2012 Kia Soul Eco lacking in spirit

The 2012 Kia Soul has a lot going for it.

It rides big and parks small — stretching a mere 162.2 inches in length — the same size as many subcompact cars. (A Ford Fiesta sedan measures 173.6 inches.)

It gets good gas mileage, hitting 35 mpg on the highway, and feels like a bargain with the lowest base model starting under $14,000.

So why would Kia, the fastest growing brand in America last year, want to muck things up by tweaking the Kia Soul just enough to annoy people?

Like many other carmakers, Kia must have felt some sort of obligation to create an Eco version of its popular Soul. Really, I don't know what the company was thinking when it added a start/stop system to the Soul, something called ISG for Idle Stop Go.

Here's what happens with the Kia Eco: You're cruising along and up ahead is a stop light. As you near the light, you see it turn red, so you touch the brakes and when you come to a full stop, the engine shuts off. The radio keeps playing and everything kind of feels normal, but the engine isn't running.

Then, when you take your foot off the brake, you'll feel a little shudder and the engine starts up again and the Soul begins to crawl forward. Then you touch the brake again, and the Soul stops, but the engine stays on.

The system needs a couple of different requirements for it to kick on so it doesn't always work the same. One of the requirements is the Soul must be going more than 5 mph for the system to work. So much for stop-and-go traffic.

Car a fun little runabout

It's a shame really, because overall, the Soul (sans Eco) is a fun little runabout. The base 1.6-liter direct injection I-4 is a nice engine. It gives the Soul 138 horsepower to help it get up and go. (If you're going to regularly carry more than two adults, you might want to consider the bigger 2-liter 164-horsepower four-cylinder engine.)

But even with the smaller engine, the Soul felt fine cruising around.

More importantly, all of the subtle changes to the vehicle make it look nicer and perform better.

My nicely loaded Soul Eco included a 6-speed automatic transmission (a requirement for the Eco model) that clicked through gears nicely. It wasn't great on aggressive driving, as it would hunt around for a moment before finding the right gear, but it still provided smooth acceleration under normal driving conditions.

The electric power steering provided a solid feel and kept the driver connected to the road.

Interior doesn't feel cheap

The interior was well laid out and nothing felt cheap inside, even though the price of my test vehicle was just $17,545, including shipping.

The Soul came with remote keyless entry, Sirius Satellite Radio, a four-speaker audio system that connected to my iPhone through a USB port. There's also an auxiliary input jack. New for this year is an Infinity stereo system with 350 watts and seven speakers.

The other aspect that shouldn't be overlooked is the cavernous interior space. Because the Soul has a more box-like structure, there's no loss of head room in the second row. And when the seats fold down, there's a lot of room — 53.4 cubic feet of space.

That means a young owner could pack up most of his apartment and move to the next place.

Really, that's the thing about the Soul. It seems to provide exactly the features a person needs and doesn't overwhelm by having too many features a driver doesn't need.

My test vehicle, for example, did not include power adjustable front seats, and I don't think they're necessary. If there's only one driver, how often will those seats need adjusting and will it matter if it's done by the whirl of an electric motor or just a simple hand lever. For most people, adjusting the seat is a one-and-done kind of thing.

The Soul also has those new technocessities, high-tech features people just expect nowadays, such as steering wheel controls for the stereo's volume, cruise control and telephone, through a Bluetooth connection. Obviously, our future will be charted hands free.

Some auto's spirit gutted

The Soul certainly has spirit, but the Eco version feels like Kia gutted some of that in the name of a few more miles per gallon.

The low-rolling resistant tires didn't really change the vehicle's performance, but the colder it gets outside, the more likely they will. These tires are harder than other tires, and as the mercury falls, they're bound to get even harder.

They may have contributed to the vehicle's overall noisy ride, which is also due to the big cabin area.

That bigger cabin, however, also provides a nice view of the road, with decent lines of sight and the ability to see over the roofs of the cars ahead.

The Soul still connects with drivers, which is why it will remain popular. But the Eco model tries too hard to be something it's not.

Any driver can sense that, every single time that engine starts up again.

sburgess@detnews.com

(313) 223-3217