2017 Kia Soul Turbo

Kia and Hyundai have long struggled to break into the sport-compact space. And to be fair, it’s a tough nut to crack, what with favorites of ours like the Volkswagen GTI and Ford’s Fiesta ST and Focus ST clogging up the tubes. Korea’s attempts to court enthusiasts thus far, including the Hyundai Veloster Turbo and the Kia Forte SX Turbo, have fallen just short of true hot-hatch status largely due to detail shortcomings such as vague steering and rubbery shift action. At first glance, the new turbocharged version of the Kia Soul seems to be playing a similar sort of game. Red exterior accent lines are evocative of the GTI’s aesthetic, a flat-bottomed steering wheel suggests some degree of raciness, and larger 18-inch wheels give the boxy Soul a more athletic stance. It also has a 1.6-liter turbocharged inline-four making 201 horsepower and 195 lb-ft of torque—not exactly barnburner numbers, but not shabby, either.

Think Warm CUV, Not Hot Hatch Kia is keen to point out that the Soul is not at all a sport compact or a hot hatch. Rather, it’s a small crossover set up to compete with the likes of the Mazda CX-3, Chevrolet Trax, and Fiat 500X. The Soul is already the best-seller in that segment, and Kia wants to keep the good times rolling. Buyers had been asking for two things: more power and all-wheel drive. With the latter proving difficult in terms of packaging and cost, Kia decided to prioritize the desire for extra grunt and make the 1.6-liter turbo engine standard for the Soul’s top trim level, which is simply denoted “!” (and pronounced Exclaim, according to Kia). As when the same engine is installed in the Kia Optima and the Hyundai Tucson and Sonata, the turbocharged mill pairs only with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic—no manual transmission is offered with the turbo, and Kia’s justification is the now familiar spiel about low take rates and the expensive certification process for different powertrain combinations. If you want a manual gearbox with this engine, Kia will happily steer you toward a Forte5 SX Turbo hatchback with a six-speed stick. The Soul Turbo’s aforementioned sporty touches are not meant to suggest that this is a performance machine. Its basic suspension setup is the same strut front and torsion-beam rear as the lesser models in the lineup, although Kia says the Turbo’s springs and dampers are tuned slightly differently. Its 45-series all-season tires and 18-inch wheels are the same size as the optional wheels and tires offered on the Soul Plus (or “+”), which has a 161-hp naturally aspirated 2.0-liter. Kia did install slightly larger, 12.0-inch-diameter front brake rotors for the turbocharged model, but the 10.3-inch rear discs are the same on all Souls.