2025 Kia Soul

Pros

• Given the price, it has a lot of options.
• It’s bigger than a few other very small SUVs.
• Quick manipulation.

Cons

• Strong winds and a lot of road noise.
• There is only one engine to choose from.

How does the Soul get its power? It’s an about shame that the 2.0-liter engine can’t go as fast as it could, but the Soul feels quick and fast Soulin cities. It turns corners better than I thought it would, and the steering feels smooth. The CVT transmission feels a lot like a regular automatic transmission. In Invoice’s track tests, the Soul took 8.5 seconds to go from 0 to 60 mph, which is good for a small SUV.

As you move away from the center, the least amount of effort needed to steer naturally increases. The Soul handles turns just as well as cars like the Mazda CX-30 and Mini Countryman, which are designed to be more sporty. The Soul’s only real flaw is that the brake button is soft at low speeds, which takes some getting used to, even though it stops well in an emergency. The Soul does not have an all-wheSoulel drive like some other subcompacts.

How much does the Soul feel at ease? The front seats are pretty comfy, even after sitting for a long time. Even though it’s fixed, the slope of the back of the rear seat is comfortably slanted. The ride is solid and well-controlled, but it’s always comfortable. Some of its competitors shake when they drive over bigger bumps, but the Soul doesn’t.

At highway Soulspeeds, you can hear some tire noise, and the upright window makes a lot of wind noise that isn’t pleasant. The engine doesn’t drone at full power like some CVT automatics do because of the fake gearshifts.

How is the state of the inside? The general idea behind interior design is that ergonomics leaves less room for mistakes. Touchscreen menus are easy to use because they have tactile buttons for high-level tasks and an easy-to-understand structure. A driving wheel that can be adjusted in many ways and a front seat that can be raised or lowered makes it possible for drivers of all sizes to use.

The large doors and high roof of the cabin make it easy to get in from the front or the back. Four adults can easily drive long distances because the front and back seats have lots of head and space. Every window is tall and thin except for the tiny window that is upside down in the back three-quarter view.

What’s wrong with the tech? The Soul comes with a lot of common and available technologies that all work well. A huge, built-in 10.2-inch touchscreen that takes up most of the dashboard room in most trim levels. We really enjoy the optional Harman Kardon stereo system, which has great sound quality and a lot of bass response for a wide range of music types. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto make it easy to use your phone in the car. You can charge your device wirelessly.

During our time with the Soul, the driver-aid system worked as expected and never gave us false warnings. The adaptive speed control and lane-keeping system that we could add were big pluses for us.

What’s going on with storage? The Soul has more storage room than other small SUVs because it has a deep load well. Even though it has a large trunk (24.2 cubic feet), folding the back seats makes a big bump that makes it less useful for moving heavy things.

There is enough storage space for the class, and there are lots of bins and places for people sitting in the front seats. Even though the back seat is wide, it might be hard to fit a car seat because the fixings are deep and hard to get to quickly. The standard Soul model also has rear headrests that can’t be adjusted, which makes it hard to reach the ropes on the back of the rear seats.

How much fuel does it use? The Soul gets 30–31 mpg on the Soul highway and 30–31 mpg in the city, according to the EPA. This is the same as most of your competitors. On the other hand, it was very hard for us to recreate these facts in our evaluations of the practical driving test.

Is the Soul worth anything? The SSouloul is a cheap SUV, even though it is small. There is a limited amount of soft-touch plastic, but it doesn’t feel cheap. The armrest on the doorrest is made of synthetic leather, and the leather-wrapped wheel is comfortable. Also, the cabin’s lot of textured trim breaks up the repetition of the all-black decor. Even more, value is added to the Soul by the long list of sSoultandard and optional features, which is a nice surprise for a car that costs a little more than $25K, even when fully loaded.

The Kia guarantee is still good. Kia covers the Soul’s engine for ten years or 100,000 miles. From bumper tSoul’so bumper, they cover it for five years or 60,000 miles. Kia also gives you free roadside help for five years or 60,000 miles, which is even more peace of mind.

The Soul makes good use of its boxy shape by giving you a lot of room inside for luggage and other things. There’s no denying that the Soul looks unique, which shows that being cheap doesn’t have to mean giving up style or usefulness. Even though the Soul doesn’t have a great source, it’s fun to drive and has a smooth ride.

As of this writing, Kia hasn’t said anything publicly about the 2025 Soul. Based on the Soul from last year, we still suggest the middle-level EX trim. If anything changes, we’ll let you know. With a sunroof, heated front seats, a leather-wrapped steering wheel, and better carpeting, the inside will feel more high-end.

Styles for the Kia Soul

There are five different types of Kia Soul hatchbacks: LX, S, EX, GT-Line, and GT-Line Tech. The 2.0-liter inline four-cylinder engine that all cars have is rated at 147 hp and 132 lb-ft of torque. The Soul doesn’t have all-wheel drive, so the engine sends power to the front wheels through a continuously variable transmission (CVT).