I bought a Kia Soul

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phunky.buddha

Mad scientist
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2016 model, 18 miles on the clock, $12,298. Stick of course.

Mazda 5 is going away if anyone is interested.

The fleet now stands at:
2016 Soul
2008 Frontier
2003 S2000
1990 CRX

Pics later.
 
in for the review
Guess I'll have to write something up with a ton of pictures- need to get the FTP going with B again first though. Initial impressions are really good- even though it's a tiny 1.6L, the engine still puts out 130hp and is hooked up to a well-geared 6 speed, and only has to move just over 2700 pounds of car. I guess that would put it on par with older EK Civics for speed, given the gearing- maybe more like the 8G non-Si Civics since they have similar weight and power, but only 5 gear ratios. The ride is really quiet for such a cheap car. Kia's literature says that they used expanding foam to dampen the unibody and quiet things down- I believe it. Zero rattles, no cowl shake over the rough stuff, and it's really well composed through construction zones that sent my truck live axle suspension bouncing everywhere. There's some weird switch on the steering wheel that switches between comfort, normal, and sport mode- I think it plays with the steering assist and throttle calibration. I can definitely feel it in the steering- I just keep it on sport. Nice and heavy. Turn-in is very responsive, and cornering is flat- as soon as you twitch the wheel, you can feel the car rotate. There's some squishiness from the higher CG and high sidewall tires, so if you try to wobble the car side to side repeatedly it can start to feel like you're going to lose it, but it's not bad, and most people aren't going to do that. Going around long sweepers gives very little roll, and mild bumps while turning don't upset the car.

Rev limiter is a soft limit- keep your foot planted and the ECU will just let the engine hold revs right around 7k. No hard and rude fuel cut like GM products. The engine turns around 3000rpm at 70mph in 6th gear. Around town so far over the weekend, I averaged 32mpg according to the trip computer measurement. My wife's been driving it (it's her car) on her commute this week, so we'll see what the math looks like on the first fill-up. She doesn't aggressively short shift like I do, and may not even remember that there's a 6th gear now (Mazda5 was 5 speed), and every time I get in the average mpg counter creeps up as I drive... so I know she's burning more gas than I do.

More later- must do review with tons of pics. There aren't many reviews of a stripped down base model Soul out there.
 
The 6th gear just drops the rpm 300. It should have been longer.

Love the motor and trans combo they work great.


Get a catch can(s) on it. Fuel dilution and buildup is a real problem here.

Maybe you could swap a 1.6t longblock, ECU and proxy keys into it :) the motor is cheap on eBay.
 
The 6th gear just drops the rpm 300. It should have been longer.
Love the motor and trans combo they work great.
Get a catch can(s) on it. Fuel dilution and buildup is a real problem here.
Maybe you could swap a 1.6t longblock, ECU and proxy keys into it :) the motor is cheap on eBay.
Hmm. I don't want to drop a ton of cash on it. Upgrading stereo to what we're used to (decent speakers/components, amp, sub in custom box, DDin head with touchscreen, backup cam, bluetooth, HD radio, dashcam, backup cam), adding factory cruise control, adding alarm with keyless entry since the MT doesn't come with it. All this is fairly cheap. I'll research the catch can need on that engine- I might still have my old one from the Civic! :p

As far as swapping the engine, it's factory new with a full warranty... and it drives well as it is. Don't want to start doing major mods. The only other thing I might do later on is to put wider wheels on it, like 16x7.5 or 16x8, and upsizing to 235/60 over the stock 205/60 tires. Maybe throw some spacers in to give it an inch or so of lift- that'll give another 2+ inches of ground clearance for rolling over all the crap roads we have now.
 
Congratulations, you have become the envy of weird teenage girls everywhere. Although quite a few of my friends have them and I've never heard a single complaint about their cars.
 
Congratulations, you have become the envy of weird teenage girls everywhere. Although quite a few of my friends have them and I've never heard a single complaint about their cars.
The market for the Soul ended up just like the xB- lots of much older people outside the original expected demographic buying them for their practicality. This is the 4th one on my street now, and it's an old established neighborhood.
 
My sister's roommate is 19 and extremely weird and recently got her dream car, a 2015 Kia Soul so thats just the demo i associate them with
 
there are a few souls at my office. and a bunch of santa fe, tuscon, and my veloster turbo :)
I'm the poor guy in the group. My peers in my group drive a Lexus ES, new 535i, talk about getting into the new Lexus LC, lots of Benz S classes and Raptors in the lot, a Cayman here and there, tons of Corvettes...
My sister's roommate is 19 and extremely weird and recently got her dream car, a 2015 Kia Soul so thats just the demo i associate them with
Gotcha. Yeah not my dream car, but I'm really happy with it.
 
Clean s2000s are bringing good money these days.
 
poor, or economical?
don't you have an s2000... aren't those APPRECIATING? lol
In my group, the poor guy for sure. I'm guessing that the guys I'm working with make as a family income probably 2-3 times what I do.
Clean s2000s are bringing good money these days.
Appreciating only matters if I sell it, which I'm not doing, and it's definitely not a perfect car.
when I was looking at getting a crowd killer 5.0 at carmax month ago a 07 with 63k miles was there for $22.9k
Terrible price... isn't that the previous generation body style? I just did a quick search- convertible Mustang GTs from 2007 with 60k on them only cost $13k around north Texas.
 
Terrible price... isn't that the previous generation body style? I just did a quick search- convertible Mustang GTs from 2007 with 60k on them only cost $13k around north Texas.

GTs from that year had the 4.6 still, it wasn't until 2011 that GTs came with the 5.0. I'm not sure which model had the 5.0 that year but it was likely one of the special edition ones
 
In my group, the poor guy for sure. I'm guessing that the guys I'm working with make as a family income probably 2-3 times what I do.

Appreciating only matters if I sell it, which I'm not doing, and it's definitely not a perfect car.

Terrible price... isn't that the previous generation body style? I just did a quick search- convertible Mustang GTs from 2007 with 60k on them only cost $13k around north Texas.
I was talking about a 07 s2k , mustang was 16 5.0
 
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