Kia Soul (2014-2018) review - Practicality, comfort and boot space

Up front in the Kia Soul, it’s easy to get comfortable as there’s plenty of seat and wheel adjustment, plus you get a wide range of storage options, including a deep glovebox, door bins, and a centre console cubby with cup-holders. Higher trim models come with handy features like a reversing camera, navigation and Bluetooth.

There’s only the one five-door body-style, but that boxy profile makes it a spacious car to ride in – five adults should be able to travel in relative comfort. You also sit quite high, and with a good-sized glass area visibility is excellent.

Size

The Kia Soul is bigger and more practical than ever. Compared to the first generation Soul, the latest version has a 20mm longer wheelbase and is 15mm wider, which contributes to a more spacious cabin and extra luggage room. It’s also 10mm lower to the ground so it’s easier to get in and out and headroom hasn’t been affected.

Leg room, head room & passenger space

The high roofline gives excellent headroom and the rear seats are comfortable. A small transmission tunnel also increases rear passenger space and you’ll have no trouble fitting three adults across the rear bench.

However, unlike some crossover rivals, the rear seats don’t slide and there’s no clever folding modulation. Isofix seat mounts for children are fitted as standard though.

18

Boot

Boot space has increased by 14 litres to 354 litres compared to the previous model, plus you get extra storage under the boot floor. Even though the rear seats don’t fold fully flat you get 1,367 litres of luggage space if you load to the roof with the seats down.

A heating and cooling system for the battery pack in the EV model means you lose some of that underfloor storage however, reducing the boot space to 281 litres.