2014 Kia Soul 2.0

The stylish and practical Soul is better than ever.

TESTED

We rarely take cuteness into account as an automotive virtue—styling, yes; cuteness, not so much—and hamsters normally merit no mention whatsoever. But those two factors nevertheless played huge roles in the massive success of the first-generation Kia Soul, which perhaps caught even its maker by surprise.

Surprising or not, when it came time for a major makeover, Kia’s design team was careful not to dilute the boxy, offbeat styling that endeared the Soul to so many since its 2009 introduction. (It’s the company’s second-bestselling model after the Optima.) All sheetmetal is new, according to Kia, but it preserves the trapezoidal shape outlining the greenhouse, and it takes a well-schooled observer to discern the new Soul from the original unless the two happen to be parked side by side.

It’s much easier to make hamster distinctions. The original Soul’s cadre of pudgy, fun-loving pitch hamsters are still a part of the program, but Kia’s ad agency put them on a diet, and they return for 2014 meaner and leaner, looking more like something that might eat actual hamsters. There’s irony in the symbolism of these skinnier rodents, because the redesigned Soul is a couple hundred pounds heavier than was the first-generation model. The weight gain goes with a small increase in size—it’s a little bigger in every dimension but height—and improved chassis rigidity (28.7 percent, according to Kia).

Easy Does It

In addition to its new body shell, the Soul has a new 2.0-liter engine option. This mill has the same bore, stroke, and displacement as the old 2.0, but with direct fuel injection rather than port injection. You might expect more performance, but the horsepower ratings for the old and new engines are identical at 164, and the direct-injection engine edges its predecessor by 3 lb-ft in the torque department. Expressed another way, there’s no extra spin down in the hamster cage. The biggest difference is that the new engine is tuned to deliver its torque lower in the rpm band—it peaks at 4000 rpm compared with 4800 for the previous engine—on the reasonable theory that Soul drivers are more likely to be motoring around in urban areas, where 0-to-60 dashes aren’t particularly relevant.

But even though the Soul seems vigorous when the light turns green, acceleration is tepid right across the board, and passing on two-lane highways is an activity to be approached with careful planning. Our test example, a top-spec ! (say, “exclaim”), achieved 60 mph from rest in a leisurely 8.1 seconds. The 2012 Soul 2.0 hit the mark in 7.4 seconds with a manual and 8.2 seconds with an automatic, but to be fair, this 2014 version weighs 3112 pounds versus 2792 and 2945 for the ’12 models. The new 2.0-liter is standard in the two top trims and is mated exclusively with a six-speed automatic with taller overall gearing than the manual had in the fleeter previous-gen 2.0. If you want a manual gearbox, your Soul choice for 2014 is the base 130-hp, 1.6-liter four-cylinder.

The direct-injected engine generates a slightly higher EPA highway fuel-economy forecast than before. Kia was forced to revise ratings for many of its models downward in November 2012, and the corrected ratings for our 2012 automatic-transmission test car now stand at 23 mpg city and 28 highway. The 2014 2.0-liter with auto combo is good for 23/31, according to the EPA, and we averaged 23 mpg during the course of our test.

Solid Goods

But if the Soul isn’t a hole-shot champ or a true fuel miser, it nevertheless has great appeal. It’s an exceptionally solid piece of automotive assembly, possessing uniformly tidy body-panel gaps and a railroad-trestle chassis. In addition, the interior appointments are worthy of a car located substantially higher on the price-and-prestige continuum. It’s true that our test vehicle was about as well equipped as it gets in Soul-dom—heated and ventilated leather front seats, a panoramic sunroof, and navigation were all present—but for just over $26,000, it’s still a compelling value story. And, of course, it doesn’t have to get to that level. Pricing starts at $15,495 for a 1.6-liter example, or $18,995 for one with the powertrain tested here.

We think the most significant improvement to the 2014 Soul is the reduction in noise, vibration, and harshness. The interior ambience of the first-generation Soul was a bit raucous from wind and road noise, whereas the second-generation car is as quiet as anything in its class, particularly at freeway cruising speeds