Kia Soul Connect Plus 1.6 CRDi

All-new second generation Kia Soul is greatly improved, but it still divides opinion.

The Kia Soul is a Marmite of cars – you either love it or hate it. Just to be different, I was somewhere between the two before my week with the Kia Soul Connect Plus 1.6 CRDi.

By the end of the week, it had largely won me over. It’s a bold design that dares to break the mould, and for that alone it deserves to succeed.

It was a shock to the system when it first arrived, not just because of its boxy looks, but the bright colour – a full-on postbox red (officially Inferno Red).

If I owned one I’d go for the slightly more restrained white, black or grey – or better still – white with a red roof.

Looks aside, the Kia is a very well packaged car.

Originally launched in 2009, Kia says the new Soul is now “roomier” than its predecessor and I can’t argue with that.

There’s bags of room inside, front and back, with amble head and legroom for four or five adults.

Just like its hatchback sibling, the Ce’ed, good quality plastics are used inside, the seats are comfortable and the instrumentation used is clear and functional.

The multimedia unit in the centre console is especially user-friendly and boasts excellent graphics, while the sound system rocks.

The 1.6 diesel engine is reasonably refined, frugal and gutsy – and it’s matched with a slick six-speed manual gearbox. For the record, it’s capable of close on 57mpg, has a top speed of 112mph and a 0-60 time of 10.8 seconds.

So far so good. The driving experience is fine around town and on long, fast stretches of road, but disappointing on winding country roads.

 

The steering is strangely light and it didn’t give me the confidence to hustle it around corners. I should note that it is possible to change the weight of the power steering, but for me, it still didn’t feel right.

The Soul competes in a compact crossover sector where quirky looks abound – just look at the Nissan Juke, Skoda Yeti and Vauxhall Mokka.

I’d say the Kia is definitely an option to consider if you want a surprisingly spacious, stand-out-from-the-crowd crossover. And, as ever, the seven-year/100,000-mile Kia warranty is a huge bonus.

The Kia Soul Connect plus 1.6 CRDi I drove came with a £490 metallic paint option and costs £17,500. And for that you get a lot of car for your money.

Twitter: @garethherincx