2010 Kia Soul auto review: Click below to watch our video report.

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Paul Batista
Instant Wheels Editor, InstantRiverside.com

Somebody may want to keep their eyes on the designers at Kia. Their vehicles are scoring high marks for safety, and their quirky design is making for a memorable automobile.

I recently spent a week driving the 2010 Kia Soul. Despite its small size, I was comforted by the scores it has received in crash tests. When I review a vehicle my goal is to keep in mind how it will perform under real-world conditions for the automotive consumer. That’s why I don’t review exotic cars, much to my personal dismay.

Real people buy real vehicles they can afford, and the Kia Soul falls into that category. TIME.com put this vehicle on its “Most Exciting Cars of 2010″ list. And the vehicle has received impressive ratings after a series of frontal, side, rear and rollover impact crash safety tests.

In my video report you’ll see some of these tests. When they deploy, airbags destroy much of the interior of a car, but who cares– the goal is survival.

The Soul also comes with a few impressive standard creature comforts like power windows and door locks, A/C, Sirius satellite radio, and input jacks for portable music devices. I’m increasingly annoyed with vehicles that don’t have a USB port; something I didn’t think I’d be writing even a year ago.

The Kia company describes its Soul as an “urban cross-over vehicle.” I’ll let them own that claim, however to me, it’s a small SUV.

To brag, Kia’s Soul is the first Korean vehicle to win a design award from the world renowned ‘red dot’ awards. The competition included more than 3,000 vehicle entries from 49 countries in 17 different categories. For that Kia deserves to be proud.

And I’m guessing they have some youthful designers on staff. I recently took a trip at night, and this is the first car I’ve driven with some standard equipment that I haven’t seen before, like illuminated speakers that pulsate the beat of whatever music you’re playing. Again, you’ll see this in my video report. I found it amusing but not necessary, and possibly distracting.

I believe that its 142 hp engine delivers a respectable output for its 4 cylinder motor, but I wasn’t sold on the estimates of 24 mpg city, and 30 mpg highway.

For it’s size it was enjoyable to drive, and it confirmed that small vehicles can also deliver when it comes to safety.

Filed under Video Library, News A3, Wheels

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

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