With a fresh and funky appearance, the Kia Soul is finding its way on to more and more people’s consideration lists this year—and that includes the people behind the NADAguides 2011 Must Consider List. That team of experts, leveraging the resources of the National Auto Dealers Association (NADA), develops the rankings each year to shine the spotlight on some of the industry’s most under-appreciated players.
The Soul earned its recent honor thanks to factors like a low MSRP and high levels of standard and optional content, which combine to provide owners with plenty of opportunities for customization. As pointed out by NADAguides, this cool Kia offers features like a sport-tuned suspension, fog lights, auto-off headlights, heated power mirrors, a rear wiper, privacy glass, satellite radio, USB connectivity, remote entry, steering-wheel-mounted controls, Bluetooth compatibility and a full complement of safety equipment. In fact, boasting advanced driver, passenger and full-length side-curtain air bags, the Soul was named a 2011 Top Safety Pick by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS).
Kia even offers two different engines for the Soul for further fine-tuning. Customers who put their focus on full efficiency can rely on the Soul’s spirited 1.6-liter I4 engine, capable of delivering a peppy 122 hp and 115 ft. lbs. of torque as well as an EPA line of up to 26 mpg city/31 mpg highway. And that’s with both its manual and automatic transmissions. Kia Rio CT drivers also can up the ante with Kia’s responsive 2.0-liter, four-cylinder powerplant, which peaks at a robust 142 hp and 137 ft. lbs. of torque, yet still can achieve 24 mpg city/30 mpg with the EPA, again regardless of transmission.
And consider this: According to Kia Huntington Beach, the price of admission to the high-efficiency, high-value Kia Soul starts at only $13,300—which probably explains why NADAguides named the Soul to its 2011 Most Economical and Practical List, too.
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