Kia Soul 1.6 CRDi (2008) CAR review

We got up close with the production Kia Soul a couple of weeks back at the 2008 Paris motor show, but today CAR has driven the Soul in Korea. It’s a B-segment offering from Kia, a model the Korean firm hope will help build on the Ceed’s success while attracting a younger audience. Think of it as our Mini or Fiat 500, say the Kia people.

The Kia Soul looks good to me...

Certainly does. Thank ex-Audi designer Peter Schreyer for that. The Soul’s bold creases, chunky wheelarches and slabby sides lend it a sense of solidity while the blacked-out A-pillars and wing vents add a mini-me Range Rover feel. It doesn’t just look sturdy, though; slam the doors and it sounds quality too, a chunky thunk emanating rather than the kind of tinniness you might expect from a Korean product.

How about inside the Soul?

It can’t quite live up to the quality promised by the exterior and it’s off the pace when compared with European competitors like the new Ford Fiesta, but it’s not bad. In fact, as a whole it looks pretty good: clearly laid out controls, durable feeling fabric on the comfy (though unsupportive) seats and a tough-looking honeycomb design that covers the dash.

There’s even standard air-con and the option of an eight-speaker stereo (developed in-house) to please the funky urban types that Kia hope to attract – which sounds good.

But look at the parts that make up the whole and the façade falters – some of the lower plastics look cheap and scratch-prone while the door handles and electric window switches and surround look dated.

All top-spec models (possibly tagged Extreme and thought to account for around a fifth of sales) get a colour-coded dash with the upper sections of the front and rear seats coloured to match. It probably looks good on subtler hues, but our red test car was a tad too garish – a bit explosion in a Dulux factory for our tastes.

There are other options too: leather might be offered, but is not yet confirmed, while a range of so-called ‘character’ cars will be run for limited amounts of time. ‘Some might be more chic, others bling, girly or outdoorsy,’ said a spokesman. Quite.

Click 'Next' to read more of our Kia Soul first drive review