The 2009 KIA Soul

The 2009 Kia Soul has turned out to be one of the company’s most successful designs. The car is intended to be a low cost alternative but they have really marketed it in a clever way. The Soul has developed a reputation as a sporty vehicle, quite an achievement for a car that was intended to be a multipurpose vehicle. With a number of new versions in the works it looks like Kia have found a real winner.

The 2009 KIA Soul is the company’s first attempt at building a mini-MPV. By all accounts they have been very successful. Like all Kia models the Soul is aimed at the buyer who is looking for an economical vehicle. While nobody would ever describe it as a luxury car it has built a reputation for being very practical and surprisingly fun. There is a surprising amount of interior space and the Soul is actually quite sporty in design. This, along with the low price has made it popular amongst younger buyers.

The 2009 Kia Soul has a surprising amount of zip for a vehicle with a 1.6 liter engine. At least that is the standard but you can get a two liter engine as an option. A five speed manual transmission is also standard but again the option exists to upgrade to an automatic. This is a big part of how they keep the cost down. They keep the design and the drive train as simple as possible. This is something that they have done very successfully; the Soul is one of the simplest vehicles currently on the market. While there are some upgrades available the fact is the car is aimed at the budget market so a lot of the bells and whistles that you would find on more expensive cars just aren’t available here.

One of the great advantages of keeping the Kia Soul as simple as possible is that is has allowed the designers to put the fun back into driving. Things like traction control may improve the performance that a vehicle gets but it also takes away a lot of the fun of driving it. Obviously an economy vehicle like the Soul isn’t going to have traction control. Rather than being a negative the company has turned it into a positive by making the car fun to drive. This is something that they really stress in the advertising and it has really helped to make the Soul more appealing to young buyers.

One of the reasons that a lot of people choose the Soul is that you can carry a surprising amount. The rear seats fold down so that the car can be used to carry cargo. Despite being categorized as a mini-MPV you can carry as much as you can in a much larger SUV. This has also really helped to make the Kia Soul one of the most popular cars on the market.