I bought a Korean car as a DD, and I don't hate it

A 2013 Kia Soul. With the 2.0 motor and a 6 speed manual.

I did have to modify the seat track to set the driver's seat back an inch. But Korean cars have come a long way from the first one I drove, a 1989 Mitsubishi Precis (rebadged Hyundai Excel). This one is a lot roomier, and while clearly built to a price, it doesn't feel like it's about to fall apart or have weird place holders for deleted features. Not the most exciting car, but not the most boring commuter appliance, either.

Congrats! 

Another disciple of the gospel according to Bob.  Can I get an amen? 

My wife had one with the manual, and it steadfastly refused to downshift into 2nd in anything resembling a spirited manner. Good solid car, but the interior upgrade really made them better to live with, ours was pre-upgrade. 

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

Who wants to tell Bob that you put a Kia in off topic because you didn't consider it a real car worthy of the main forum?

My brother had one just like that in black. It gave him 10 years of faithful service. 

John Welsh said:

Another disciple of the gospel according to Bob.  Can I get an amen? 

Amen!

pinchvalve (Forum Supporter) said:

My wife had one with the manual, and it steadfastly refused to downshift into 2nd in anything resembling a spirited manner. Good solid car, but the interior upgrade really made them better to live with, ours was pre-upgrade. 

5-spd? If so they were the left overs of a previous generation of cars. Reliable but not meant for fun. 

I notice this one is manual with alloys so not the stripper, steel wheel equipped, model. 

Cars surprise us sometimes. My sons Sonata is a pretty great car other than being a little low on power. The N variant wasn't available when he bought. My wife recently bought a new Subaru Crosstrek and I really like it. Whoda thunk?

I really like the Soul.  It's just a solid all around car.  Kinda a spiritual successor to cars like the HHR, though the Soul is a bit smaller.  Buying a used one can still be a great value.

Stampie said:

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

Who wants to tell Bob that you put a Kia in off topic because you didn't consider it a real car worthy of the main forum?

Not sure if I can autocross it due to track to height rules. 

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

Coilovers and Sundae Cup. 

Kreb (Forum Supporter) said:

Cars surprise us sometimes. My sons Sonata is a pretty great car other than being a little low on power. The N variant wasn't available when he bought. My wife recently bought a new Subaru Crosstrek and I really like it. Whoda thunk?

I will convert this board one member at a time..... 

Congrats, SWMBO just got a 23 Soul for her DD/mom mobile and we both really like it. Plenty of leg/head room front and rear which is important since since I'm 6'3".

Dude....2 in one thread! Kia now needs to sponsor me in my Sundae Cup adventures and One Lap.

I have this exact car.  

I go between hating it and being totally ok with it.

The worst part of it is the engine mounts/throttle programming.  I have replaced all of them and its so difficult to get the 1-2 shift not to be herky jerky.  Also if you load up the clutch taking off you get some of that as well.

In reply to ProDarwin :

So... I learned with the Rio something fun. They use a switch off the clutch to "soften" the shifts and shock loading the clutch and trans. Limits actual throttle inputfor the first few seconds of a shift to ease into it. Makes it hard as hell for us long time manual owners to get used to. It's an electronic version of the clutch line restrictor plate.Turning off TCS takes 90% of that away and gives it a more natural feel. 

Also, a poly rear mount to limit engine flex makes the engagement point feel more natural. The down side is at idle with the AC on it shakes like hell.

bobzilla said:

In reply to ProDarwin :

So... I learned with the Rio something fun. They use a switch off the clutch to "soften" the shifts and shock loading the clutch and trans. Limits actual throttle inputfor the first few seconds of a shift to ease into it. Makes it hard as hell for us long time manual owners to get used to. It's an electronic version of the clutch line restrictor plate.Turning off TCS takes 90% of that away and gives it a more natural feel. 

Also, a poly rear mount to limit engine flex makes the engagement point feel more natural. The down side is at idle with the AC on it shakes like hell.

Interesting, so just try driving without TCS?  That sounds exactly like the hell I am experiencing.  I was experimenting with it and it feels like another way around it is to never fully lift off the throttle, only go down to about ~5% when you shift - perhaps that also prevents the cut?  Not that I want to drive that way - its difficult to keep it precise enough as you are rowing through the gears.

Yeah, I have a poly mount, I took it out because it shakes so bad.  Then I 3d printed some inserts for the stock mount.  They work kinda but make a horrible death rattle when pulling away from a stop.  I think the proper combo for a street car is actually poly in the fwd part of the mount, rubber in the aft part - its what I'm going to experiment with this weekend.

In reply to ProDarwin :

Yeah, back out of garage onto gravel road, go forward, TCS engages on slippery gravel reminding me to turn it off. Drive 90% of the time withou TCS on. 

So a little history.... Hy/Kia used to put little plates with a hole and spring at the slave cylinder. When you pushed the clutch pedal, you had full pressure/flow to engage the TOB, but when you released the pedal, the plate pushed back and the return flow was cut in half, slowing the engagement. Good for teaching new people to drive manual and make the feel smooth. Bad for fast shifts. Combined with their pull type pressure plates they slipped like a mofo when pushed hard and a 30k mile clutch replacement was not out of the range of normal. 

Im guessing Hy/Kia learned from that mistake and now use the TBW to limit the engine power to make that same "smoothness" without the clutch wear. 

EDIT: on the Accent/Rio/Veloster NA without turning TCS off, you can only get 70% throttle max until a certain point after clutch release. berkeleying nannies. 

bobzilla said:

In reply to ProDarwin :

Yeah, back out of garage onto gravel road, go forward, TCS engages on slippery gravel reminding me to turn it off. Drive 90% of the time withou TCS on. 

So a little history.... Hy/Kia used to put little plates with a hole and spring at the slave cylinder. When you pushed the clutch pedal, you had full pressure/flow to engage the TOB, but when you released the pedal, the plate pushed back and the return flow was cut in half, slowing the engagement. Good for teaching new people to drive manual and make the feel smooth. Bad for fast shifts. Combined with their pull type pressure plates they slipped like a mofo when pushed hard and a 30k mile clutch replacement was not out of the range of normal. 

Im guessing Hy/Kia learned from that mistake and now use the TBW to limit the engine power to make that same "smoothness" without the clutch wear. 

EDIT: on the Accent/Rio/Veloster NA without turning TCS off, you can only get 70% throttle max until a certain point after clutch release. berkeleying nannies. 

Your middle paragraph is describing a clutch delay valve, super common on new cars, and rarely a contributor to additional clutch wear.

Good to know regarding TCS though, I will give that a shot.  I thought it was relatively non-invasive judging by the flashing light periodically, but I guess its doing stuff behind the scenes as well.  I guess that makes sense given how you can't even defeat it on the non-N cars.

Don't temp me with coil-overs. Given the car's age, I think it may need new shocks anyway...

MadScientistMatt said:

Don't temp me with coil-overs. Given the car's age, I think it may need new shocks anyway...

Well, the good news is it can't possibly have any less travel than stock!  The rear shocks (which have effectively a 1:1 motion ratio), have 4" of travel.

In all honestly I have thought about stiffer springs and some wider wheels/tires for stance.  Then I go drive the BRZ and I'm like oh yeah I'm dumb, the stupid Kia utility box needs to be left alone.