Kia Soul Does Some Inner Searching with New Special Edition

The Soul Searcher is the latest addition to Kia's Originals line-up, which includes a collection of distinctive versions of the sub-compact crossover. This here special edition is for the UK market and it follows on from the Burner, Shaker, Tempest and Echo. Sales scheduled to start from the 4th January 2011.

The car is cosmetically distinguished by a light green metallic paintwork, and cream and brown full leather interior offset by a two-tone, cream and black dashboard. Furthermore, Kia's designers added chrome front grille and door handles, roof rails, black bezel headlights, front and rear mud flaps as well as 18-inch silver alloy wheels.

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Kia Takes New Soul White Tiger and Hamstar Concepts to SEMA Show

Kia is represented by a variety of customized models at this week's 2010 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, including this pair of concept versions of the Soul crossover called the "White Tiger" and "Hamstar".

The first concept study, the Soul White Tiger, is actually a teaser to one of two all-new special edition models that the company is planning to launch before the end of the year. Following in the footsteps of the four special edition Souls introduced over the past year, the White Tiger model features some unique styling cues and added content.

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Kia Soul Review | Price Custom Kia Soul

Kia Soul Review | Price Custom Kia Soul

Kia price in two variants, namely the automatic transmission, with an estimated price of $ 19,000, and a manual transmission with an estimated price of USD 17,700.

Assembler national assembly to be a place to assemble the imported variants are unraveled from there Korea, which will be dealing directly with the Suzuki SX4 crossover variant when it was marketed.

1600 cc engine capacity, with the standardization EURO 4, KIA Soul only made as many as 750 to 800 units for one year, for reasons of limited production capacity in Korea there.

New Limited Edition Kia Soul Ignition Hits US Showrooms

The second special edition Kia Soul to be offered in the States this year after the "Denim" is the "Ignition". Based on the Soul+ model, the limited run version features a unique ignition orange exterior finish with contrasting black rally stripes, a rear spoiler, an alloy fuel door and black 18-inch alloy wheels with machined accents.

Like the previously launched Denim, on top of the Soul+ standard equipment, Kia has loaded the Ignition with more features including a higher-grade audio system with iPod connection, center speaker, subwoofer, external amplifier and speaker lights that pulse to the beat of the music (...), carpeted floor mats, moon roof, fender vents with side marker repeaters and fog lights.

The new Kia Soul Iginition is available for order with prices starting from $17,500 for the model with a five-speed manual gearbox.

Kia Tries to Tempt UK Buyers with New Limited Edition Soul Tempest

The beginning of the month sees Kia's UK division launching yet another limited edition version of the Soul, the 'Tempest', which replaces the outgoing 'Samba' model. Part of Kia's Original Collection models, the Tempest comes in a Titanium Silver finish with black high-gloss bumper inserts and door mirrors, and is fitted with specific black 18-inch alloy wheels. As for the interior, the Tempest gets 'Soul-Shine' black seat trim with metallic centre fascia and chrome accents on the dashboard and instrument clusters.

Other key features of the limited edition model include a reversing camera system with electrochromic rearview mirror and an upgraded audio system featuring a dash-top centre speaker, rear sub-woofer and external amplifier.

The Soul Tempest is available with 1.6-litre petrol and diesel engines with prices starting from £12,845.

Kia Soul in Police Outfit to Patrol Sussex Streets

A local Kia dealer has donated a 'vanilla-cream' Soul to the Sussex Police department in the UK for use in their neighborhood policing program. While you won't be seeing the Soul chasing law-breakers on the highway, the small crossover will be used by the team of Police Community Support Officer's (PCSOs) as part of their routine street briefings and the general safe-keeping of Horsham South's communities.

"The car is as highly visible as we are!" said PCSO Charlotte Whittaker. "We were delighted to have been given a car by Toll House, but to have one that turns heads as swiftly as this one does only helps us become more visible to the public."

Toll House Kia, which provided the police-branded Soul Shaker to the Sussex Police department for a year, said that it will replace the car after six months.

More Reader Spy Shots: Kia's Small MPV Snapped in the Czech Republic

Carscoop readers Vladimir Pekulas and Jan Mlejnek bagged these shots of Kia's forthcoming mini-MPV on the highway near Mlada Boleslav in the Czech Republic. If you take a closer look at the pics after the jump, you'll see that the man sitting in the passenger's seat of the Kia test car retaliated against our readers by taking or pretending to take, photos of them also... But anyways, let's refresh our memory on Kia's new model which has yet to be named.

The five-seater MPV is in effect the production version of Kia's No3 Concept study that was shown for the first time in Geneva earlier this year. The Korean automaker's retort to the likes of the Honda Jazz, Opel Meriva and Citroen C3 Picasso uses the same architecture as the Kia Soul and Hyundai i20.

It is anticipated that the small MPV's engine range will comprise of 1.6-liter petrol and diesel units, both producing an output of 126HP, while certain markets may also receive a 115HP 1.6-liter diesel along with a range-topping 2.0-liter gasoline engine making 142HP.

Kia will most probably swoop the covers off the mini-MPV at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September with European sales set to start before the end of the year. Like the European market Cee'd, the MPV will be produced at the Hyundai Group's new plant in the Czech Republic.

"Děkuji" Vladimir Pekulas & Jan Mlejnek for the pics!

