Kia Soul

Kia Soul

Kia Motors America (KMA) announced the North American debut of the all-new Kia Soul passenger vehicle at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show. Designed in Southern California, the Kia Soul is the newest product offering to join the company's ever-expanding line-up, following the introduction of the all-new Borrego midsize SUV earlier this year. Soul's bold and edgy design is indicative of the new Kia design theme, with more package and styling combinations than any previous Kia vehicle. With Soul's arrival as an early model year 2010 vehicle to the C-Segment, it allows young and young-at-heart buyers to have the freedom to truly personalize and emotionally connect with their vehicle.

"The Kia Soul is for those who love individuality but don't like to be categorized by finding the next best thing," said Michael Sprague, vice president of marketing, KMA. "Indicative of the new design direction of KMA, Soul is an attractive and customizable vehicle for those looking for something with a little more personality than other vehicles on the market today.

Edgy and Confident Exterior

Originally debuted as a concept vehicle at Detroit's North American International Auto Show in 2006, Kia Soul's exterior remains true to the original Kia Soul concept design implying power and strength. With an angled window line, rounded nose, large flared back headlamps and chrome grille, the Kia Soul is given a friendly face and exudes a youthful exuberance for coasting along the beach or cruising downtown city streets, redefining the concept of freedom.

The beltline rises from the front wheel arch to create a gentle wedge shape and continues under and around the rear side window. The rear is dominated by the vertical combination rear lamps set into the body color panel with clear outer lenses. The body and wheel arch crease line extends around the bumper for a tough, not rough, style matching the look from the front.

Available in four trims, Soul, Soul+, Soul! (exclaim) and Soul sport, the versatile five-door offers plenty of standard features. The Kia Soul includes black door handles and side mirrors, body-colored bumpers, rear wiper/washer and 15-inch steel wheels fitted with P195/65R15 tires. Upgrading slightly to the Soul+ offers keyless remote entry, solar glass, privacy glass on the rear side and rear windows body-color handles and power side mirrors along with 16-inch alloy wheels with P205/55R16 tires. Enhancing to the Soul! adds power moonroof, fog lights, 18-inch alloy wheels furnished with P225/45R18 tires, while the dynamic Soul sport features side sills, rear spoiler, 18-inch alloy wheels, unique front and rear fascias, wholly personifying the sporty, urban look Soul embodies.

Spacious, State-of-the-Art Interior

Inside the cabin is where Kia Soul really shows its power to surprise. For those who want a personal lounge on wheels or an efficient cargo carrier with 14 storage zones, Soul has it covered. While Kia Soul offers a relatively small footprint, it offers a surprisingly spacious interior. Passengers will find comfort in the roomy cabin. All five adult passengers will find ingress and egress simple and effortless, credited to tall doors and a high seating position, and each Kia Soul will be able to have its own personality thanks to multiple options for interiors with different colors, fabrics and audio system packages available for selection.

The Soul's interior design is decidedly influenced by the car's highly specified audio system. An uncluttered dashboard with a three-dial instrument cluster, LCD illumination, a floating center stack design is the key visual feature and offers enticing access to the AM/FM/CD/MP3 audio system outfitted with SIRIUS Satellite Radio capabilities and three months complimentary service . Standard auxiliary and USB input jacks also can be found in the center console with full iPod® controllability via the audio head unit and steering wheel controls.

Additional standard interior features include a tilt steering column, power door locks, power windows with driver's side auto-down, map lamps and a rear wiper and washer. Stylishly appointed cloth seats provide comfortable seating while a 60/40 split-folding rear seat offers multiple seating and cargo arrangements depending on driver and passenger needs.

Soul+ offers additional standard features including air conditioning, cruise control with steering wheel-mounted controls, Bluetooth® hands-free connectivity, a leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob, privacy glass and tweeter speakers. Available upgrades for the Soul+ trim include an audio upgrade package power moonroof and floor mats, which become standard on the Soul!. Advancing to the Soul! adds unique beige-black interior trim and cloth seats and metal-finish trim. For the Soul! and Soul sport, an Audio Upgrade Package enhances the sound with center speaker, subwoofer and 315-watt external amplifier.

For consumers with more athletic and active lifestyles looking for even more excitement, the Kia Soul sport offers a sport-tuned suspension, metal pedals, unique red-black interior trim with sport cloth seats and metal-finish trim.

Advanced Platform/Chassis

Kia Soul is different, right down to its all-new platform. With its own distinctive style, Soul features front-wheel drive, a high roofline and an unusually long wheelbase. Built on a platform with a wheelbase of 100.4 inches, an overall length of 161.6 inches, an overall width of 70.3 inches and overall height of 63.4 inches the Soul offers a comfortable interior with roomy seating for up to five passengers. With more than 70 percent high-tensile-strength steel to enhance structural strength without adding a lot of weight, the all-new, Kia-engineered body achieves high torsional stiffness, benefiting handling, ride quality and refinement. Additional measures to help ensure good noise vibration and harshness (NVH) qualities are fitted throughout the Kia Soul.

