Kia Soul: Thinking outside the box

The Car of the Year Philippines (COTY-P) award was handed out last April at the Manila International Auto Show. The award is given by the Car Awards Group Inc. (CAGI), a nonprofit corporation composed of motoring journalists from the country’s premier publications and broadcast outfits. COTY-P prides itself on bringing some science to the art of car testing. The awards are not determined by a popular vote, but rather by scientific testing: the eligible cars are put through their paces in a series of instrumented and qualitative testing sessions. The results are tallied and audited by an external company. To help ensure impartiality and credibility, CAGI does not solicit any joining or exhibition fees from the manufacturers and distributors or their dealers.

The big news this year was that the Chevrolet Cruze took home the Car of the Year top award, and 14 category winners were announced as well. This series will take a closer look at each of the COTY-P category winners, and highlight why they won.

CATEGORY: SUBCOMPACT CROSSOVER

COTY Rivals: Suzuki SX4

The crossover segment has become competitive in recent years, so much so that COTY itself has five categories just for this class of vehicle. One of the freshest entries of any category has been the Kia Soul. With a small footprint but with the profile and volume of a box, the Soul is a departure from the usual subcompact sedan or hatchback shape. We’ve seen the Japanese create this type of vehicle first for their domestic market, but leave it to the Koreans to actually bring one to the official Philippine market.

Key Features: Shape, shape, shape.

The Soul is instantly recognizable for one feature: its boxlike configuration. Details are neatly executed, like the flush high-mounted taillights, and cutout for the rear hatch. That being said, it’s not pretty, and wasn’t meant to be. It was designed to look different. Also, it easily triples Kia’s cool factor.

Having a standout exterior is only the first step; the vehicle must deliver on its promise. Fortunately, the Kia is well-engineered, with a stable, competent chassis and sufficient power from its 1.6-liter engine. Despite the upright profile, the car is able to zip along on the highway, keeping up with other cars. A piece of advice: Don’t get one in red, as you will attract the unwelcome attention of the North Expressway fuzz, for which 124 kph (an outrageous 9 kph over the “allowable” 115 kph speed) will net you a costly ticket.

Its interior features straightforward instruments and some oddly placed storage holes. One is perfectly suitable for a hot bowl of lugaw. The textures are not out of place for an economy car, and we certainly can’t complain about the towering headroom, another benefit of the boxlike shape. However, the seats are not adjustable for height, leading to limited visibility for shorter drivers.

There’s no mistaking the Kia Soul for any other vehicle, and no mistaking Kia’s intentions to smash preconceptions of the brand. Fresh styling and fresh ideas are no doubt forthcoming.