All-new 2015 Kia Soul reboots its unique appeal: It’s Hip to be Square

Kia’s second-generation Soul is an all-new 2015 model that introduces a smooth new-look exterior inspired by the 2012 Kia Track’ster concept, creating a thoroughly fresh, more grown-up appearance without losing its appealing character and individualistic edge.

Beneath the new panels, there’s an all-new platform (based on Kia Europe’s best-selling Cee’d platform), with a significantly stronger body shell and upgraded suspension to improve driving dynamics and ride comfort.

The original Soul generated immense loyalty among owners, and both existing and new buyers for the 2015 model will appreciate the latest iteration’s significantly quieter cabin, higher quality materials, increased space for people and cargo, plus the new range of available premium features and customising options.

The new Soul will build on the achievements of its predecessor, which has recorded global sales of more than 760,000 units since its introduction in late 2008.

“The Kia Soul has become one of our brand’s most popular export models, attracting loyal customers from a wide range of backgrounds across many countries – so it was important that the all-new model remained true to the original iconic design,” comments Soon-Nam Lee, Kia’s Vice President of Overseas Marketing. “Now, the introduction of the exciting second-generation Soul is a truly significant landmark for Kia.

“The Soul already has great emotional appeal, so our main focus with the 2015 model was infusing it with improved driving dynamics, developing a higher quality cabin and adding desirable features to highlight the new Soul’s fresh sophistication.

David Sieff, Marketing Director at Kia S.A commented, “The real excitement around the new Soul is the transformed appearance, broader range of features, improved dynamics and refinement, which will attract both existing and new customers to Kia showrooms.” He added that, “The interior and refinement is a big step up and will be a key focus area for all new Kia’s in the years to come”.

Second-generation Soul models are manufactured at Kia’s Gwangju facility in Korea, alongside the Carens and Sportage.

Styling & design: New Soul adds modern visual cues to original iconic design

The all-new Soul design remains iconic and instantly recognisable yet thoroughly fresh and more grown up, without losing its edge and honouring Soul owners’ fierce individualism. The new Soul was created at Kia’s American Design Centre in California by a design team headed by Tom Kearns, Chief Designer, Kia Motors America, and overseen by Peter Schreyer, Chief Design Officer, Kia Motors Corporation.

Keeping what made the original Soul special, while addressing areas for improvement was a tough challenge. As the design team at Kia’s California studio began putting pen to paper – maintaining the iconic design while adding modern cues – Kia engineers in the USA and Korea focused on making the 2015 Soul even more fun to drive (see Suspension & Running Gear section).

“The all-new Soul was one of the more difficult assignments we’ve taken on,” said Kearns. “Striking the right balance between the wonderful design of the original car with the audacious proportions and stance of the Track’ster concept was daunting. It proved to be a truly collaborative effort with guidance from Peter Schreyer in Frankfurt and assistance from our studio in Korea. In the end, we’ve kept the essence of Soul while infusing it with more presence inside and out.”

Exterior similarities between Track’ster and new Soul are easy to spot. The large trapezoidal lower air intake is nearly a direct carryover from the concept, and the location of the available fog lights – down low and pushed to the leading edges – mirror those found on the Track’ster. Kia’s signature ‘tiger-nose’ grille is present, but it’s been reworked to more closely resemble the concept. Adding a touch of flair, the unique ‘floating’ body-colour panel inset into the tailgate also originated with the concept.

While the 2015 Soul’s upright stance, squared shoulders, wraparound greenhouse, high-mounted taillights and confidence-inspiring ride height are all hallmark design elements, the new Soul is ‘all-new’, as none of the exterior body panels are carried over and the interior features an all-new design.

The 2015 Kia Soul has subtly larger dimensions. Compared with its predecessor, the new model is 20 mm longer (4,140 mm), 15 mm wider (1,800 mm), and 10 mm lower (down to 1,600 mm with 16-inch wheels). The new dimensions and the extended wheelbase (also up by 20 mm to 2,570 mm) have allowed improvements to the vehicle’s practicality, with more space for people and cargo, plus the tailgate opening is now 62 mm wider, providing easier access to the cargo bay.

Smoother exterior panels and careful attention to surface detailing have cut the Kia Soul’s aerodynamic drag to Cd 0.34 (down from 0.35) – despite the new model’s wider stance – improving fuel economy at higher speeds.

