Kia Soul Engines

The history of the Kia Soul model dates back 10 years ago - in 2008. It was then that the famous Korean automaker presented a new car at the Paris Motor Show. Sales of the car to European countries, as well as the Russian Federation and the CIS began in 2009.

After a very short period of time, the car managed to win the hearts of many motorists, because Soul became the first "not like other" cars. Already in the first year of production, this model received two awards:

• as the best innovative and design solution in the automotive industry;
• as one of the best safe youth cars.

This model enjoys success all over the world, there are several explanations for this:

• optimal price-quality ratio;
• high level of car safety (according to EuroNCAP);
• good cross-country ability due to low overhangs and high ground clearance;
• small dimensions combined with a spacious interior;
• non-standard appearance;
• the possibility of so-called customization of appearance - the choice of individual coloring of body elements, the choice of sizes of rims.

One of the interesting facts of the Kia Soul is that it cannot be attributed to any class of cars. Someone refers this model to crossovers, someone to station wagons or hatchbacks, while others believe that the Soul is a mini-SUV. There is also no specific positioning by segments, although many experts rank Soul in the “J” and “B” segments. There is no single opinion on this matter.

Perhaps this also became one of the reasons for the popularity of the model, because it is not so often that a model with a “daring” design without belonging to a certain class appears on the market. Moreover, the audacity here refers more to the design approach, and not to the bizarre forms of the car itself. It is unlikely that the same meticulous and conservative German automakers would have dared to make such a decision. The Koreans decided to take a chance and did not fail, one of the evidence of this is the long stay of this model on the Kia conveyor (as much as 10 years).

The closest competitors of Kia Soul are the following car models: Ford Fusion, Skoda Yeti, Nissan Note, Nissan Juke, Suzuki SX4, Citroen C3, Mitsubishi ASX, Honda Jazz. Each of these models has similarities with Soul, but Soul has no direct competitor. Some are similar only to the body, while having cramped interiors, others are crossovers that are in a completely different price range. So the Soul is still one of the most original cars of our time.

Car features

The Kia Soul model is based on the Hyundai i20 platform, which is a front-wheel drive layout with a transverse engine. One of the “chips” of the model is small external dimensions and a spacious interior, in particular the rear sofa, which can even compete with various premium sedans or large crossovers in terms of dimensions.

True, due to the comfort and spacious interior, the trunk had to be squeezed, here it is quite small, in total - 222 liters. If you fold the rear seats, then the volume of the luggage compartment will be 700 liters. In case you need to transport something large, this should be more than enough.

However, the creators of the model did not try to pay much attention to the luggage compartment, because the car is positioned as a "youth". True, such positioning is more relevant for Europe and the USA, but in the Russian Federation, many drivers fell in love with this model precisely for its high ground clearance and small overhangs, which allows you to confidently climb curbs, slides and overcome various “roughnesses” without fear of scratching the bumper or hushing up the thresholds .

But everything is not so simple here, and, despite the good geometric cross-country ability, driving over potholes and overcoming parapets can end very sadly. The point here is that the crankcase of the motor is almost not protected by anything, and it is covered by an ordinary rubber boot. All this is fraught with deformation of the crankcase and sad consequences for the motor. There is no crankcase protection on models manufactured before 2012, later models do not suffer from this ailment.

Diesel engine on Kia Soul

With engines, everything is not so simple at first glance, especially if we take into account versions of cars with diesel units. Kia Soul supplied to the Russian Federation and the CIS were equipped with diesel engines until the release of restyled second-generation models.

Diesel engines on the Souls turned out to be very good and served the owners for a long time (up to 200 km when using high-quality fuel), but, unfortunately, these engines did not shine at all with maintainability. And not every service undertook the repair of diesel engines, despite the simplicity of their design. However, there is a fly in the ointment here, which consists in a “clumsy” domestic assembly with non-compliance with the necessary tolerances and standards, which directly affects the life of the motor. Exactly the same as diluted diesel fuel, which is presented in abundance at most gas stations in the Russian Federation and the CIS. All this, of course, greatly affects the life of the motor.

The diesel engine on the Kia Soul was installed one - atmospheric four-cylinder, with a volume of 1.6 liters with 4 valves per cylinder. Motor marking - D4FB. This motor did not have much power - only 128 hp, not to say that this is enough, especially for a car oriented to "youth", but for most ordinary tasks this motor was more than enough. Especially if you compare a diesel engine with its gasoline counterpart with the same volume and power, ranging from 124 to 132 horsepower in the first two generations of cars (2 generation restyling is not taken into account).

If we talk about the reliability of the diesel unit, then everything is not so bad here - the cylinder block is made of aluminum alloy with cast-iron liners pressed into it. In the lower part of the block itself there are beds of main bearings, which, unfortunately, are not replaceable and are cast together with the block at the stage of its creation.

And if the crankshaft on the D4FB motor, installed in the block, is able to “exit” the prescribed service life, and the cast-iron sleeves will endure many bullying, then the rest of the elements will not.

On this engine, it is very important to monitor the temperature of the coolant and the condition of the cylinder head gasket, check the chain tension in a timely manner and use only high-quality fuel.

It is also very important to monitor the condition of the fuel system - this is very important when driving on domestic diesel fuel.

The positive qualities of diesel units on the Kia Soul include the following:

• economy due to low fuel consumption;
• high engine thrust at low revs, which is good for driving a loaded car;
• "flat shelf" of torque, starting from 1000 and ending with 4500-5000 rpm.

