All-new Kia Soul has made its debut at the 2018 Los Angeles Auto Show: a completely new, yet familiar, version of Kia’s beloved and award-winning urban crossover.
Taking everything that popularized the company’s quirky, unconventionally styled urban crossover, Kia Motors has poured more of its soul into every inch of the vehicle. The result is a third-generation car that offers unmatched style, playful performance, cutting-edge technology, and urban practicality.
Orth Hedrick, Executive Director of Car Planning and Telematics, Kia Motors America, said: “The Soul has been a massive success since its introduction, establishing itself as an automotive icon with its fun-loving character and eccentric style. Even with a new generation of competitors crowding the marketplace, the all-new Soul will once again prove to be a tough contender, with its unparalleled style and impressive level of technology and customization options.”
Proving the point that there is ‘a Soul for everyone’, the Soul is available in six trim levels* – LX, S, X-Line, GT-Line, EX, EX Designer Collection – with a choice of naturally-aspirated and turbocharged engines. In addition, Kia has revealed the all-new Soul EV in Los Angeles (outlined in a separate press release). The new Soul goes on-sale in North America in the first half of 2019, with Kia’s global markets to follow.
Design: beyond the box
The new Soul stays true to its design heritage, with its boxy silhouette and confident stance. Yet, with newly-sculpted lines, cutting-edge details, and technical lighting elements, the new Soul is the most futuristic, youthful and innovative version yet.
New exterior design highlights include high-tech LED headlights, integrated into its wide ‘face’ and paired with slim daytime running lights and turn signal indicators. The larger front grille has a unique two-tone design, sitting between front fenders which add volume to the car’s clean and smooth surfaces. In profile, the new Soul’s distinctive C-pillars are designed to resemble airplane wings, and feature a new ‘Soul’ graphic. At the rear of the car, new 3D wraparound boomerang-shaped taillights match the signature vertical rear window, sitting atop a tailgate ‘island’, which stays true to the Soul’s design heritage.
Since the Soul’s inception, music has been an overarching theme behind its design. In its third generation, this continues to be a core attribute of the Soul’s persona. For the new model, designers and engineers have ‘turned up the volume’ on the interior. Drawing inspiration from the ‘emotional visualization of sound’, the Soul’s interior space is finished with shapes and textures that reflect acoustic-inspired elements, creating a full sensory experience. The new Soul retains the signature tweeter speakers bookending the dashboard, a feature of the previous-generation Soul which exemplified the car’s combination of cool design and ultimate functionality.
The cabin is fitted with an optional sound mood lighting system, emitting soft light from the center door panels and a unique 3D-patterned surface on the upper door panels. The system can synchronize to the beat of music playing through the Soul’s audio system, with a rainbow of customizable colors. The car is also available with a wireless phone charger at the base of the dashboard, and optional dual-zone automatic climate control.
Smart packaging and stronger structure
Despite its compact footprint, the Soul’s boxy dimensions continue to offer up a surprising amount of cargo and passenger space. Slightly longer than before, at 4,195 mm (+55 mm), the new Soul provides more intelligent packaging, making accessibility even easier. The width of the car is unchanged at 1,800 mm, while its height remains at 1,600 mm. However, the wheelbase on the new platform is 30 mm longer (2,600 mm) and the front overhang, at 865 mm, has been stretched by 25 mm, creating more space in the cabin for occupants.
The result is legroom of 1,044 mm and 985 mm for front and rear passengers, and 686 liters of luggage capacity (SAE) with the rear seats in place. In addition, a wider and lower rear tailgate opening – with a new easy-grip handle – improves ease of loading and unloading. The trunk’s dual-level floor offers flexibility with the ability to accommodate taller items using the lower level setting, or hide valuables in its higher setting by creating a space beneath the trunk floor. For occupants, sculpted front door panels creater larger front door openings, rendering the car even easier to enter and exit.
