So Much Soul (So Little Money): The 2020 Kia Soul X-Line

The 2020 Kia Soul X-Line.

Full disclosure: I luck into things.  I have found some of my favorite places while completely lost.  Most of the jobs I have enjoyed most I didn't even apply for.  And I think I just found possibly the best all-around urban commuter car by saying "I'll take whatever you've got".

Fire In Your Soul: The 2020 Kia Soul GT-Line 1.6 Turbo

The 2020 Kia Soul GT-Line 1.6 Turbo.

The Kia Soul is a survivor.  It arrived a decade ago in a flurry of quirky imported transportation boxes including the Scion xB and Nissan Cube, immediately caught on in a way the others didn't and now stands alone.  Why?  Because Kia got it right from the beginning, delivering a vehicle that was, Tardis-like, bigger on the inside---and then kept developing it.

The third generation of the Soul has landed for the 2020 model year and it is improved in every conceivable way.  Especially in terms of performance.

Soul With Speed: The 2017 Kia Soul ! (Exclaim)

The 2017 Kia Soul ! (Exclaim).

The Kia Soul has proven itself to be the best of the funky little urban "is it a car or a crossover?" boxes that came along at the beginning of the decade.  In fact, save the Nissan Juke, which moves a fraction of the number of copies the strong-selling Soul does, the others (Scion xB, Nissan Cube) are dead and gone.

The Soul simply offered a stronger blend of utility, price and features.  And now, performance enters the mix.

New Car Review: 2013 Kia Soul

Kia's been surprising people for a few years now, but maybe the biggest surprise was how the Soul ended up a big-seller when other seemingly similar funky boxes (Scion xB, Nissan Cube) failed.

Sure, the Soul had the Hamstars (love them or hate them, you know who they are and what car they're selling), and marketing matters. But the Soul caught on because the Soul works.

Kia Soul Sport Review

Soul. Korea.

Not a typo. Not talking about Seoul, the capital city...but the latest import from Korea, the Kia Soul.

Number one question I got from people during the week I had it: "What IS it?"

Answer: A very roomy, reasonably powered and very fun car.

The exterior styling looks better (at least to me) in person than in pictures. The interior, I think, deserves an award. The designer, who came from Audi, found a way to distract from a low budget with inventive textures and colors. It's a mood elevator...and probably makes the Soul feel more fun than it actually is. But that's okay. Flip through enough car magazines and you'll find automotive journalists busting very fast cars because they don't feel that fast. It works both ways.

$16,950 base. The tester had one option...a sunroof for $700. That and $695 freight gets us to $18,345. That's $351 more than the Scion xB I tested (which didn't have a sunroof). And the Soul gets better gas mileage (EPA estimated 24 city/30 highway to the xB's 22/28).

As I noted in the xB review, this segment's getting crowded...the Soul, xB, Honda Element and Nissan Cube all aiming for trendy young drivers....but I think Kia has the edge.

UPDATE: Did an additional week in the Kia Soul Exclaim (which is actually printed as just an exclamation point...as in "Kia Soul !"). Pretty much the same deal as the Kia Soul Sport, except the Sport gets a sport-tuned suspension which the ! doesn't, the ! gets body color front and rear bumpers while the Sport gets "Unique front and rear bumper fascias"...and the $700 optional power sunroof in the Sport is standard in the !. Either one's a strong candidate for the segment.