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Kia Soul in depth

We take a close look at the interesting and practical elements of the first Kia, not suitable for shrinking violets.

Derek Fung
Derek loves nothing more than punching a remote location into a GPS, queuing up some music and heading out on a long drive, so it's a good thing he's in charge of CNET Australia's Car Tech channel.
Derek Fung
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1 of 41 Derek Fung/CNET Australia

Historic

We take a close look at the interesting and practical elements of the first Kia, not suitable for shrinking violets.

Previewed in a series of concept cars, the production Soul was launched in Australia in early 2009.

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In between

The Soul is sized between the smaller Honda Jazz and larger Toyota Rukus.

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Target

The Soul is targeted at the young, or young at heart, who like individual-looking cars. They may also be interested in blinging their car up with decals, wheels and paint jobs.

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4 of 41 Derek Fung/CNET Australia

Eyeliner

The Soul³ comes with a plastic eyeliner for the indicator lights.

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5 of 41 Derek Fung/CNET Australia

Like a tiger

Since the company hired the designer of the original Audi TT, Peter Schreyer, all Kia vehicles feature a corporate grille dubbed the "tiger nose".

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Cash money

The Soul starts from AU$20,990 and rises to a rather steep AU$32,890 for the Soul³ pictured here.

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When I was 18

The Soul³ comes fitted with a fine pair of 18-inch alloy wheels.

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Room with a view

The Soul marks Kia's emergence from being just a purveyor of cheap cars loaded with tonnes of kit.

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Let it all out

Side vents are all the rage now, from the high-priced Jaguars to everyday Commodores. The ones on the Soul are purely cosmetic.

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Look at me, look at you

When you're as extroverted as the Soul, you may as well go all out and have a chrome fuel filler cap.

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11 of 41 Derek Fung/CNET Australia

Spoilt

A contrasting black spoiler sits atop the rectangular tail-gate.

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12 of 41 Derek Fung/CNET Australia

A moment of reflection

Who would've thought a few years ago that a Kia would have as much on-road presence as the Audi R8 or the Volkswagen Karmann coupe seen in the reflection?

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Wrap it real good

The Soul has blacked out windscreen pillars to fool us into thinking the windscreen wraps around.

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Haven't I seen you before?

The rear tail-lights remind us a lot of the dearly departed Skoda Roomster's.

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Slippery customer

All too often the door handles slipped from our grasp with a thud, revealing a door still closed.

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Sight for sore eyes

The dashboard is nicely designed, with the two-tone colour scheme particularly pleasing. Shame it reflects badly in bright sunlight.

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Let me think

The Soul³'s fold down arm rest for the driver aids languid driving.

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Booty talk, part I

Not particularly deep, the tall boot suffers from having a high load lip.

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Booty talk, part II

Underneath the boot floor is a set of concealed storage compartments.

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Saving space

Underneath the hidden storage space is a space-saver spare wheel.

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Booty talk, part III

Loading room is greatly increased when the rear seats are folded down. Unfortunately, they don't quite lie flat.

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In the rear

Rear-seat space is adequate, even behind a tall passenger. The bench is too flat, though.

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Split level

The glovebox features two levels, the bottom of which doubles as the lid and could crush items if one isn't careful.

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Grainy

It's nice to see that the designers have paid attention to the little things, like making sure that the grain of the dashboard and door trim match up.

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There's no other store?

Can't say we're a fan of the seat trim, which does its best to remind us of the department store that isn't Myer.

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Odd spot

There's leather for the door trim, steering wheel and gear knob, but not the seats. The door pulls have a nice rubber feel to them.

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Simple touch

Instrument lighting is clear and classy.

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Hiding hole, part I

This cover is particularly difficult to open...

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Hiding hole, part II

...but is a good space to store a pair of sunglasses.

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Cold air

Air conditioning is standard throughout the Soul range, but unfortunately not even the AU$30k Soul³ diesel has climate control.

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Louder!

Steering wheel audio controls are intuitive enough to use by feel alone.

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Cruise on through

The cruise control, umm, controls are similarly well thought out. Dashboard lights inform you of when the system is on and also when it's regulating speed.

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Shifty

A five-speed manual transmission is available on lower spec models, but the Soul³ comes exclusively with an old-school four-speed auto.

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Sounds simple

The sound system is easy to navigate, even when scrolling through large lists with the Tune dial.

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Nothing on

Silence is accompanied by a clock and an outside temperature gauge.

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Mr Squiggle

Yet more neat work by the guys and girls in Kia's design department.

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Digital connections

An auxiliary jack and USB port are standard across the Soul range, but you'll have to pay extra for a Hyundai/Kia cable that allows to you to access and charge your iPod/iPhone/iPad.

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Let's get it on, part I

This dial underneath the Soul³'s steering wheel...

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Let's get it on, part II

...controls the light rings around the speakers. The lights can be set to on, off, a throbby mood light or to beat half-a-second out of time with the music. The rings only light up in various intensities of red.

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Bass boot

The boot holds a subwoofer and a 12V power point.

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Unhappy mood

The rear speakers are strangely not graced by light rings.

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