Kia Soul test drive since 2008 hatchback

Kia Soul. The main pros and cons of

With Kia Soul, we are already familiar with our horse when traveling from the Baltic to the Black Sea (and at the same time we also visited the town of Beldyaki, where married men cannot). But, you must admit, the main purpose of Kia Soul is, nevertheless, city jungle. Therefore, after the new generation Kia Picanto test, it was decided to once again test Soul and see how it behaves in a metropolis. And not only, because Kia itself is positioning Soul as a crossover.

Talking about what Kia Soul really is more than enough. It is not like an ordinary microvenne like Honda Jazz or Nissan Note. And not only because of the appearance, but also because of the narrow opportunities for the transformation of the salon and the transportation of things. But he somehow does not reach the crossover. In fact, he acts in his own class ... although why is it in his own? In our market, such a model as Ford Fusion has long been sold, it is also built on the class B model platform, has a high landing, small overhangs and increased road clearance.

Although the concept of increased in this case is extremely relative. If you think that the clearance here is the same as the army UAZ, then you are deeply mistaken. Renault Logan, which was never considered a crossover, has a little more road clearance of the Renault Logan. But everything falls into place when you begin to compare the clearance of Soul with small class B machines, which rarely have more than 145-150 mm. It seems that the difference is small, but on our roads it can become decisive.

The trunk here is small, in addition, its volume is reduced by the so -called double bottom under the floor there is a special pallet divided into small niches. Such a solution may seem convenient for someone, but at the same time you need to remember in the basement you need to remove things that you use infrequently. We also visit the fact that in Soul you can not regulate the rear seats a modern model that claims to be practical, is obliged to provide such an opportunity. But Kia has something to answer this claim of free space on the second row of seats is more than enough. According to this indicator, Soul immediately exceeds the larger Kia Ceed by 90 mm. In addition, it turned out that Soul was also wider than Ceed.


The volume of the trunk Kia Soul is only 222 liters. But this number does not include a 100-liter cellar. If the rear seats are folded, then the volume will increase to 1140 liters

Before discussing the convenience of management and the features of the operation of this model, let's see who this model is competing with, and, accordingly, what requirements should be made to it? At first glance, the base price of Soul seems large from 599,900 rubles. Especially when you compare Soul with Ford Fusion, the cost of which begins with 491,800 rubles. But, as always, there are nuances. After all, the basic Fusion does not have air conditioning and music. In addition, a simple Ford is equipped with a 1.4 liter engine, which produces 80 hp. For comparison, Soul has a 1.6-liter unit and 126 horses. A 1.6-liter Fusion with a condee costs 569,500 rubles already, and the same car with automatic transmission is sold for at least 620,200 rubles. (Automatic Kia Soul will cost 659,900 rubles). At first glance, the price of Ford is more interesting, but the engine here is 26 hp at once, and the equipment for Fusion is easier (for example, there are no cast discs, and metallic should be paid for paint). We should not forget that Kia Soul is a much more modern model, which looks more interesting (although not everyone likes this design), and in the salon is more pleasantly.

Another competitor to Kia Soul can be considered such a model as Suzuki SX4 (now we are talking only about front -wheel drive versions of SX4). Yes, outwardly, the SX4 looks more cross -over. But the road clearance of models is virtually the same! Moreover, according to the results of the measurements of our colleagues from the author, KIA even has an advantage of one millimeter at the front -wheel drive SX4 clearance is 157 mm, and in Soul it is 158 mm. The basic SX4 is 619 000 rub. For a model with air conditioning, two pillows and ABS. The model with automatic transmission will cost 719,000 rubles, although there will already be a climate, discs, music, six pillows and a stabilization system. Similarly equipped Soul for 900 rubles. expensive.


The maximum configurations of Kia Soul have a huge number of bells and whistles, including the engine turning on the engine, climate control, hatch and light music

At the same time, Kia Soul can have very interesting bells and whistles, which are simply inaccessible in other similar models. Yes, some of them can be called pampering to those, boldly attribute the light music that highlights the front music columns. You can easily do without non -awkward access, although this thing is useful when you approach a car with things in your hands, there is no need to get the electronics key itself from your pocket and unlock the locks.

But the rear view camera was extremely useful. And it is a pity that it is only in maximum trim levels (779,900 rubles for a model with a gasoline engine and 809,900 rubles per Soul with a 128-horsepower diesel). In general, if you know about this car, then know it needs at least a rear parking sensors, and best of all a camera. For because of the wide racks and small rear windows with visibility back there are big problems. But the camera allows you to park with jewelry accuracy, even though the image is displayed on a small screen in the rear view mirror. During the operation of the machine to the camera, there are only two complaints at night, it does not show well enough, and on the screen itself the guides do not indicate where the car will rise after turning the steering wheel.


Due to the small rear window and wide rear racks, visibility back here, in general, is bad. But the side mirrors are excellent. In addition, all configurations, except for the basic, have parking sensors or rear view chamber

But there are no questions to ergonomics (except that the steering wheel is regulated only in one direction), plus a decent plastic assembly quality, although hard, the details are perfectly driven. It is also necessary to note a large supply of space above the head, comfortable seats of the driver and front passenger, the ability to connect not only a flash drive with music or audiobooks, but also any toys from Steve Jobs. In addition, thanks to the cross -over character, in Soul you sit quite high, which allows you to look at the road a little down. According to representatives of the Korean company, in SOUL the driver’s landing is 120 mm higher than on standard class B class models!

The first days of operation Kia Soul in the city showed that there are no big claims to the engine and gearbox. But, we recall that during a trip to Odessa without wives, there were a tandem that there were more than 90 km/h during the overtaking of passing cars, the machine thought for too long, and the engine was not spinning as willingly as we would like. But in a city where large speeds are not needed, delays in switching the automatic transmission to low transfers are not so noticeable.

Denis Smolyanov
Photo by the author
 


 

Source: Auto.mail.ru