Euro NCAP: Q5, Jazz, i20, Soul and 3008 Achieve 5-Star Rating, Suzuki Alto gets only 3-Stars

European car safety testing body Euro-NCAP has announced its latest batch of results for six new cars. Five of these models, the Audi Q5, Honda Jazz, Hyundai i20, Kia Soul and Peugeot 3008 received Euro NCAP's maximum five star award while Suzuki's made-in-India Alto scored only three stars, its rating limited by its performance in adult occupant protection, child protection and safety assistance technologies. Euro NCAP made a special note on the Honda Jazz and the Hyundai i20 as both cars managed to achieve a high score in pedestrian safety.

"We would like to commend the Honda Jazz and the Hyundai i20 for their impressive pedestrian scores that not only meet current requirements, but also meet Euro NCAP's future requirements," Euro NCAP said in a statement.

All six vehicles were tested with Euro NCAP's new overall rating scheme that was introduced in 2009 and covers Adult Occupant Protection, Child Occupant Protection, Pedestrian Protection and a new area of assessment, Safety Assist. Under the new testing regime, vehicles are awarded a single overall score from one to five stars with the overall rating being based on the car's performance in each of the four main areas and the scores are weighted with respect to each other.

Kia Soul's European Sales Surpass 5,000 mark, 13 Percent Higher Than Predicted

The new Kia Soul subcompact crossover has got off to a good start in Europe with sales surpassing the 5,000 mark since it went fully on sale across the continent in January, 2009. That's 13 percent higher than Kia's executives initially anticipated. In particular, 1,334 cars were delivered in January, while keys for a further 1,485 cars were handed to customers in February and an additional 2,172 Souls found their way out of Kia dealer showrooms in March. However, just to put things into perspective, Ford's new Fiesta sold 20,654 units in March - and that's in the UK alone...

Carscoop's April Foolery

Here's the round up with our April Fool's Day automotive hoaxes. We hope you enjoyed all of them and we promise to come up with even better ones next year.

• 2011 Mercedes-Benz B-Class Photos Leaked by EU Patent Office
• Breaking News: Wagoner to Lead Chinese Company in Oldsmobile Revival
• Kia Release AFD Rally Package for Soul

Kia Release AFD Rally Package for Soul

Korean automaker Kia has announced the launch of a new aero kit for the Soul crossover. Aside from the aesthetic rewards, buyers will be happy to know that the aerodynamic doodads also reduce fuel consumption and exhaust emissions through a simple and low-cost system called Air Propulsion and Retardation Installation Line. The system is said to rely on microscopic sensors built into the bumpers which constantly monitor wind speed and deploy panels when the wind is sufficient to provide additional directional impetus according to the car's behavior.

Systems Manager Kuasimati Seoulitsou from Kia's Advanced Technorave Research Institute in Mabuk, said: "The big problem with most emission reduction systems is that they are expensive. We wanted to come up with an answer that didn't cost the earth and could be retrospectively applied to cars already on the road."

"Tests of this system at our Nong Dam facility have shown that during windy weather fuel consumption can be reduced by up to 25 per cent and emissions by anything up 40 per cent. Even in calm weather using the system simply under braking can result in reductions of 10 per cent and 15 per cent respectively," he added.

The new aero kit system will be available on all Souls ordered after midnight on March 31, 2011. Prices will be announced in a few hours.

UK-Bound Kia Soul Tweaked by Lotus

Using another brand name to make your products appear more alluring and special is nothing new in the auto industry. But if there's one brand that has no problem whatsoever associating its name with other carmakers, that has to be Lotus. In its latest venture, the British firm has lent a helping hand to Kia to fine-tune the UK market Soul crossover. Lotus has been working on the Soul since late 2008, customizing the overall suspension settings and bump stops for UK road conditions ahead of the crossover's market launch in March.

This is the first time that Kia has developed a model specifically for UK roads and drivers in mind. "The result of our partnership with Lotus is a more composed ride which we think is much more suitable to what our roads can throw at Soul, and additionally, it is also a more exciting car to drive," said Paul Philpott, Managing Director, Kia UK.

Detroit Show: Kia's Fun Soulster Pickup Concept

One of the most interesting and realistic concept studies at this year's Detroit Show is the Kia Soulster, or as the Korean automaker calls it, the Soul'ster. Derived from the just introduced Soul crossover, the two-door concept blends elements of a mini-pickup and a roadster, in a rather convincing and funky way.

The front-wheel drive four seater features a shortened windshield for a more low-slung appearance as well as a two-piece top that enables passengers to expose the front and back seating areas independently.

The tops slide on a black roll bar that extends to the back of the vehicle providing extra protection. Other unique features include the restyled fascia, new LED headlamps and 19-inch, five-spoke aluminum alloys.

Inside, Kia's designers went for a more distinct and rugged look leaving the bare essentials - even the windows are rolled down manually. The non-floor-mounted cantilevered seats can be folded flat if needed while Kia also added storage compartments below each of the rear seats. Furthermore, in addition to the cargo area, dual storage compartments also can be found in the rear and underneath the cargo hold area.

If it were to produced -and we can't find a reason why it shouldn't- the Soulster would be available the same powertrain options as its conventional 5-door sibling: a 1.6-liter, four-cylinder engine is mated to a five-speed manual transmission, which produces approximately 120 HP and a 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine available with either the five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic transmission, producing approximately 140 HP.