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For 2017, Kia's made just a few small feature and efficiency tweaks to the Soul to make this charming little box just a tad bit better and a little more appealing than it already was.
Yeah, there's also one really big change.
The addition of a top trim turbo model that adds a more powerful 201 horsepower turbocharged engine to the mix.
So let's hop behind the wheel of this 2017 Kia Soul turbo to see just how much of a difference in extra 40 horsepower makes for this compact SUV.
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Now, you won't find a T for turbo badge outside of the engine bay.
In fact, the only way to know that this car is special is the red lettering On the Soul badge out back, and the more aggressive front end.
Under the hood, you'll find the 1.6 liter turbo charged gamma engine.
That's the same mil that powered the Kia Forte Coupe SX or Hyundai's Velocerturbo.
Here it makes 201 horsepower and 195 pounds Feet of torque, and as I said, that's 40 ponies better than the Soul's previous best.
The turbo doesn't feel like a significantly different experience from the 2.0 liter.
Kia hasn't made any changes to the suspension aside from slightly larger wheels and slightly wider tires.
However, you can feel the extra power when accelerating, particularly at lower city Speed.
You take away from a traffic light, and this just feels like a much more confident car.
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Interestingly, the Turbo's 28 miles per gallon combined estimate is just a hair better than either the 1.6 liter or 2 liter naturally aspirated engine.
That's probably thanks to the extra forward gear on the more efficient transmission.
So aside from a bit of a price premium there's almost no reason not to choose the most potent variant.
Turbo or no every Kia Soul comes standard with the Automaker third generation UVO tech.
I'm actually liking the responsiveness and fluidity of this navigation and infotainment system.
Though I have to admit most my driving's been done with With the standard Android Auto or Apple CarPlay interface on the dashboard.
That brings me to my one complaint about the Yugo tech, and fortunately, it's a small one.
The USB port that you use for charging your phone when connected to Android Auto or Apple CarPlay doesn't supply enough power to adequately charge a flagship smartphone.
So my phone ends up slowly draining while I'm driving.
And at the end of a long trip, I have less power than I started Fix that Kia and I'll be a pretty happy camper.
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You know I've always had a soft spot for the Kia Soul.
It's a charming little car that has a really good blend of performance and features, and it's outlasted all of its natural competition.
Cars like the Scion [INAUDIBLE], the Nissan Cube, Honda's Element, they're all gone and the Soul's still here and it's still good.
However, it now has the brakes to do battle with a whole new generation of compact SUVs.
Fortunately, the new turbocharged heart and smarter tech means that the Sol's looking more competitive than ever.
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The 2017 Kia Soul starts at around 16K for the base model with the manual transmission but if you want a turbo, you're looking at a starting point of $23,500.
That includes destination charges.
And since the turbo is the most powerful, most efficient and most fully featured of the bunch, I'd recommend that that be your starting point, too.
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