The new Kia Soul is available with a choice of two alloy wheels, which includes a 17-inch alloy with five double-spokes and an 18-inch alloy in a five double-spoke design with polished face and dark recessed surfaces. Additionally, a range of 11 exterior colours are on offer, including Clear White, Mustard, Black, Newport Blue, Acid Green, Bright Silver, Titanium Grey, Inferno Red, Toffee, Vanilla Shake and Caribbean Blue.

For the first time on a Kia, the 2015 Soul will also be offered with the option of a contrasting roof in three colours – Clear White with an Inferno Red roof, Newport Blue with Clear White roof and Inferno Red with a Black roof.

Comfort & convenience: More style and more features make Soul’s cabin a delight

The interior design team for new Soul paid particular attention to creating a more premium look and feel for the new model’s cabin. Using the original Soul interior as a starting point, Kia’s designers played up the circular theme found inside Track’ster concept.

“With the previous Soul, we kind of dipped our toe in the water when it came to incorporating the circular patterns. But for the all-new 2015 Soul, we really wanted to echo as many of the Track’ster’s circular interior reference points as possible,” commented Kearns.

The instrument cluster features deeply recessed circular gauges. Along the door panels, sculpted circles incorporate the power windows and door locks. The centre console features a circular gearshift surround and engine push-button start (located prominently beside the gear shift), which also are direct carryovers from Track’ster. The front door-mounted speakers mirror the circular, high-mounted ‘floating’ tweeters and utilise available LED-string light technology to create ripple effect, red-hued mood lighting.

The steering wheel-mounted controls are housed in Soul-exclusive circular groupings along the horizontal spokes with the buttons for the audio system and trip computer falling readily to the thumbs, enabling the driver’s hands to remain on the wheel at all times.

“If you think about droplets falling into a still pond, you begin to visualize the inspiration for the all-new Soul’s interior. The cabin design is organic, like the human body, and we feel it makes the interior that much more appealing to the driver and passengers,” concluded Kearns.

Higher quality materials are used throughout the cabin, with new soft-touch materials on the instrument panel, centre console and door panels. Details such as leather trimmed seating and the use of high-gloss piano-black trim on the centre console and dash elevate the Soul’s interior to new levels of sophistication.

The cabin is also larger, with increased headroom (by 6 mm) and shoulder room (up 7 mm). The already generous rear legroom is also increased by 4 mm. The new Soul’s step-in height has been reduced (by 5 mm in front and 7 mm at the rear), while seat hip points are lower (by 12 mm in front and 18 mm at the rear) – allowing even easier entry and egress.

Inside, the standard front seats have larger bolsters on the cushion and backrest – offering greater support during cornering. High specification models also feature a powered front driver seat with eight-way adjustment (sliding, height, tilt and lumbar support). The new design of steering wheel continues to offer tilt and telescopic adjustment over a 40 mm range, so that drivers can find the ideal position for their individual stature.

Depending on the model, the 2015 Soul promises an even more rewarding ownership experience, with a range of newly available premium features. These include daytime running lights, front and rear LED lights, HID headlights, keyless entry and push-button engine start, automatic air-conditioning, cruise control, a Supervision instrument cluster, panoramic glass sunroof, front and rear parking sensors and heated exterior mirrors.

Every new Soul comes with six audio speakers (one in each door and two tweeters), AUX and USB connectivity, with Bluetooth® hands-free connectivity standard across all models.

As well as offering more room for occupants, the cargo capacity in new Soul has been increased by 4% to 354 litres (VDA) with the rear seats upright – expanding to 994 litres with the rear seats folded (loaded to the window line) and 1,367 litres when loaded to the roof.

Refinement: Improved NVH measures deliver ‘best-in-class’ refinement

To meet the constantly rising expectations of consumers around the world, Kia’s engineers worked hard to ensure that the second-generation Soul delivers ‘best-in-class’ refinement – achieving significantly better NVH (noise, vibration and harshness) than the original model.

In part, this improvement is thanks to the biggest technical change for the 2015 Soul – the adoption of an all-new platform that supports a re-engineered body shell. This is now made of 66% ultra-high strength steel, with stronger connections along the cowl, upper and lower B-pillars and between the C-pillars. The application of structural adhesive around the door and tailgate openings and along the roof also improves rigidity.

These measures result in a 29% increase in torsional rigidity compared to the outgoing model, which benefits the steering, handling and ride, as well as refinement. An additional benefit of using ultra-high strength steel is the opportunity to make the A-pillars 20 mm narrower, improving forward visibility.

To isolate occupants from road imperfections, the new Soul’s front suspension, engine and transmission are now mounted on an all-new stronger subframe with four bushings to minimize ride harshness – none were used on the first-generation Soul.

