The new Kia Soul Trail'ster concept is an interesting proposition. They have the Soul EV already, so the plan here is to use some of the batteries and add an electric motor to the back wheels. With a mild suspension lift, you suddenly have a CUV. The rear motor only kicks in as needed for traction or extra acceleration. It's actually more fuel efficient than the original.
I find it interesting because you could easily do the same thing with other cars. Imagine taking some tech from the Fiesta Hybrid and adding another 100hp motor to the rear of the Fiesta ST. That would make beast of an autocross car! I hope this idea catches on.
I've wondered why it isn't more popular also. The RX400h did that around 10 years ago.
Even better would be to use hub motors so you could keep a flat floor and largo cargo area in the rear.
ProDarwin wrote:
I've wondered why it isn't more popular also. The RX400h did that around 10 years ago.
Even better would be to use hub motors so you could keep a flat floor and largo cargo area in the rear.
All good things except the hub motors weight a lot and therefore = huge unsprung weight.
So, clearly, it just needs lightweight hub motors! or you could always chain-drive the suckers from a motor placed effectively right in front of the rear wheel, one on each side.
Parents looked at the Soul when they were new car shopping last year. Loved the visibility, utility and they wanted to test drive a more loaded model, but the dealer had them try the low end model and it sucked. Bad. Handled horribly as in it was wobbly as heck and wandered, etc. it was also excessively noisy and gutless.
I don't know if the other models are better in terms of NVH and handling, but it seems like the base is atrocious and the local dealers are idiots.
The dealer group I worked for has KIA and they can't keep Souls in stock. Everyone I met who had one praised them highly; of course these are generally the same types who view their car as an appliance. Still, it was a surprising endorsement of a cheap car. And I always wondered why there was no 4x4 version (at least that I was aware of).
Yeah, that's the weird thing. I've read the reviews of the Soul and realized that it should be a decent utilitarian option to the original XB with a little style to it. So I'm not sure why the base was so god awful bad when the folks drove one. Of course their dealer experience was bad enough they never wanted to suffer another trip to one to try anymore.
My wife has a soul and I really dislike it. My two door GTI had more cargo capacity. The narrow hatch and unnecessarily high hatch floor area really limits what you could put in there. It is noisy, buzzy, harsh on the freeway and slow. The rear quarters have the largest blind spot I have seen outside of a cargo van. for our typical 2 hour freeway jaunts we have to stop at least once to rest as it is just so fatiguing on journeys.
She likes the look and the high seating position but is tiring of the rest of the ownership experience.
I drove a 2nd generation Soul a few months ago. It's on my short list for when the time comes to replace my MINI. I thought it was a pretty decent vehicle for a sub $20K purchase.Better in fit,finish, ride and handling than my wife's xB, but certainly no match for the MINI.It was the 2nd trim level with the 2 liter engine, rather than the 1.6
Come to think of it, the majority of the ones I have seen around here are the higher level ones (alloys, nice interior, etc) and maybe that's what it is. I don't think I've even been close to a base model or spoken to an owner of one although I have seen them.
EvanR
Dork
2/12/15 2:23 p.m.
I wish I could buy a Kia Soul. Too bad the only one with a stickshift can't be had with the big engine, cruise control, or RKE.
Other Kia news: the 2016 Rio was announced today at the Chicago show. No longer can you have a stick shift in ANY hatchback model.
EvanR wrote:
I wish I could buy a Kia Soul. Too bad the only one with a stickshift can't be had with the big engine, cruise control, or RKE.
Other Kia news: the 2016 Rio was announced today at the Chicago show. No longer can you have a stick shift in ANY hatchback model.
My son drives a Rio hatch and I've thought about it with a manual, but that seems to have gone out the window now. I'll just have to hold onto my MINI and GTI if I want some utility and a stick in the same vehicle.
I'm pretty sure that wouldn't make it down some things I consider roads, much less trails.
