonetheless car looks handsome.


The headlight unit is pretty simple with no extra bling. Throw from them is also ordinary. Some higher variants gets projector setup.


The radio antenna is short and looks nice. Also in the picture is the nice integration of rear washer in the third brake light.


The mirror looks handsome with those integrated turn indicators.


They offer a nice view of happenings behind the car as well.


The alloy wheel may not be to everyone's taste. I find it attractive though.


Even rear wheels get disc brakes.


The rear of the car looks beautiful too with those large reflectors.


This angle makes the car looks very sporty.


The rear view camera sticks out like a sore thumb just like the elite i20.


This front of the car looks not-so-beautiful (at least to me) because of this glossy black part.


The boxy is shape of the car liberates a ton of head room in the rear seats.


A name well suited to the personality of the car. It ticks all right boxes to become someone's soul.

[Piyush46]

Interiors

The one word i would definitely like to use for the interiors is SPACIOUS. One can never feel claustrophobic in Soul because of its large windows and its boxy shape which liberates tons of headroom and more than needed legroom. Under thigh support could have been better but nonetheless its a very comfortable companion for long highway trips, saying with many experiences. As far as quality is concerned its good on that front too. Features seems like a never-ending list. There are lots of storage spaces and cubby holes which makes it a very practical car too.

All the above point,but , seems like a lie when one opens the boot. It is in league with some small hatchbacks and after seeing the space in seating areas, mind is not ready to accept the small boot. Now, don't get me wrong, it holds 2-3 medium size suitcase with ease. But then, that's it. One can't put anything after that. Although there is space beneath the floor of boot area, but it is always utilised to keep things like dusting clothes, shampoos, handy pump, etc.

The integration of tweeters above the air outlet looks funky and is quite functional too. Imparts a distinctive identity for the interiors.


The 4.3' TFT display is not that practical to use because of its small size but the sound output is quite decent for my liking.


The AC does its job well. Rear passengers, though, feel cheated due to lack of rear AC vents.


The quality is top notch and everything looks premium.


Passenger side also gets vanity mirror with manual illumination.


Door handles are damped and also visible is the good head lining.


The tachometer remains illuminated all the time and throws a healthy range of information regarding trips and fuel efficiency. It also has other information about the stereo system, service interval and some miscellaneous settings.


Like the santa fe in India, the feedback from the steering could be adjusted to three different modes (comfort, normal and sport). Personally, i feel they make negligible difference.


The rear view mirror has auto dimming feature and offers wide view.


May the almighty god always be with us.


Overall the interiors feel plush with very little to complain. Every bit including the floor carpets are black. Quality is consistent and top notch everywhere.


Only the driver side window gets auto down functionality. Sometimes i wish it had auto up functionality too.


Strangely, the part on which one keeps his elbow is leather but the part on door does't have leather. Same is the case for centre armrest, it has leather cover but the seats aren't leather. The gearbox console is leather wrapped but the steering isn't. Weird. All 4 doors can hold a 1 litre bottle with ease.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Initial Ownership Section. Thanks for sharing!

[shankar.balan]

The KIA Soul is a nice vehicle. A bit boxy perhaps but nice all the same. Like a functional sport utility vehicle.

We've used a few from time to time from the rental car guys in the US.

My wife liked it a lot since it gave her a better view of the road than most other cars and yet was compact enough for her to manage in various types of traffic situations.