We got another car to test drive and in this opportunity we have the redesign 2015 Kia Soul ! We drove it mainly on the city for about a week and this is what we think about this new Hamster.
[ads id=”0″ style=”float:left;padding:9px;”]Even tho the new soul kept the same overall design, we can find new elements that makes this Soul a unique car with the competition and the previous generation.
In the front we noticed the whole front has been raised closer to the hood, the “tiger nose” grill has the same width but has been reduce in height. The new trapezoidal lower fascia now is bigger with a new honeycomb design and the fog lights has the same shape as before but this time is right next to the lower fascia.
The main change has to be the new HID headlights, now is smaller in size and they rearrange couple elements like the DRL LED is now located at the top of the low beam projector and high beam reflector, the orange reflector is now smaller giving that aggressive front end look most Kias are now getting.
On the side, the new Soul lacks of the side molding giving another clean look but unfortunately you will find more door dings so try to park away from others but its always a compromise when seeking a better look. We find the same side blinker at the fender, some been just a Soul badge like in our model. The wheels of Soul! are 18″ inches with very nice design pattern of 5 spokes with 2 color tone, aluminum and gunmetal.
On the back we find the design for the LED taillights and also position higher compare to previous generation, those gives a unique design when light up. you will also find red reflectors on the bottom section, just like the fog lights on the front.
This Soul has gone slightly bigger in certain dimension, like the lenght is up by 0.8 inches, width is up by 0.6 and wheelbase is up by 0.8 but the only part it went down was on the height by 0.4 giving a better stance and it feels much nicer been closer to the ground.
[ads id=”0″ style=”float:left;padding:9px;”]Some of you might notice it but if not, many of the changes done to the Soul in this new redesign are coming from one of the most desired concept models by Soul owners, and that is the Track’ster made in 2012. Definitely Kia made the right decision in making this new Soul very similar to the Track’ster.
If you think some of the exterior still looks the same as the previous Soul, well then the interior will definitely will change your mind. The interior still has that youthful feeling but now it has more premium design.
Our test drive came with leather seats in which the cushion felt really comfortable, plus you will also find heated and cooled seats but one thing to mention only the driver seat was electrically adjustable. The push to start button was located besides the shift knob, at first i thought i might some problems for having it so close to other things that i might accidentally press it but that wasn’t the case. The panoramic moonroof is something that really fits well this new Soul and im very glad Kia decided to add one in the Soul.
Keeping the unique design, Kia is adding the tweeters right in top of the side air vents forming some sort of turrets. The Infinity system on this car sounds great, including the subwoofer found at the back that gives a deep bass and it’ll probably be more than enough reducing the need of adding aftermarket parts, right next to the sub’s you get an extra cigarette ligther.
The steering wheel on the car is all leather and also has the option for heated. The round controls on the upper side of the steering wheel look very similar to the K900, but one thing got me really intrigued was the lack of the mute button since there are times where mute it almost always needed. This model comes with the 8 inches navigation system in which i fall in love with, it reminded me of the Navigon app. Ohh and let’s not forget about the led lights on the speakers, they still there.
The engine for this soul is the 2.0 Nu GDi, also known as G4N4, with 164 horsepower @ 6,200 rpm and 151 lb.-ft. torque @ 4,000 rpm, the transmission married to this engine is 6-Speed Automatic Transmission with SPORTMATIC and ACTIVE ECO, also we get an average of 26 MPG, with 23 in the city and 31 on the highway. The base model of this Soul with the 1.6 Gamma GDi, also known as G4FD, with 130 horsepower @ 6,300 rpm and 118 lb.-ft. Torque @ 4,850 rpm with the option of 6-SPEED Manual Transmission. These engines have seen a reduction on Horsepower but an increased in torque, which is something we are noticing more and more.
The Price of this Soul! is $26,195 with the starting price at 14,900, with those prices the Soul is very competitive in his class. Most of the competition cars under this category are struggling with the popularity of this car and lets not forget the very popular Hamstar, making new videos and going through some changes every time they redesign the Soul.
This Soul is going towards the right path and one way to prove it is the Soul EV, which is soon to be found at the show rooms of every dealer.
