Comparison review: Six subcompact hatchbacks (First place)

June 14, 12:50 AMDC Car ExaminerBrady Holt

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The 2010 Kia Soul has a spunky look, lots of space, and a low price. See more photos of the Soul below the article in today's
slideshow. 

It likely comes as no surprise that the Kia Soul is the least expensive of these six, the only one you’re likely to be able to buy for under $15,000, nearly $2,000 less than the second-place Honda Fit. 

But the Soul also has a distinctive personality that distinguishes it in more ways than price. Its distinctive styling disguises a more basic boxy shape without significantly compromising the car’s practicality, and decent handling maintains that character, unlike the Nissan Cube. A very spacious and open-feeling interior is another key plus.

The Fit beats the Soul in interior space and interior design cleverness – its rear seat both flips up and folds down, and it has more small storage areas – and handily trumps its gas mileage, this car’s biggest weak point.

And neither the Fit nor the Soul does shake off a few traditional subcompact flaws: a jittery and noisy highway ride that needs frequent corrections to keep it tracking straight, no excess of power, and a basic-feeling interior.

But those traditional flaws are more excusable at a low price. And with lots of space and class-competent agility added to the mix, the Soul is the most appealing overall of these six subcompacts.

The Soul driven for this review was a fully-loaded Sport model, which spent a week with the DC Car Examiner. However, the “+” model at some $2,500 less has all the expected comfort and convenience features of a subcompact car, and loses the controversial red interior trimmings of the Sport model.

The Soul + also loses a sport-tuned suspension, but a shorter test drive of a base car (read full review) suggests that other models have a better balance of ride and handling but that none is especially smooth or fantastically agile. The Soul lets bumps punch through, and ride motions are evident even on smooth pavement, but it’s slightly more comfortable than the Fit.

Also, while it’s acceptably agile – especially for such a tall vehicle – steering that’s numb just off center hurts an overall feeling of precision. The Fit is slightly better in this area, but the Soul’s extra width does give it a better sense of substance in corners over the average subcompact.

With the standard 5-speed manual, the Soul is geared for low-speed acceleration that resists gentle acceleration and that leaves the engine working hard on the highway, though the Soul’s 2.0-liter 4-cylinder is bigger and more powerful than most subcompacts. The engine can get noisy and doesn’t have a polished sound at high rpms.

Furthermore, this engine doesn’t return subcompact-caliber gas mileage – it’s rated for just 26 miles per gallon in mixed driving. (I observed 31 mpg over 600 miles, but I drive gently.) The Fit beats that by three miles per gallon. The base Soul – sold only with a manual transmission – has a smaller 1.6-liter engine that offers acceptable low-speed acceleration but strains on the highway, and is rated for 28 miles per gallon.

Inside, the Soul’s front seats are mounted high and firmly padded – if flat – and proved to be comfortable over several hours of driving. The same cannot be said of some pricier cars. There’s lots of leg and head room, and the extra width gives the driver extra distance from the front passenger. Drivers get an excellent forward view and a decent view out the back, but thick d-pillars block over-the-shoulder sightlines.

The interior is well-finished but basic. Assembly is solid and few pieces feel flimsy, but you’ll find few soft-touch surfaces and the center armrest is notably rock-hard. Cabin storage is concentrated in two main areas: the large two-level glovebox and a decent-sized center console. Some people may prefer more little nooks throughout the car. Kia did put a small compartment on the instrument panel above the stereo, but its lid is chintzy to operate and it doesn’t seem sized or shaped to hold anything useful.

In the back, the rear seat comes the closest of any subcompact to offering comfortable accommodations for three adults. The seat is actually almost wide enough, but a center passenger would be straddling hump that’s wider than most cars but that isn’t shaped to let feet rest on it, forcing that passenger to encroach far into his neighbors’ space. For two passengers, the seat is mounted high and comfortable, and offers plenty of leg and headroom.

Behind the rear seat, the Soul has 19.6 cubic feet of cargo space, including a fair bit of usable floor space. The cargo floor is high off the ground, however. The rear seat plops flat easily, but doesn’t match the Honda Fit’s trick where the seat cushion flips up for an extra-deep cargo hold. The Fit also has more total space – 57.3 cubic feet instead of the Soul’s 53.4, but both are respectable. The Soul’s cargo area is well-shaped to accommodate bulky cargo.

Two key questions about any Kia remain price and quality. Rest assured, the Soul is an impressive bargain, well-equipped at a sticker price of $15,645. Dealers aren’t discounting that too much yet, as the Soul just went on sale this spring, but Darcars Lanham Kia of Lanham, Md., lists “e-prices” of about $1,200 below MSRP for most of its Soul inventory. That undercuts the next-cheapest car in this comparison, the Nissan Cube, by over $600.

The car’s reliability is more of an unknown, as it just went on sale. My test Soul’s rearview mirror fell off while I was adjusting it, and any car is likely to have some glitches in its first year. But virtually all cars are reliable now, and most new Hyundais and Kias have done well – some very well – in reliability studies. Also, a long factory warranty – five years or 60,000 miles bumper-to-bumper and ten years or 100,000 miles on the engine and transmission – will step in if the Soul bucks the recent Kia quality trend.

Overall, the best spunky subcompact hatchback would have had the Soul’s price tag, Honda Fit’s gas mileage and interior space, the Suzuki SX4 or Pontiac G3’s ride comfort, and a peppy engine, agile handling, and level of noise suppression that none of these six provide.

Two cars stand out from the other four at providing these qualities, or the nearest equivalent: the Fit and the Soul. The winner between the two is the one with Kia’s price tag instead of Honda’s.   

Overall grade: B+

Coming up tomorrow: CONCLUSION

*Note on pricing: when possible, the vehicles tested for this review were comparably equipped. It wasn't always possible. Every vehicle in this comparison is offered with about the same comfort and convenience features and with a manual transmission, but the specific cars available to drive for this comparison ranged from base-price stripped-down models to overequipped ones, and several had their optional automatic transmissions. These discrepancies will be noted in each review and corrected for as much as possible.