Potent lucid soul drivers#
Potent lucid soul driver#

The collision shop repaired the bumper cover, overhauled the bumper assembly, and replaced the lower grille, some molding, and a trim panel.

Potent lucid soul driver#

He backed into the Soul while our driver sat waiting for space beside the pumps-we only had time to beep the horn.

It may have been loosened by someone hoping to find a way to make the rear seatback fold completely flat-it doesn't, though the cargo space would be more useful if the cushion could be flipped forward out of the way.īefore returning the car to Kia, we also repaired cosmetic damage incurred when the nose got scuffed up due to an inattentive driver (in a Hertz rental car) at a gas station. At the same 37,388-mile point, we also reported a noise that we suspected was coming from the rear suspension, but the dealer found the rear seat cushion was not properly latched down and was making the noise when crossing over bumps. Our dealer confirmed the noise and tightened the pinion plug on the knuckle where the steering column connects to the rack.

Potent lucid soul drivers#

Late in its time with us, after we passed the 30,000-mile mark, some drivers noted a sense that there was more slop in the steering response, which was soon accompanied by a mild clunking noise. Michael Simari | Car and Driver Maintenance Issues At higher revs in higher gears, the transmission was less of a concern, and getting the Soul to 120 mph took 1.4 seconds less than it had at first. Perhaps the performance would have improved more had the gearbox stayed as sharp as it was when new. At the end of our test, the car performed similarly to when new, with most measures improving by 0.1 second, which surprised us only in that we'd noticed a steadily worsening slippage in the dual-clutch automatic transmission that made for subjectively less satisfying launches, with an early 1-2 upshift. Our initial test of the Soul found about a half-second difference in the zero-to-60-mph time between using regular and premium-grade fuel (the 6.3-second figure in our specs is the result on 93 octane). That's in line with the $652 we spent on our long-term Subaru Impreza and $621 spent on our Honda Civic. Routine maintenance, inspections, tire rotations, and filter replacements otherwise ranged from just under $60 to just over $160 for a grand total of $702. These performed surprisingly well when snow kept falling for weeks after the calendar declared that spring had arrived. The value of the tire is reflected in our 'damage and destruction' total, but it was late February, so rather than replace the one tire, we remounted the original-fitment Nexen all-season rubber. We suspect the alignment may have been knocked askew several months earlier when a winter pothole destroyed one of the General Altimax Arctic 12 winter tires (on which we'd spent $561 for the set). Our costliest maintenance stop totaled $282 at 25,644 miles, but that price included $100 for a wheel alignment due to uneven tire wear. Opting for the turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-four version brings a shorter oil-change interval-6500 miles versus 7500 for lesser, non-turbo Souls-but that only required one additional visit to the dealership over our 40,000-mile test. Michael Simari | Car and Driver Service Costs