Mounted on the front sub frame that supports the engine and transmission, the Kia Soul is fitted with a fully independent front and twist-beam rear suspension system, with front MacPherson struts and coil springs, designed to deliver responsive handling and an agile ride. In the rear, the Soul suspension is sub-frame-mounted with a transverse torsion beam axle with trailing arms for a smooth ride and minimum intrusion into the cargo space. For optimal space, the rear anti-roll stabilizer bar is mounted inside the torsion beam.

Under-the-Hood Options

Kia Soul offers an agile, smooth and spirited ride. Its 1.6-liter, four-cylinder engine is mated to a five-speed manual transmission, which produces approximately 120 horsepower. For those looking for a little more power, a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine is available with either the five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic transmission. The latter engine produces approximately 140 horsepower, and is available for Soul+, Soul! and Soul sport. Fuel economy for both engines is estimated at 30 or more miles per gallon.

Standard Kia Safety Features

Kia Soul continues to offer the same high level of standard safety equipment as all Kia vehicles, with features such as front seat active headrests, dual front advanced airbags, front seat-mounted and full-length side curtain airbags and a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS). An antilock brake system (ABS) with electronic brakeforce distribution (EBD), electronic stability control (ESC), and rear disc brakes are standard on Soul+, Soul! and Soul sport models.

 

Industry-Leading Warranty

Like all Kia models, Soul is covered by a comprehensive warranty program, which offers unprecedented consumer protection. Included in this program are a 10-year/100,000-mile limited powertrain warranty, a five-year/60,000-mile limited basic warranty, and a five-year/100,000-mile anti-perforation warranty. A five-year/60,000-mile roadside assistance plan also is part of the comprehensive coverage program.

Mitsubishi Lancer

Mitsubishi Lancer

The all-new 2008 Mitsubishi Lancer was engineered from bumper to bumper to provide a driven-to-thrill experience behind the wheel. Driving enthusiasts will feel the difference through every curve, especially in the sport-tuned Lancer GTS model. Customers who purchase a Lancer DE or ES model will find themselves enjoying driving more than before.

The source for Lancer's engaging, fun-driving character is a new global performance-engineered platform that has been optimized for a maximum-performance variant (which will arrive at a later date). This platform was introduced first for the 2007 Outlander SUV, a vehicle that provides uncommonly energetic driving responses for its segment.

The 2008 Lancer GTS - with the standard 5-speed manual transmission or the optional Sportronic(R) CVT - combines a sport-tuned suspension with 18-inch wheels 215/45 R18 tires and large 4-wheel disc brakes to make this model an aggressive twisty-road tamer. Lancer models - and especially the sport-tuned GTS - will offer an international driving character more commonly found in expensive European sport sedans.

The 2008 Lancer DE and ES models, with their standard 16-inch wheels (alloy on ES) and 205/60 R16 tires, provide solid and stable driving performance that can help make even an ordinary commute to work more enjoyable. The ES adds standard anti-lock brakes (ABS) with Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD), as well as a rear stabilizer bar for sharper handling.

The 2008 Lancer projects a tauter, stronger stance through its design, and the effect is more than skin-deep. The new Lancer is built on a longer wheelbase and wider track - but with a slightly shorter overall length. A 2.3-inch increase in both the front and rear track dimensions - now 60.2 in. - sets the stage for the new Lancer's solid, stable handling capability. Wheelbase was lengthened to 103.7 in. from 102.3 in, and overall width is increased from 66.7 in to 69.4 in. Overall length, however, has been reduced by 0.6-in., giving the new Lancer a more road-hugging stance that is especially evident with the GTS model's standard 18-in. wheels and 215/45 R18 tires.

Safety-Optimized RISE Body Structure

The reassuringly solid feeling one gets driving the new Lancer is rooted in a body structure engineered with greater inherent strength than its predecessor. That is one reason the new platform can be used for a variety of model types, including the new-generation Outlander SUV. Of course, the new structure has also been optimized for a higher level of crashworthiness, as well.

The 2008 Lancer is built around Mitsubishi's next-generation Reinforced Impact Safety Evolution (RISE) unibody design. The highly rigid structure makes extensive use of high-tension steel, a material that was not used in the previous-generation Lancer. A stiff body structure can allow sport suspension tuning without compromising a compliant ride, and this platform allows for further handling development even beyond the new Lancer GTS model.

The Lancer's structural and suspension development reflects Mitsubishi's renowned motorsports expertise. In particular, lessons learned from reinforcing the structure of the previous-generation Lancer Evolution model have been integrated into the new-generation Lancer.

