[eyebee]

Just traded my ceed crdi for a petrol Soul Samba, what`s the real life mpg like? On paper acceleration between diesel and petrol should be much the same but the Soul seems less responsive,hope this improves with usage. Is it normal for the dash to be lit up when the ignition is turned on and the main light switch at off? Very pleased with the Soul, love the high driving position and overall feel of the car. Mine is red with black pillars and looks like something much more expensive. All for now, cheers.

 

[nsmith1180]

Great choice with the Samba, the best of both worlds with regards to Shaker and Burner spec.


Yes the dash is supposed to be lit at all times, otherwise you would not be able to read it during the day.



Real life MPG, not a scoobydoo, sorry, only ever driven the diesel.

 

[Viking Paul]

fear you are going to be disapointed with the MPG on a petrol Soul my customers aregetting low 30s

 

[eyebee]

Topped up with petrol last night, took 30 liters and I had done 240 miles which works out at 36 mpg if my maths are right. Just over 2k miles on the clock and the engine is starting to feel a lot more responsive. Very pleased with the way things are improving.

 

[ashtonyate]

Just took delivery of my Soul 1 love the car but it is very flat when you put your foot down,I find it better to accelerate gently let's hope it gets better as the engine wears in.I went for the petrol as the diesel is more expensive just hope I don't live to regret it.

 

[eyebee]

I bought a petrol Soul after driving two diesels, it takes a bit of getting used to. You need to get your petrol head on and use the gears more to get the best out of it. I`ve 5k miles on mine and it feels more responsive than when new. Keep the revs up!!!.

 

[tempest]

Dont think either Petrol or Diesel are ever gonna set the performance world alight. Souls are heavy and blunt. My old Fiat had 25% less power than my Tempest - but would run rings round it performance wise.......maybe Korean Horsepower use smaller horses.......

As far as the dashboard lighting goes....yes its on all the time.....just means you forget to switch your lights on at night occassionally.

 

[Viking Paul]

Fiat's tend to have 25% less steel and are well known for being self lightning as time goes by

 

[davy]

Ha Ha the old tin worm at it again

 

[eyebee]

On holiday at moment, filled up yesterday and was pleasantly surprised to get 43MPG. Normally it`s 36-38. All rural roads, which makes me think the Soul doesn`t like motor-ways due to the bull nose and lower than usual 5th gear. Just over 7k miles done and I like it more every day. I reckon KIa has got a winner here, different enough to be interesting without being whacky. The b

asic platform is good with lots of scope for development. No I`M NOT ON THE KIA PAYROLL.!!

 

[davy]

How did they sack you

 

[eyebee]

The P.R. job I seem to be doing for them I should be on the pay-roll.

. Would a free trip to Korea be out of the question.

.

 

[d3matt]

I test drove both the petrol & diesel Soul and was very surprised how much difference there was between them and I'd view the £1000 premium for the diesel worth it even if there wasn't an additional benefit of better MPG. Gone are the days when the diesel was the sluggish noisy option.
However, our Soul 2 CRDi has now done 19,000 miles and we only get around 43-46mpg on average which is disappointing. On the plus side, it is quite lively and is good too at motorway speeds. A 1.6 engine is the smallest I've ever owned. Yet, I'm quite happy with the performance from it and rarely wish for more. Most of my previous cars have been 2.5 ltr petrols and larger. Our current second car is a Saab 9-5 2.3 turbo estate. It sounds like I've got a heavy right foot, but I try to drive economically. Just that 80% of the time the driving is school runs in country b-roads and the rest is motorway, where I generally keep up with the rest.

I'm writing this to say.. don't expect great MPG - the diesel doesn't get near the sales brochure MPG in the real world. I'm sure you could if you tried really hard, but I'd bet that would be to the annoyance of the others behind you.

 

[davy]

eyebee you certainly deserve that trip at least

 

[eyebee]

DAVY: If the trip happens I`ll try and blag you a ticket as my P.A.

. ( Don`t rush out and get the shorts and sandals just yet.)

 

[tempest]

Fiat's tend to have 25% less steel and are well known for being self lightning as time goes by

maybe Fiats of old.........wish the Paint on my Kia Soul was half as good as my Fiat Doblo!!!......5 stone chips in 7 years to the Fiat.......over 35 in 5 months with Kia.....and i drive the Kia like a granny. Fiat got a good sl*gging off years back for Rust and Electrics and now they are very good...maybe the Soul is the car that Kia are gonna get a pasteing over due its paintwork and fragile interior???

 

[StephenWeeks]

I travel a round trip of approx 90 miles to work and back each day, I will travel at an average of 45-50 mph, in the last 8 years I have owned the following cars making this journey :

Ford Fiesta 1.8 diesel
Mazda 323 1.6 petrol
Mazda 626 2.0 petrol
Kia Soul 1.6 petrol

My fuel bill has been the same for each car on a weekly basis, so the Soul is no better or worse !

Regards
Steve

 

[tempest]

the diesel fiesta should be doing approaching double the mpg of the rest at that sort of motoring.

 

[StephenWeeks]

I thought that when I got it, but it didn't. Even the odd loan car regardless of make or model had around the same mpg, go figure !

 

[eggobako]

i find that the soul because of its shape is most economical at about 55 mph , i have tried it at 60 to 65 mph but best results are at sub 60 mph i have tried thrashing it everywhere and it just knocks back the mpgg (as you would expect)so steady accelleration through the gears and drive around in 3rd more than 4th in town cos 4th is too high a gear for town work and this will knock down the mpg also(you will find it really weird to drive round in 3rd i know i did !)keep tyre pressures spot on and dont buy supermarket fuel !!(watch out for a nibble on that comment folks!!) also air con as always should only be used sparingly as that saps 10 % of the power if fully utilised>