KIA SOUL
The Soul is the latest entrant in a class that can be described as a crossoverish, wagon-type, compact car. The Soul is a tall five-seater with a high roofline,
cargo area behind the rear seats and rear hatch. Its cool, its trendy, it’s personalizable and is perfect for the times we are now in.
The styling of the Soul cleverly camouflages a fundamentally boxy shape. The
lines are swept, the windows are canted and according to Kia it was designed to
look like it’s wearing a pair of wraparound sunglasses.
There are four Soul models available. The Base, the Soul+ (pronounced Plus), the
Soul! (pronounced Exclaim) and the Soul Sport. The Soul actually has quite a
small footprint. The tall shape allows for a very comfortable and flexible
interior. The seating position is elevated providing very easy entry and exit,
and delivers a nice view of the road.
The rear cargo area has a flat floor and a covered secure storage bin below the
floor to keep valuables out of sight. The rear seat backs fold flat with a
single motion, thus exposing a very large cargo area. The interior is simple,
not ornate, yet attractive and comfortable.
The available options are in keeping with this class and price of vehicle. The
Base model comes with air conditioning, power windows and power door locks,
Bluetooth connections, aux in, USB and iPod connections. As you move up the
model food chain, items like sunroof, cruise control, aluminum wheels, bigger
engine and automatic transmission are added. This vehicle is very
personalizable. Kia plans over 50 dealer available accessories that can be
added to make your Soul unique.
To Kia’s credit, safety is not optional, so all Soul models have all the safety
equipment. The safety suite includes 4-wheel anti lock disc brakes, front, side
and side curtain airbags, active front headrests and a strong body structure.
Kia vehicles do very well in crash tests, and they have designed the Soul to
the same standard.
The Base Soul is powered by a 1.6 liter 4 cylinder engine, which produces 122
horsepower and comes only with the 5-speed manual transmission. There is a 2.0
liter 4 with either the same manual or a 4-speed automatic that ups the
horsepower to 142. Power is adequate but not stellar. The EPA rating is 26/31
and 24/30 for the larger engine. The Soul drives very nicely and personally, I
prefer the automatic equipped model.
I was very impressed with the Soul. It’s an appealing vehicle that provides an enjoyable driving experience, some style
and safety at a budget price. I think it will appeal to both the young and the
young at heart.
CHEVROLET CAMARO
After years of development, Chevrolet is finally introducing the 2010 Camaro.
Following Ford’s Mustang and Dodge’s Challenger, the Camaro is a thoroughly modernized vehicle that harkens back to
the pony car days which began in the ’60s. Though the car is totally new from stem to stern, the styling is a mélange of Camaro models of the 1967 to 1969 vintage.
The design challenge for the Chevrolet team was to make a vehicle that was retro
cool, fun to drive, had superb performance and possessed all the latest
automotive technology that Chevrolet could afford to put in the vehicle. Was
the effort a success? The answer is a resounding Yes!
By all measures the new Camaro is better in almost every way than the original
model. It is smoother, more reliable, performs better, looks real good, is
cleaner and greener, safer and gets much better fuel economy.
The 2010 Camaro comes in three models. The base model is the LS and it provides
all the fundamentals necessary to provide a really fun and fulfilling ownership
experience. The LT adds more optional equipment and creature comforts. These
two models are equipped with GM’s direct injection 3.6 liter V-6 engine. The base transmission is a 6-speed
manual, and a 6-speed automatic is an option. This combination delivers a
vehicle with 304 horsepower and 273 ft. lbs. of torque, which is more than
enough to quench almost everyone’s thirst for speed. Not only does this combination deliver a 0 to 60 miles per
hour acceleration time of 6 seconds, which is very fast, but also boasts and
EPA 29 mile-per-gallon highway fuel economy number.
There’s more. The SS model of the Camaro offers a higher level of performance with its
400+ horsepower 6.2 liter V-8. The SS is also offered with either a 6-speed
manual or a 6-speed automatic transmission. The thundering exhaust note
announces its arrival, yet unlike some vehicles, the Camaro actually has the
goods to back up the sound.
The interior of the Camaro is a modern interpretation of several retro styling
elements. It’s comfortable, but functionality yields to styling in this car. The high belt
line looks dramatic but impedes some visibility, yet it’s a small price to pay. The car is built on a modified version Pontiac G8
performance sedan platform. It’s a pleasing combination of excellent handling and a nice ride.
The Texas Auto Writers Association has two vehicle competitions each year, one
for trucks and one for cars. In April, even with arch-rivals Ford Mustang
Shelby GT500 and Dodge Challenger SRT8 present, a pre-production Camaro with a
V-6 automatic won the competition and was voted “The Car of Texas.” That bodes well for the new Camaro.
