Design
The front-drive, 5-door Soul measures 13 feet, 5.5 inches, and carries a 100-inch wheelbase. Kia notes that the Soul’s high roofline, its hip points and its ground clearance all best a typical compact car. “It is packed with clever and liberating features and will offer cavernous passenger space that matches or even outperforms many vehicles with much larger exterior dimensions,’’ claimed Hyoung-Keun Lee, senior executive vice president and COO of Kia’s international business division. Photos of the car’s cabin show two-tone seats and center-console storage above the stereo.
Hardware
Kia has said it will offer the Soul in Europe with a choice of two gasoline engines and one diesel powerplant. The top gasoline engine measures two liters and produces 142 ps at 6000 rpm and 186 Nm of torque at 4600 rpm. It comes with either a 5-speed manual transmission or a 4-speed automatic transmission. A 1.6-liter gas engine will be available in some countries, generating 126 ps at 6300 rpm and 156 Nm of torque at 4200 rpm. The available 1.6-liter turbo-diesel also makes 126 ps, but at 4000 rpm, and with 255 Nm of torque at 2000 rpm.
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