We're willing to call the Kia Soul a crossover, right?

"Textured Soy Protein" (texturedsoyprotein) 03/27/2018 at 10:32 • Filed to: Interesting cars at work

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I had a Kia Soul rental car recently, and it proved to be a handy tall little car. I often found myself at eye level, or close to it, with people driving crossovers and minivans. At one point I parked next to a Porsche Macan and the Soul felt like it might’ve been taller.

The specs say the highest point on the Macan is a whole 0.4 inches taller than the highest point on the Soul, but with the Macan’s curved roof, much of it is lower than the Soul.

Sure, the Soul only comes in fwd, but there are plenty of fwd crossovers out there. Compared to the fwd versions of crossovers that offer awd as an option, does the fact that there’s no awd option on the Soul make it a tall hatchback rather than a crossover? Is there even a difference?

I’m actually tempted to get a turbo one for my wife’s next car when her Impreza lease is up next year. She digs the styling, and when she had a Forester service loaner she mentioned she liked sitting higher up than her Impreza. The Soul would certainly accomplish that. Plus with the turbo motor and DCT it would be noticeably quicker than her NA CVT Impreza which is...not fast. We’ll (hopefully) be living somewhere with less snow by then so awd isn’t as necessary.

There are a few knocks against it:

Unlike stuff like the Elantra Sport where along with the turbo motor the rear suspension gets upgraded from the base twist beam to a multilink setup, the turbo Soul still has the twist beam. I wouldn’t call the handling on my rental spec Soul good, but I also did some mildly aggressive driving in it and I felt reasonably confident doing that in it.

Even with all the assorted gizmos including active safety stuff, there’s no active cruise control. It’s not an absolute requirement but I’ve come to appreciate it in our Impreza.

The interior wasn’t bad but it was kinda cheap and hollow feeling. Maybe the higher trim levels are better. Our Impreza isn’t exactly super premium either but it at least feels a step nicer than the Soul.

So, it’s a crossover, right?

Neil drives a beetle and a fancy beetle > Textured Soy Protein 03/27/2018 at 10:39

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Not just crossover but car and driver called it their “best subcompact SUV” last year.

shop-teacher > Textured Soy Protein 03/27/2018 at 10:40

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I’m going with yep, it’s a crossover. Honestly, crossovers are just hatches and wagons with slight lifts on them.

facw > Textured Soy Protein 03/27/2018 at 10:40

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Sure why not call it that. I’ll still call it the Hamster Car though.

415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) > Textured Soy Protein 03/27/2018 at 10:45

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I wonder if they call it a Soul in Korea? Seoul?

CalzoneGolem > Textured Soy Protein 03/27/2018 at 10:47

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Yeah it’s a crossover.

Textured Soy Protein > 415s30 W123TSXWaggoIIIIIIo ( •_•))°) 03/27/2018 at 10:53

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As far as I know it’s called the Soul worldwide. But the turbo trim is called the Soul!.

BigBlock440 > Textured Soy Protein 03/27/2018 at 11:01

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I’d say no, unless it has the AWD option, just like the Cube and xB. Without AWD, it’s not pretending to be an SUV, which is the purpose of a CUV. (car pretending to be an SUV) I don’t consider SUV and CUV to be interchangeable though, unlike a lot of people, and I’ve never really considered the Macan to be a CUV either. It was always just a hatchback to me.

punkgoose17 > Textured Soy Protein 03/27/2018 at 11:10

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Yes I think it is the modern successor to this:

I also think, that is why it sells so well in our Crossover obsessed country.

carcrasher88 > BigBlock440 03/27/2018 at 11:13

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The Niro is the same way, no AWD offered, still called one. Makes no sense.

I’ll credit the Toyota C-HR, since it is offered in AWD in it’s home country, though. Guess they couldn’t get one of their AWD systems to work with the US-spec engine.

carcrasher88 > punkgoose17 03/27/2018 at 11:14

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Except for the fact that the Sportage is still around. Kinda hard to be a successor to a model that still exists on the market.

punkgoose17 > carcrasher88 03/27/2018 at 11:23

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I did not realize the current model has nearly the same dimensions of the 1st generation. I thought it had gotten bigger.

SmugAardvark > Textured Soy Protein 03/27/2018 at 11:34

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I consider the Soul (as well as the Cube and xB) to be more wagon than crossover. And for some reason, I consider the Element to be a crossover.

But it doesn’t really matter. I don’t want any of those (and currently own one of those).

dogisbadob > Textured Soy Protein 03/27/2018 at 11:38

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Just too bad Kia only lets you order a Soul with the panoramic sunroof in the boring colors (black, gray, silver) and not the fun colors like Caribbean Blue, orange, yellow, or the signature Kia Soul Green.

And also, fuck them for making you spend $6000 to get it,m too!

But to answer your question, yes, I consider the Soul to be a crossover.

carcrasher88 > punkgoose17 03/27/2018 at 12:15

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Yep, it’s only grown minutely from the first generation to the latest.

+.8 inches in overall length, +1.6 inches in wheelbase, exact same width, and +.4 inches in height. That’s the only differences in dimensions.

Roundbadge > Textured Soy Protein 03/27/2018 at 14:57

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A friend of mine bought his Soul the first year they were available. He refuses to drive a sedan of any kind because he’s 6-foot-something and feels like he has to fold himself to get into them. He enjoys his Soul, but wants something with more room for things other than him and is likely going to move up to a Honda Ridgeline soon.

To answer your question, I’d bet he’d call his Soul a crossover.