Kia Soul 1.6i 2 5dr Hatchback review

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Kia Soul 1.6i 2 Road Test

Test date 01 April 2009 Price as tested £13,250

For Passenger space, tough style, stereo system, lively performance

Against Noisy at speed, wet grip and traction, high-speed stability not the best

Have you got Soul? Have you even got the idea behind this new Kia? It’s always dangerous when a car maker tries to dictate what it is that the youthful generation will find trendy, but done the right way it can work.

Kia’s aim was to make a car that, for the first time, will have customers checking the colours and accessories before they check the price. The Soul has broadly the same footprint as today’s oversized superminis, but being tall and square-cut it has more interior space and an almost SUV-like presence. Maybe that makes it more ‘urban’, an approach that the potent sound system and the accessory options build upon. The Soul is billed as a fashion object in the same vein as a Mini or a Fiat 500.

Two 1.6-litre engines are offered: a petrol unit with 124bhp and a diesel with 126bhp. Standard models are a Soul 1and a Soul 2, but limited-edition Samba, Shaker and, most expensively, Burner versions are also on offer. These will be ousted annually by new editions, keeping the fashion credentials valid. Our test car is a petrol Soul 2.