A week in the 2010 Kia Soul: Compared to the 2004 Scion xB

June 4, 7:01 PMDC Car ExaminerBrady Holt

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How does the 2010 Kia Soul (left) compare to our family car? See more photos of the two below the article in today's 
slideshow.

In 2003, Toyota's Scion brand pioneered the boxy subcompact hatchback class in the U.S., offering lots of space in an inexpensive and fuel-efficient package. 

The package proved appealing to many, including my own mother, who has put over 100,000 miles on hers. The 2010 Kia Soul, which spent a week with the DC Car Examiner, has joined that class, trying to offer the same things. 

How do the two cars compare? 

At first glance, the Soul looks much bigger and less boxy than this xB. (The current generation of xB, introduced in 2008, is even bigger and similarly rounded off.) But while the Soul is indeed a bit bigger, much higher ground clearance and a tall front end exaggerate the difference. And careful styling around the windowline and front end disguise the Soul's boxy shape compared to the unapologetic Scion.

What this styling means, however, is that you lose visibility compared to the big-window xB. The rearmost side windows on the Soul are essentially cosmetic and the beltline slopes up toward the rear of the car. The Soul's higher seating position makes for a great forward view, at least. 

Another side effect of the styling from a practicality standpoint is at the rear of the car, where the high ride height combines with a tall bumper to raise the Soul's cargo floor well above the Scion's. This cuts into cargo volume and makes loading bulky items more difficult. My mother did note one advantage: a back hatch that doesn't go as low doesn't require as much clearance to swing open. The Soul's ground clearance could also prove to be an advantage in parking; our family xB's low bodywork has hit many a curb and parking barrier that drivers mistakenly believe the bumper should be able to extend over. There's no advantage, however, to styling details that make the Kia's hatch much narrower than the xB's. 

Inside, the xB's most notable characteristic is a hugely spacious rear seat that's unparalleled even by most full-size vehicles for two passengers. The Soul also offers a level of interior space that belies its exterior dimensions, and the tallest occupants will appreciate extra front seat travel. It's also wider than the xB, but as noted earlier, a center-rear passenger will have no comfortable place to put his feet.

Front seat occupants in the Soul aren't squeezed in as close together as in some subcompacts, but the xB isn't too bad in this area either. Wide, flat seats in the Kia lack the lateral support of the Scion's substantial -- if widely-spaced -- bolstering, but their firmer cushions are more long-distance comfortable than the softer xBs'. 

The Kia's extra width also means that you've got much more total space in the Soul than in the xB when you fold down the rear seat, though the Scion has a slight advantage when the seat is in place. Neither car could accommodate a week's worth of our household's groceries only behind the rear seat -- expect to fold it down or at least stash some bags in the rear seat area. (Soul pictured) 

The Soul Sport model (pictured in this article) has a mix of red and black in its interior. Many have criticized the Scion's speedometer for its location near the center of the dash rather than behind the steering wheel, but its interior is pedestrian in comparison to the Soul's blinding hue. Other Souls have a more restrained color scheme. 

The Soul Sport model shares a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine with all but the base model of Soul, and this engine is much larger and more powerful than the old Scion's 1.5-liter. (Current xBs use an even larger 2.4-liter engine sourced from the pre-2010 Toyota Camry.) As such, the Soul is quicker and quieter than the 2004 xB, but not as much as one might expect. The Soul's extra 375 pounds of girth stunt the engine's extra power, especially in higher gears. Also, the Scion engine -- though louder -- has a smoother sound; it's not as raspy at high rpms.

The extra power and extra weight both give the Soul Sport a substantial gas mileage penalty against the 2004 xB. EPA ratings separate the two by three miles per gallon, but the 31.1 mpg I observed over more than 600 miles in the Kia compares more unfavorably to the 38 returned when I drive our Scion. 

The Soul Base, with a 1.6-liter 4-cylinder, nearly matches the Scion's EPA rating of 27 miles per gallon in the city and 32 on the highway, but I didn't drive it long enough to get any real-world data. The base Soul's acceleration is comparable to the xB's in most circumstances, but it's not as willing to get moving quickly in first gear. A relative unwillingness to rev in the 1.6-liter Soul compared to the xB also keeps the engine quieter, but the gap narrows at highway speeds. 

Both Souls' manual transmissions offer a more precise shifter than the xB; the Soul Sport's is slightly better than the unit in the Base. Both have a lighter clutch with longer travel, however. 

Both Souls also have much better ride quality than the Scion, which slams over any bump as unpleasantly as most any other recent-model car offered in the U.S. market. The Soul Sport has a stiffer suspension and larger wheels and tires that still keep it from being especially comfortable; the Base is better. 

All three cars -- the two Souls and the Scion -- are reasonably agile by virtue of their small size, but none feels remotely like a sports car. The Soul Base has less tire grip than the other two. All three have standard electronic stability control. 

Whenever I mention a new small car to my mother, her first question is whether it could be a suitable replacement for her beloved but aging Scion. She didn't fall in love with all the details of the Soul -- most notably the visibility and the gas mileage -- but seemed largely satisfied with it. 

As a value-seeker, she'd go for the Soul Base, which costs even less than her already-inexpensive xB did more than five years ago, with most of the same features. And if it would give her well over 100,000 trouble-free miles, she'd likely have no complaints. 

Check back Sunday for the start of a comparison of the Soul against its current crop of competitors, and see how it compares against the xB below.

Read more about the 2010 Kia Soul's week with the DC Car Examiner:

Day 1:  Introduction
Day 2:  Seats, cargo, interior details, visibility
Day 4:  City driving
Day 5:  Ride, acceleration, handling
Day 6:  Driving the base model
Compared to the 2004 Scion xB