The 2020 Kia Soul Crossover Is All New and Funkier Than Ever
Kia has revealed the third generation of its subcompact Soul crossover at the Los Angeles auto show, and it's all new from the ground up. A new platform and base engine, along with fresh tech and active-safety features, are all headline-making improvements, but the most important news is that the Soul remains as characterful as ever.
Funky styling has always been one of the most appealing features of the Soul, and the new generation is no different. The front end is distinctive, with slim turn signals/running lights at the top connected by a trim piece, trapezoidal headlight housings, and a huge lower grille. (Higher trims get LED lighting.) There are pronounced fender flares and more complex surfacing, and the side-window graphic flows into a black panel on the C-pillar that has a Soul badge. The taillights are shaped like boomerangs and wrap around the top of the liftgate, which retains its body-color "island" panel set into the rear window. The interior has gone through a less radical redesign, with a large oval-shaped instrument cluster, tweaked analog controls, and highly styled door panels.
New to the Soul is the sporty GT-Line appearance package. It gets its own front and rear fascias, 18-inch wheels, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, among other special items. When equipped with the optional turbocharged engine, the GT-Line adds a central exhaust outlet, a sport-tuned suspension, and bigger disc brakes. Also new to the Soul is the X-Line trim, which adds body cladding, larger fender flares, different 18-inch wheels, and available two-tone paint. Despite its SUV-like appearance and the new Soul's Kona underpinnings, though, all-wheel drive remains unavailable. In addition to the GT- and X-Lines, there are LX, S, and EX trims-matching the hierarchy of other Kia models-as well as a new EX Designer Collection.
The new Soul utilizes the same platform as Hyundai's Kona crossover. While it's 2.2 inches longer than the old car and rides on a 1.2-inch-longer wheelbase, the Soul actually has slightly less front headroom and rear legroom than before. There's a bit more front legroom, though, and cargo capacity is up by five cubic feet. Kia says that the front door openings are larger and the rear liftgate opening is both wider and lower, aiding loading and unloading.
The base engine is now a 2.0-liter inline-four making 147 horsepower and 132 lb-ft of torque; it can be paired with a standard six-speed manual transmission or, as an option, the new continuously variable automatic (CVT) from the new Forte sedan. The Soul's 201-hp turbocharged 1.6-liter engine remains an option, and it can only be had with a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission.
A 10.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system with split-screen functionality is available (and standard on the EX and GT-Line), as is an 8.0-inch head-up display. A 640-watt Harman/Kardon audio system, Bluetooth pairing for multiple devices at once, dual-zone climate control, wireless device charging, and mood lighting on the door panels that pulses to music are all available as well.
Kia hasn't skimped on active-safety features, either, and many of them were not on offer on the Soul before. Automated emergency braking, forward- and rear-collision warning, lane-keeping assist, lane-departure warning, blind-spot monitoring, adaptive cruise control, high-beam assist, and a driver-attention monitor are all available.
Pricing for the new Soul hasn't been announced yet, but we expect it will start slightly higher than the current model's $17,430 base price when it goes on sale in the first half of 2019. Kia also unveiled the new generation of the Soul EV at the L.A. show, which will also hit dealerships in 2019.
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