Compared to the previous-generation Lancer, torsional rigidity has been increased by 56 percent, and bending rigidity is up by 50 percent. These increases in both torsional and bending rigidity exceed body stiffness measurements of even the Lancer Evolution IX.

Straight front side members with an octagonal cross-section and a three-leg support structure, as well as increased application high-strength steel, are designed to help Lancer meet the highest crash test standards. The side pillars, roof joints and cross-car structure - combined with the standard front seat-mounted side air bags, driver knee air bag and standard front and rear curtain side air bags - give the new Lancer a higher degree of collision protection.

Rigidity Throughout

The lower body structure, where the suspension attaches to the car, also demonstrates the benefits of higher rigidity than before. Here, one can appreciate the holistic approach engineers used to achieve this goal. As one example, the Lancer's new-generation 2.0-liter DOHC MIVEC 4-cylinder engine uses a rear-mounted exhaust manifold, as opposed to the front-mounted exhaust manifold on the previous-generation Lancer engine.

That change allowed use of a flat front suspension crossmember, where the previous model required a saddle-shaped crossmember to provide clearance for the exhaust pipe. A flat front crossmember can directly receive lateral loads from the front lower arm.

Strut tower, side and lower braces enhance lateral rigidity for precise steering response, and lower control arm attachment points and steering knuckles have been strengthened. The combination of these enhancements, along with retuned lower control arm bushings, contribute to quicker steering response. As a result of these reinforcement measures, rigidity of the tire ground contact area was improved by a significant 18 percent versus the previous Lancer, an improvement that enhances nimble handling, driving stability and ride comfort.

Redesigned Front Suspension

The MacPherson strut front suspension is similar in layout to the previous Lancer's, but all-new, with a sharpened focus on enhancing rigidity while reducing weight and lowering the roll center. Slightly longer suspension travel (10 mm) enhances road holding even on rough roads, and road shock from driving over uneven surfaces has also been reduced.

The Lancer DE and ES models use a 20-mm (0.79-in.) front stabilizer bar, and the GTS model employs a 21-mm (0.83-in.) front stabilizer bar. The GTS also gets exclusive sport-tuning of the spring rates and shock damping force. Fitting a stabilizer strut helps ensure optimal roll rigidity and improved steering stability.

Multi-link Rear Suspension

The Lancer's sophisticated new trailing-arm type multi-link rear suspension is a major factor in providing ride and handling characteristics that might be expected from a more expensive vehicle. The rack-type crossmember has been lightened, yet its rigidity increased to enhance handling response.

Compared with the current Lancer, the toe control arm has been lowered and camber rigidity increased to deliver better steering stability. Raising the trailing arm bushing has improved suspension operation when traversing rough surfaces and enhanced ride comfort. The Lancer ES features an 18-mm (0.71-in.) rear stabilizer bar, and the GTS sport-tuned suspension gets a 20-mm (0.79-in.) rear bar, changes in spring rate and shock damping forces, and pillow-ball bushing for both upper and toe control arms. Contributing to handling stability in the all-new Lancer are ball joint-type stabilizer links and a new hub unit bearing that provides higher camber and toe rigidity.

More Precise Steering

The 2008 Lancer owes its crisp, fluid steering response to the integration of the highly rigid body structure, the newly designed suspension, and of course the new rack and pinion steering system itself. The new steering rack has a slightly larger diameter than the previous Lancer's.

The optimized steering column layout features joint friction-reduction parts that improve steering feel (reduced torque fluctuation). Support stiffness at the steering wheel end of the steering column has been increased by 20 percent compared to the previous model, reducing steering wheel vibration. Dampers used on the intermediate shaft help reduce shimmy.

Confident Braking Performance

The all-new 2008 Lancer GTS not only tames curves, but does so with the confident stopping power of the same brakes as the larger, heavier Outlander SUV -- 11.6-in. (294 mm) vented discs in front and 11.9-in. (302 mm) solid discs in rear. The Lancer DE and ES models employ 10.9-in. (276 mm) vented front disc brakes. The ES has 10.3-in. (262 mm) solid disc rear brakes. The DE has highly efficient drum-type rear brakes.

The front disc brakes utilize powerful dual-piston calipers, with the GTS featuring single-piston calipers for its rear discs. Front rotors on all models measure 1.0 in. thick, and the rear rotors on GTS are 0.4 in. thick. Additionally, higher friction coefficient pads improve performance. The single 10-in. brake vacuum booster, with a long-stroke master cylinder, improves boost power and brake feel. The anti-lock braking system (ABS) is standard on GTS and ES and available for DE models. The system incorporates Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD). A change in the surface treatments for both the calipers and rotors has eliminated hazardous materials