Other features of the Kia Soul with diesel units include the following:

• equipping the car with only an automatic transmission (!), with the exception of only pre-styling cars of the first generation;
• in addition to the noise of the engine itself, owners repeatedly notice that another source of noise in the car is the timing chain, which should be closely monitored (usually chain noise occurs on runs over 80 km due to its stretching or poor tensioner operation);
• a diesel engine is not the best in terms of maintainability, in addition, the cost of repairing a diesel engine is much higher, unlike its gasoline counterparts.

Diesel engines on the Kia Soul were equipped with the following types of gearboxes:

• Kia Soul, 1st generation, dorestyling: 5-speed manual transmission;
• Kia Soul, 1st generation, dorestyling: 4-speed automatic transmission (torque converter type);
• Kia Soul, 1st generation, restyling: 6-speed automatic transmission (torque converter type);
• Kia Soul, 2nd generation, dorestyling: 6-speed automatic transmission (torque converter type).

Restyled Kia Soul 2 generations for delivery to the Russian Federation and the CIS were not equipped with diesel engines.

Gasoline engines on the Kia Soul

With gasoline ICEs on Souls, everything is easier than with diesels. This is due to the fact that the Souls of all generations, with the exception of the second (restyled), were equipped with only one engine - the G4FC. Yes, knowledgeable and inquisitive readers might notice and rightly tell us that we are wrong. After all, the second generation Soul models began to be equipped with G4FD motors. That's right, but, unfortunately, you should not blindly trust the company's marketers, flatteringly reporting "new" motors, because the G4FD is essentially the same old G4FC, only with a small pinch of minor changes. Nothing has changed globally in this motor. The index "D" in the name of the motor replaced the "C" and marked only the refinement of power units to more stringent environmental standards.

The G4FC / G4FD motors themselves are essentially outdated technology that the Korean automaker borrowed from Mitsubishi and slightly “finalized”. True, these improvements cannot be called positive, because in the pursuit of power and low cost of production, important motor components become less reliable. Nevertheless, with careful operation, frequent oil changes (every 5-7 thousand) and other consumables, these motors can easily "go out" about 150 - 000 km. However, not all cars equipped with these engines are operated in favorable conditions.

The fact that the cylinder block on these engines is made of aluminum adds fuel to the fire, which makes the internal combustion engine practically unrepairable. In the countries of the Russian Federation and the CIS, these motors have long been approached and learned how to properly repair them, but is the game worth the candle?

Is it not so easy to find a quality car service with qualified craftsmen? Therefore, most of the Kia Soul car owners, faced with a motor breakdown, prefer to purchase a contract unit without burdening themselves with questions about the “correctness” of the repair.

The G4FC / G4FD engine is an in-line four-cylinder block made of aluminum alloy. The volume of the unit is 1.6 liters, the number of valves is 16, the power of the engines installed on the Kia Soul varies from 124 to 132 hp. The power supply system is injector.

Depending on the model, you can find a car with both electronically controlled distributed injection (124 hp version) and direct injection (132 hp version).

The first system, as a rule, is installed on more "poor" configurations, the second - on more equipped ones.

The features of these motors include the following:

• timing chain mechanism with all the consequences - excessive engine noise, chain stretching;
• frequent oil leaks from under the seals;
• unstable idling - frequent tuning of the fuel system is necessary (cleaning nozzles, using high-quality fuel, changing filters);
• the need to adjust the valves every 20 - 000 km;
• you should monitor the condition of the catalysts in the exhaust system;
• it is unacceptable to overheat the engine, it is very important to monitor the temperature of the coolant.

Otherwise, the motor does not have any other obvious drawbacks, the G4FC / G4FD is simple and maintainable (in case the unit did not overheat).

Also on the restyled Kia Soul models of the 2nd generation, new engines appeared:

• atmospheric internal combustion engine with a volume of 2.0 liters, 150 hp, equipped with a 6-speed automatic torque converter type;
• 1.6-liter turbocharged internal combustion engine, 200 hp, equipped with a 7-speed robotic gearbox.

Conclusion

To the question “Which engine to take the Kia Soul with?” cannot be answered unambiguously. Let's go over the above again and try to structure the information regarding the choice of motor for the Kia Soul. So, it’s not in vain that we wrote a lot about diesel engines, they turned out to be more or less successful on the Souls. They cannot be called “disposable”, they have fewer typical sores than cars with gasoline engines. However, despite these advantages, diesel engines are more expensive to operate and require frequent maintenance, and it is necessary to use only high-quality and original spare parts and fuels and lubricants.

Another headache for the owner of a Soul with a diesel engine is that in the event of a serious breakdown, you will have to look for a quality service, and not every car service will undertake to repair a diesel engine. So, in terms of repair, a diesel engine is clearly more expensive, but with everyday driving it has more advantages, these include efficiency, reliability, and the very notorious “traction from the bottom”.

Gasoline engines are a little more voracious, have more sores and are very afraid of overheating, which can often occur when driving in dense traffic jams, especially in hot weather.

However, in the event of a serious engine breakdown, repair or replacement with a contract unit will be cheaper than on a car with a diesel engine. There are also a few more advantages in favor of "gasoline", namely, liquidity in the secondary market and the ability to choose a car of almost any configuration with the required type of transmission - automatic or mechanic.

We will not touch on the "fresh" models with new engines, but it can be logically assumed that the atmospheric two-liter engine with a classic torque converter will find great popularity among apologists for reliable cars. But the 1.6-liter unit, swollen with a turbine, is unlikely to please potential buyers with the reliability, especially in combination with a robotic gearbox. However, there is no unequivocal opinion on this matter, and there are practically no statistical data, so it is too early to draw any conclusions about new engines.