Cars.com compares the new Kia Soul to the Nissan Cube boxy car.
Here we have yet another interesting comparison between the two latest econobox cars, which are going to revolutionarize the US’ small crossover car market.
The all-new Kia Soul crossover has been put side-by-side with the just-recently launched Nissan Cube.
Both models were evaluated by Patrick Olsen from Kickingtires dotcom during the most-recent Chicago Auto Show.
He pointed out some of the strengths and weaknesses of both crossover models that are competing to acquire the hearts and minds of generation Y car shoppers.
Watch the video to get to know all the advantages Kia Soul offers over the Cube.
As we had hopped, the new Kia Soul was recognized as the superior vehicle of the two.
It offers more style, higher quality interior and more advanced features thant the Cube from Nissan. It also offers more powerful engines under the hood.
This is already the second comparison win of the Kia Soul, after the most recent Scion xB vs. Nissan Cube vs Kia Soul road test. Go Kia!!
Kia Soul vs. Nissan Cube
Find more news about the stylish Kia Soul crossover by browsing through the Soul news category.
man! the cargo access is huge on the cube! and I like those sliding seats. ripple effects looked kinda nice but in the end, I’d h8 2 be seen in a car that looks like that.
I liked the interior of the Soul much better, more interesting to look at, the Cubes dash and such looks too flat and boring and the colours are dull.
The wide rear opening on the Cube is nice, but if you have a big box back there, it looks like would be a pain to secure. It looks like Kia could have adopted the same type of setup but chose to put the compartmentalized storage under the floor to make a flat load floor.
I agree that the colour theme in the cube’s ins sux.
I could agree with the man about one thing. The Soul has damn cheap hard plastics inside. Kia really took a step backward here. Hope this doesn’t bother too many future customers.
You hit one important nail on the head himi…….the Kia Rio5 has a nicer, more up-scale interior than the Soul…. and I don’t know why. I am still puzzled as to why Kia gave the Soul the older iron-block engine, when they have a more refined engine currently available in the Forte. If they fixed those points the Soul would be unbeatable….even if they raised the price a little bit. I still think it’s better than the Cube, for looks and warranty, but it could have been a slam-dunk for Kia.
That engine helped the Soul win its Popular Mechanics comparison test, and other reviews haven’t complained about it either.
Yes, it wasn’t that long ago that you wouldn’t be caught dead with a alloy engine block. What with the maintenance problems further down the track if the engine coolant is not kept perfectly up to scratch.
But alloy heads and blocks have been around for quiet a while now and the days of just sticking water into your radiator are long gone.
Not really too much of a reason to go through the relatively expensive process of fitting it with an engine that was not even ready when the Soul debuted in Korea! When the Soul was beginning its R&D, the Beta was the only 2.0 available. The Theta was JUST ready when Kia began R&D-ing the Forte. That is why the Soul has the Beta. In this economy, there was just not excess funds available to go through the process of integrating the new engine. Believe me, it isn’t going to hurt any of the Soul’s sales!!
himi –
Production souls will have better interior graining than what was shown as the auto show, which should help interior quality. Also, the missing center armrest that the gentleman pointed out is now added will be standard on all but the base model.
Hako –
Best thing to do is experience the interior at a Kia showroom, the production Souls are just starting to arrive in March. The gentleman had reviewed a pre-production unit. I think you will find it is of the higher quality you’d expect from Kia.
re: the engine: I’ll ask the product guys about the engine. I know both the 1.6 and the 2.0 have aluminum heads, but not sure why the 2.0 has an iron block. I know iron is heavier, but typically less expensive. If engineers determined that there isn’t a true performance benefit in this particular application, I can see where they would go with iron to save cost, and pass along that lower cost benefit to the consumer in the form of a good price or adding more beneficial features (like the armrest).
Yes, although the base model doesn’t come with an armrest, it is an accessory