Other actions to reduce NVH include fitting a 25% denser isolation pad across the engine bay bulkhead and PU layered carpet through the cabin, switching to expandable foam (rather than block foam) as a body shell cavity filler and using hollow drive-shafts on the diesel model. To achieve a further improvement in refinement, the interior of new Soul’s doors now feature a plastic module housing fewer parts (saving weight) and acting as a more efficient sound insulator.

The NVH improvement program has achieved a significant effect. Depending on model, idle noise level in the cabin is down 2 dB to 39 dB for the petrol model and down 4 dB to 41 dB for the diesel model, while road noise during a 60 km/h cruise is cut by 3 dB to 63 dB for both engine types.

Engines & transmissions: Well-balanced blend of performance and economy

New Soul buyers will be offered a choice of two petrol engines – Kia’s 113 kW 2.0-litre Nu MPI engine and the 91 kW 1.6-litre Gamma MPI engine – as well as a 94 kW 1.6-litre U2 diesel engine. Every new Soul will be equipped with gas-struts to support the hood, thus making regular engine bay checks an easy task.

These lightweight engines are manufactured with cast aluminium cylinder blocks and aluminium cylinder heads and share several technical features. They are equipped with an offset crankshaft (to reduce friction), a low-noise timing chain, mechanical lash adjustment, variable intake valve timing and a plastic variable intake manifold (on the Nu engine). Together, these features (and the six-speed transmissions) enable new Soul to deliver a competitive combination of power, performance, fuel economy and modest emissions.

Depending on model, acceleration time from standstill to 100 km/h varies from 10.2 seconds up 12.5 seconds. Top speed is up to 188 km/h.

Every new Soul model will feature a six-speed transmission, as Kia offers drivers a choice of manual or multi-mode automatic gearboxes.

To reduce fuel consumption and lower CO2 emissions when cruising at speed, both the six-speed transmissions feature high top-gear ratios (up to 0.596:1 manual and 0.772:1 automatic for the diesel), and low first-gear ratios that enable drivers to fully enjoy the new Soul’s off-the-line performance.

Buyers of automatic new Souls can switch between two operating modes: fully automatic or ‘Sport’, which is engaged by moving the lever towards the driver when in D mode. For city driving, fully automatic mode is ideal, while ‘Sport’ mode allows clutchless manual gear changes for greater driver involvement.

Suspension & running gear: Improved steering and ride, plus enjoyable dynamics

The core specification of the new 2015 Soul’s fully independent MacPherson strut front suspension and CTBA (coupled torsion beam axle) rear suspension is unchanged from the first-generation model, but both systems have been further developed to improve handling agility, enhance shock absorbance and minimize NVH. The new body shell also creates a stronger foundation for the suspension and steering, in turn enhancing ride comfort and steering precision.

At the front, the suspension’s lower arms now have larger diameter bushes, the steering rack is a stronger one-piece housing and is moved forwards by 15 mm (closer to the axle line), while the stabiliser bar is moved rearward on the McPherson strut. The steering geometry is modified to deliver improved on-centre steering feel. In combination, these changes result in improved steering response, reduced impacts felt through the wheel, and less sensitivity to wide winds.

The CTBA rear suspension is a particularly compact design that ensures minimum intrusion into the Soul’s cabin and trunk space, and also maximises under-floor space to accommodate the fuel tank and spare wheel. The rear shock absorbers are longer and are mounted vertically to deliver greater suspension travel and smoother operation to improve ride comfort.

Every new Soul comes with Kia’s FlexSteer™ and MDPS (Motor Driven Power Steering) systems. FlexSteer™ provides three different settings for the steering to match each customer’s preference with Normal, Comfort and Sport modes. The effort required to turn the wheel varies with mode, but the gearing remains the same. By fitting MDPS electric power assistance, rather than hydraulic assistance, significant fuel savings can be achieved – up to 3%, depending on driving conditions.

As previously, the Soul’s steering wheel features both tilt and telescopic adjustment. The car’s turning circle is still compact, despite the 20 mm growth in length and wheelbase, measuring 10.6 metres and requiring just 2.85 turns of the steering wheel lock-to-lock.

To maximize stopping power, new Soul models is equipped with an all-disc braking system featuring large diameter 280 mm ventilated front discs and 262 mm solid discs at the rear, backed up by an ABS anti-lock braking system.

With the 2015 model, Kia has created a new Soul that delivers significantly improved driving dynamics, ride quality and refinement.

Safety: Delivering the highest safety standards in its class

Kia Motors makes the safety of people using its products and other road users a top priority, and invests heavily in safety-related R&D to deliver real-world benefits to its customers.

