2019 Kia Soul Interior and Cargo

The interior of the Soul is fashioned with grained hard plastics, with a dark finish on the dashboard, door panels, and center console. Color-matched soft padding is conveniently placed on the elbow rests and other major areas and the dash does have a soft-touch element to it. The Base model sees the seats dressed in black tricot cloth, with no leather or color options available. Go for the Exclaim model though, and black leather seats come as standard, with the inclusion of colored stitching and a glossy black trim surrounding the infotainment system. The Plus trim sees the most options, however, with black woven cloth, gray two-tone woven cloth, and even gray two-tone leather available.

The Kia Soul offers decent cargo space for its segment, with total cargo volume at 24.2 cubic feet with the rear seats up, and 61.3 cubic feet with the seats down. Space inside the trunk is very limited with the rear seats up, offering just enough storage space for a tall suitcase or about five large shopping bags. However, with the rear seats folded the square space is ideal for loading large items. Optional from Kia is a cargo tray placed at the bottom of the trunk that provides storage for miscellaneous items and even fragile goods, for added convenience. This does reduce cargo volume with the seats up to a mere 18.8 cubic feet, and 49.5 cubic feet with the seats down.

Interior storage is average, though, and while the bins, door pockets, and cupholders are adequate in number and size, they aren't exceptionally sizable and several fail to accommodate a smartphone comfortably.

Kia certainly didn't leave the Soul feeling under-equipped with features, driving strong focus towards convenience and practicality. As standard, you get power mirrors, auto light control, a rearview camera, cruise control with steering wheel mounted controls, power windows, power door locks, air conditioning, and a day/night rearview mirror. Upgrading to the Plus trim, you gain heated outside mirrors, Drive Mode Select (DMS), remote keyless entry, climate control, and a center console armrest. The Exclaim trim adds mirror-mounted LED turn signals, and push-button start as standard. Optional extras include power adjustable seats, as well as heated front and rear sats on higher trims. In terms of driver assistance, optionally available on the mid-spec Plus and top-level Exclaim are autonomous emergency braking (Plus only), forward collision warning, lane departure warning, adaptive cruise control, and blind spot monitoring. Why these features aren't included, or even available, on the Exclaim trim beggars belief.

The Kia Soul is an entertainment powerhouse, and its infotainment system is indicative of that. As standard, the Soul comes equipped with a five-inch touch-screen display that features AM/FM/MP3 and SiriusXM radio streaming, delivering loud and clear audio through six speakers with two dash-mounted tweeters. Connectivity comes in the form of Bluetooth, USB, and auxiliary inputs, with steering-wheel-mounted audio controls to boot. Both the Plus and Exclaim models see the infotainment system upgraded with a seven-inch touch-screen display, and native Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support. The sound system can be bolstered even more on the latter two trims if opting for the optional Audio Package, which upgrades things to a Harman Kardon speaker system with a subwoofer and external amplifier.