The new Soul’s stronger structure benefits from an increased use of Advanced High Strength Steel (AHSS), hot-stamped components, and structural adhesive. With stronger bones, the new model is expected to achieve the highest safety ratings from the USA’s Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) and National Traffic Highway Safety Administration (NHTSA).
Next-generation infotainment and driving assistance technologies
Recognizing that the car is an integral part of owners’ social lives, the new Soul continues to surprise and delight with next-generation infotainment and technology.
Depending on market, the new Soul is available with a large 10.25-inch HD color touchscreen infotainment system, with split-screen functionality and rear view monitor with parking guidance. The infotainment system is available with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, as well as a Bluetooth Multi-Connection, enabling two Bluetooth devices to be connected at the same time. An 8.0-inch Head-Up Display is also on offer.
The new Soul offers buyers an optional Harman-Kardon audio system, producing 640 watts – twice the power of the premium audio system in the current Soul. The Harman-Kardon system features an amplifier and 10 speakers, including a tuned center speaker and a subwoofer.
Like other recent Kia models, the new Soul offers a suite of optional Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. These include Forward Collision Avoidance (FCA) or FCA with Pedestrian Recognition, Lane Keeping Assist (LKA), Lane Changing Assist (LCA), Driver Attention Warning (DAW) , Blind-spot Collision Warning (BCW), Rear Cross Collision Warning (RCW), Smart Cruise Control (SCC) and High Beam Assist (HBA), depending on market.
A choice of gasoline powertrains
The new Soul enhances its fun-to-drive personality and versatility with a range of different drivetrain combinations, depending on market. Kia’s Intelligent Variable Transmission (IVT) will be available for those who require efficiency with their performance. Designed and built in-house, the IVT is Kia’s unique version of a continuously-variable transmission, providing an engaging driving experience. The IVT is available as an option (alongside a six-speed manual transmission) on the Soul’s 2.0-liter ‘Nu’ four-cylinder engine, producing 149 ps and 179 Nm of torque.
For those looking for even greater performance, a turbocharged 1.6-liter T-GDi (turbocharged gasoline direct injection) engine is also available. Twinned with Kia’s seven-speed double-clutch transmission, the T-GDi engine produces 204 ps and 265 Nm of torque.
With the Soul’s all-new platform comes a more refined experience behind the wheel and on the road. Engineers have designed the car’s suspension geometry to quell noise, vibration and harshness, while also improve handling and comfort in a variety of conditions – making it as at home in the city as on the open road.
A Soul for everyone
The new Soul can be specified to convey a unique sense of style through a variety of customizable options. Aside from the all-new Soul EV that debuts alongside its gasoline counterparts, the Soul offers even more flexibility according to different needs and lifestyles.
The new Soul GT-Line* features its own unique design, with sporty front and rear bumpers with integrated front fog lamps, unique side sills, red exterior accents, gloss-black side mirrors, chrome-tipped center exhaust, GT-Line badging and new 18-inch alloy wheels – complete with 235/45 R18 tires. Inside, GT-Line models are finished with a leather-wrapped D-shaped steering wheel and gearshift knob. More rewarding than ever to drive, the new Soul GT-Line is also available with the 1.6-liter T-GDi engine, and provides drivers with sport-tuned suspension and larger disc brakes.
The Soul X-Line takes the Soul in a new direction, inspired by the 2015 Soul Trail’ster Concept, with a rugged new body kit. Featuring hard-wearing body cladding, off-road inspired color accents, and overfenders, the Soul X-Line’s chunkier look makes it stand out in both town and country. X-Line models feature unique fog lamps, roof-rail inspired accents, distinctive 18-inch alloy wheels, and an optional two-tone paint option.
Perhaps the most fashionable new arrival to the Soul range is the Soul EX Designer Collection, which features new 18-inch alloy wheels with black spokes, shod in 235/45 R18 tires. It also offers a two-tone paint finish and LED headlights and fog lights.
The all-new Kia Soul goes on sale in the US in the first half of 2019, with Kia’s global markets to follow.