The official crash test standards around the world are becoming tougher and Kia’s safety team has re-engineered the new Soul’s structure using a much higher percentage of high-tensile strength steel to ensure that the latest model will also deliver the highest safety standards in its class. The all-new Soul has already been awarded a five-star safety rating by the US NHTSA.

Buyers of new Soul will benefit from active safety technologies such as HAC (hill-start assist control) and VSM (vehicle stability management). Other available features to make driving safer include: front fog lights, front and rear parking sensors, heated door mirrors and HID (high intensity discharge) Xenon headlamps (depending on model).

Inside the new Soul, the front seatbelts are fitted with pre-tensioners and the cabin is equipped with six airbags – dual front airbags, front side airbags and side curtain airbags (offering head protection to both front seat and rear seat occupants) – as standard.

Equipment specifications: 2015 Soul offers generous levels of equipment

Kia has ensured that the new Soul carries over the generous levels of standard specification found on the first-generation model. To allow for personalisation, and to offer customers more flexibility in matching their requirements to specification levels, three specification packages, linked to engine options, are on offer.

As the entry point to the 2015 Kia Soul range, the ‘Start’ specification package offers a comprehensive set of comfort and convenience features that form the basic specification set for all Soul models. Linked specific engines, it is by no means “entry level”. Instead, it is the starting point to finding the Soul that best suits your needs.

Some of the standard features of the ‘Start’ package, and included across the range, include:

• 17-inch alloy wheels
• ABS Brakes
• Front fog lamps
• A high-mounted rear stop lamp
• Body coloured door handles
• Electric heated folding door mirrors
• Windscreen auto-defogging system
• 60/40 split folding rear seat backrest
• Electronic chromatic interior rear view mirror
• Manual air-conditioning
• Audio system with six speakers
• Radio with RDS and MP3 / Aux connectivity
• Electric front and rear windows
• Bluetooth® hands-free system
• Dual front airbags
• Front side airbags
• Side curtain airbags

Upgrading to the 2.0-litre MPI or 1.6-litre turbocharged diesel engine also sees an upgrade to the ‘Street’ specification package. This mid-specification package includes all features that make up the Start package, but adds – among other items:

• An upgrade to 18-inch alloy wheels
• ABS brakes with Brake Assist (BAS)
• Chrome door handles
• Smart key and start button
• Supervision instrument cluster with 4.3-inch TFT screen
• Chilled glove box
• An upgrade to automatic air-conditioning
• Leather seats with contrast stitching
• Folding rear seat centre armrest with cup-holders
• Rear parking sensors
• ESC (Electronic Stability Control)
• HAC (Hill Start Assist control)
• VSM (Vehicle Stability Management system)

The ‘Street’ specification package is only available with a 6-speed manual transmission.

Topping the 2015 Kia Soul range, and also linked only to the 2.0-litre MPI and 1.6-litre turbocharged diesel engine, is the ‘Smart’ specification package. Only available with a 6-speed automatic transmission, the ‘Smart’ package sees even more features added to the comprehensive Street package. Some of these features include:

• HID headlights
• LED daytime running lights
• LED rear light clusters
• Upgrade to a 6-speed automatic transmission
• Cruise control
• Front and rear parking sensors
• Headlight washers
• Powered driver seat
• Interior mood lighting with music mode

A panoramic sunroof is available as an option on ‘Smart’ models only.

Pricing & warranty: A Soul for every taste – and wallet

All 2015 Kia Soul models come as standard with Kia’s class-leading 5-year / 150 000km warranty, as well as a 4-year / 90 000km service plan and three years / unlimited roadside assistance, offering customers complete peace of mind motoring.

Model	Price
Kia Soul 1.6 MT Start*	R 239 995
Optional automatic transmission	+ R 12 000
Kia Soul 2.0 MT Street**	R 274 995
Kia Soul 1.6D MT Street	R 299 995
Upgrade to Smart*** package	+ R 41 000
(including an upgrade to 6-speed automatic transmission)
Optional panoramic sunroof (only available on Smart models)	+ R 11 000
Two-tone colour scheme (available on all models)	R 3 000

* The Start specification package is only available for the 1.6-litre petrol models.

** The Street specification package is only available for the 2.0-litre petrol and 1.6-litre turbocharged diesel models, and is linked to a 6-speed manual transmission.

*** The Smart specification package is only available for the 2.0-litre petrol and 1.6-litre turbocharged diesel models, and is linked to a 6-speed automatic transmission.

 

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