The Soul is Kia's top-selling car!

The boxy Kia Soul is still funky-looking and still has dancing hamsters in its award-winning television ads.

But for 2012, the youthful Soul is restyled for a more high-tech look, has more powerful, yet more fuel-efficient engines, new six-speed transmissions and more features, including an infotainment system with voice recognition. Kia even offers 18-inch wheels now.

This model year, the five-door Soul also adds Idle Stop and Go (ISG), which automatically turns off the engine when the car is at idle, such as at a stoplight, and then automatically restarts the engine when the driver's pressure on the brake pedal lets up. The ISG, which is commonly found on gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles, helps conserve fuel.

What's not changed: The front-wheel drive Soul hatchback retains its industry-leading warranty coverage, which includes 10 years/100,000 miles for powertrain and five years/60,000 miles for limited, basic car coverage.

And it still comes standard with lots of safety equipment, such as traction control and electronic stability control, six air bags and antilock brakes.

Best of all, the Soul, which is a recommended buy of Consumer Reports magazine, remains priced below many competitors.

Starting manufacturer's suggested retail price, including destination charge, is $14,650 for the base Soul with 138-horsepower, 1.6-liter, four-cylinder engine and six-speed manual transmission.

But the lowest retail price for a 2012 Soul with automatic is $1,800 more, or $16,450.

The 2012 Soul is offered with a larger, 164-horsepower, 2-liter four cylinder with a starting MSRP, including destination charge, of $17,050.

Competitors include the boxy-styled, Nissan cube, which has a starting retail price of $15,500 as a 2011 model with 122-horsepower, 1.8-liter four cylinder and six-speed manual transmission. The competing 2012 Scion xB has a starting retail price of $17,030 with 158-horsepower, 2.4-liter four cylinder and manual transmission.

Note that the federal government's top fuel economy ratings of 27 miles per gallon in city driving and 35 mpg on the highway for the 2012 Soul with base engine are better than the fuel ratings for the cube and xB. For example, the 2012 xB's mileage rating is 22/28 mpg.

The Soul has become Kia's top-selling car, with sales topping 92,600 through the first 11 months of this year. This is up 52 percent from the same period a year ago.

No doubt buyers are attracted by the Soul's value for the price.

Standard equipment on all models includes ample cargo space, Sirius XM satellite radio (buyers must subscribe to keep this satellite radio beyond the complimentary tryout period), dual-level glovebox, air conditioning, power door locks, outside mirrors and windows, as well as USB/auxiliary jacks.

The test Soul, a Plus model with the larger four cylinder and six-speed automatic transmission included Plus standard features like keyless entry, Bluetooth phone connectivity, leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, audio controls on the steering wheel, two powerpoint outlets and metal-look interior trim — all for $18,050.

At just 13.5 feet long from bumper to bumper, the test Soul fit easily into compact parking spaces and handled nimbly in tight spots.

But inside, the feeling was anything but tight. The 5.3-foot-tall Soul provides 40.2 inches of headroom in the front seat and 39.6 inches in the back seat, so even tall riders don't feel constrained. This is akin to the headroom inside a 2012 Chevrolet Equinox sport utility vehicle.

This ample headroom isn't achieved by forcing riders to sit low to the pavement. Rather, it's the product of a roofline that doesn't slope much until it's behind the back seats. In the test Soul, passengers had good views out of the vehicle and to the traffic ahead, though we still couldn't see over or beyond big pickup trucks or vans.

Be aware, though, that three adults in the back seat sit close to each other, even if the generous 39 inches of rear-seat legroom meant no one's knees touched the front seatbacks.

Note that rear seatbacks are split 60/40 and fold down to extend the 19.3 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seats to an SUV-like 53.4 cubic feet. It wasn't difficult to load items inside since the flat cargo floor was at thigh level on me and the rear bumper was not obtrusive.

The uplevel, 2-liter, double overhead cam, four-cylinder engine with variable valve timing provided commendable power, even with the Soul's cargo area filled with suitcases and shopping bags.

I did hear the four-cylinder buzziness at times when pressing the car to accelerate on uphill road sections. But the engine response and power delivery was pleasing, not at all lagging. Torque peaks at 148 foot-pounds at 4,800 rpm, and the Soul weighs less than 3,000 pounds and can feel sprightly on the roads.

Without trying at all, I averaged 29.1 mpg, which is just over the combined city/highway mileage that the federal government estimates in combined city/highway travel.

The tester did not include the automatic engine shutdown and restarting feature. Note that Kia engineers add a more durable starter and alternator with this feature to ensure those stop/starts don't require earlier starter and alternator replacements.

Fit and finish on the test Soul was excellent, and fabric seats were comfortable in summer heat and pleasant looking. But, I could have used some additional lumbar support in the Soul's front passenger seat when I sat there over a three-hour trip.

 

Courtesy of CBSNews

Kia Optima races into hybrid record book

The Guinness Book of Records, he adds, has listed the Optima hybrid as the hybrid with the lowest fuel consumption. "A model was driven throughout all of the 48 continental states," he reports. "The vehicle used only 51/2 tanks of fuel to cover 12,700 km.

"It's also the only hybrid on the market that can get you close to 100 kilometres per hour."

