The debut of the new Kia Soul at the Paris Motor Show was no ordinary one, because Kia decided to create a special ‘Soul World’ zone, where seven versions of the Soul were displayed, Vanilla Shake, Blue Stone, Black Soul (two models), Java Brown, Clear White and Tomato Red. All the cars are top-of-the-range models that try to show the wide variety of styles and ‘looks’ the Soul can have.
Under the hood, the Kia Soul will be offered with a 126 hp diesel with DPF as standard (a 115 hp ‘low-power’ version will also be available in some countries), a 126 hp 1.6-litre CRDi 16-valve diesel engine with variable geometry turbocharger (VGT) and a 126 hp 1.6-litre Gamma petrol engine with electronic multi-point fuel injection and continuously variable valve timing (CVVT). Fitted with this engines, the Soul goes from 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) between 10.4 and 11.3 seconds, top speed is around 175 km/h (109 mph) and fuel consumption figures range over a 5.1 to 6.6 litres/100 km span, while CO2 figures vary between 137 and 159 g/km.
We must say, the Kia Soul sounds like a very promosing car, targeted at “the young and the young-at-heart”. For example, when it will go on sale in Europe in late 2008/early 2009, customers will be able to choose from a line-up of up to 15* Soul cars, with five equipment levels, two engines (with manual or automatic transmissions), and a range of option packs – depending on individual markets.
“The innovative Kia Soul defies categorisation and encourages customers to build an emotional bond with this rebellious new car. Soul presents consumers with such a broad selection of styling, comfort and equipment choices, that it redefines the concept of freedom. It’s a brand new urban car packed full of liberating ideas – a car that challenges consumers to ‘free your mind’, a car that will encourage them to rethink everything they know about Kia,” said Panu Vainamo, General Manager Marketing, Kia Motors Europe.
Meanwhile, check out the photos we took at the Paris show:
Photo Gallery: Kia Soul at the Paris Motor Show
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The Soul looks good in red color. But my favorite choice would be the Cocktail Orange color, with silver “dragon” vinyls. That’s the vinil you can put on the Soul.
It’s only one of the many accessories you can fit on the vehicle.