 

Courtesy of the WinnipegFreePress

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Kia wins viral video award

Kia Motors America announced that, on the heels of receiving the first-ever "Rookie of the Year" award from the Madison Avenue Advertising Walk of Fame, it was recognized on Mashables 10 Most Innovative Viral Video Ads of 2011 list. Kia notes that the legend of Kia Motors' trio of music-loving hamsters continued to grow with Mashable ranking the "Share Some Soul" spot as one of the "10 Most Innovative Viral Video Ads of 2011." Since rolling onto the scene in 2009 to announce the arrival of Kia's funky Soul urban passenger vehicle, the driving, rapping and dancing hamsters have attracted millions of viewers around the world, with the "Share Some Soul" campaign alone eclipsing more than 10 million "The Kia Soul hamsters have become pop culture icons and dramatically increased consumer awareness, perception and consideration for the brand, proving that Kia is a pioneering brand with its finger on the pulse of today's market," said Michael Sprague, vice president of marketing & communications, Kia Motors America (KMA). "Mashable is one of the leading news sources in digital culture, and landing on their top 10 list is further evidence that the marketing campaign for the Soul continues to connect and entertain consumers."

Mashable's list consists of a variety of advertising campaigns, chosen for their widespread appeal and innovation, but mainly for understanding the target audience and being creative about engaging the consumer.

Created by David&Goliath, KMA's advertising agency of record, "Share Some Soul" finds three hamsters rolling through an apocalyptic landscape in an aptly named "Alien Green" 2012 Kia Soul with this summer's hottest song, "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO - number one on the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks - blasting from the hatchback's new 350-watt Infinity®1 audio system. The hamsters bring style and flair to a dark and dreary scene with their fluorescent Hamstar® street wear and quickly capture the attention of battling robots when they emerge from their Soul and begin performing the latest dance trend, shuffling. Just as the Kia Soul infuses fun and personality into the compact CUV segment, the Hamsters' positive energy causes the alien robots and humanoids to stop fighting, drop their weapons and shuffle and party together.

 

Courtesy of TheExaminer

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IIHS announces 115 Top Safety Picks

The list of winners of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety's Top Safety Pick award is longer than ever this year, with vehicles in nearly every size category the Institute evaluates earning accolades. From minicars to sedans to pickups, consumers have a record number of choices among 2012 models.

In all, 69 cars, 38 SUVs, 5 minivans, and 3 pickups earn Top Safety Pick. The award recognizes vehicles that do the best job of protecting people in front, side, rollover, and rear crashes based on ratings in Institute evaluations. The ratings, which cover all 4 of the most common kinds of crashes, help shoppers pick vehicles that offer the highest levels of crash protection. Because the federal government now requires all 2012 and later passenger vehicles to have electronic stability control to help drivers avoid loss-of-control crashes, ESC no longer is a requirement to win as it was in prior years.

The winners' circle includes 18 new recipients for 2012, while 97 models that previously qualified for the 2011 award carry over to 2012.

"For the second year running a record number of models qualify," says Institute president Adrian Lund. "It's tough to win, and we commend auto manufacturers for making safety a top priority."

That commitment to protecting people in crashes is evident in the fast pace of design improvements automakers have made during the past year. Initially 66 vehicles qualified for last year's award as less-than-perfect rollover ratings held back many contenders. Later the number climbed to 100 as manufacturers redesigned roofs to make them stronger or introduced new models to win. The Institute's rolling test schedule allows for recognition of additional winners throughout the year, so many 2012 models qualified for a 2011 Top Safety Pick.

Again this year every major automaker has at least one winner. Subaru remains the only manufacturer with the distinction of earning awards for every model it builds. Subaru picks up 5 awards, including one for the redesigned Impreza, a small car.

About the award: The Institute awarded the first Top Safety Pick to 2006 models and then raised the bar the next year by requiring good rear test results and ESC as either standard or optional equipment. In 2010, the Institute toughened criteria by adding a requirement that all qualifiers must earn a good rating for performance in a roof strength test to assess protection in a rollover crash.

The Institute groups winners according to vehicle type and size. Lund advises consumers to keep in mind that size and weight influence crashworthiness. Larger, heavier vehicles generally afford better occupant protection in serious crashes than smaller, lighter ones. Even with a Top Safety Pick, a small car isn't as crashworthy as a bigger one.

How vehicles are evaluated: The Institute's frontal crashworthiness evaluations are based on results of 40 mph frontal offset crash tests. Each vehicle's overall evaluation is based on measurements of intrusion into the occupant compartment, injury measures recorded on a 50th percentile male Hybrid III dummy in the driver seat, and analysis of slow-motion film to assess how well the restraint system controlled dummy movement during the test.

Side evaluations are based on performance in a crash test in which the side of a vehicle is struck by a barrier moving at 31 mph. The barrier represents the front end of a pickup or SUV. Ratings reflect injury measures recorded on 2 instrumented SID-IIs dummies representing a 5th percentile woman, assessment of head protection countermeasures, and the vehicle's structural performance during the impact.

In the roof strength test, a metal plate is pushed against 1 side of a roof at a displacement rate of 0.2 inch per second. To earn a good rating for rollover protection, the roof must withstand a force of 4 times the vehicle's weight before reaching 5 inches of crush. This is called a strength-to-weight ratio.

Rear crash protection is rated according to a 2-step procedure. Starting points for the ratings are measurements of head restraint geometry — the height of a restraint and its horizontal distance behind the back of the head of an average-size man.

Seat/head restraints with good or acceptable geometry are tested dynamically using a dummy that measures forces on the neck. This test simulates a collision in which a stationary vehicle is struck in the rear at 20 mph. Seats without good or acceptable geometry are rated poor overall because they can't be positioned to protect many people.

Kia's Winners:

Kia Forte sedan
Kia Soul
Kia Optima
Kia Sportage

 

Courtesy of IIHS.org