How quickly things change. Five years ago, Toyota announced its Scion division as a means to attract emerging customers in the Gen-Y segment (young hipsters in the 18-34 age group). Reality has shown that many buyers were far beyond the target market group’s age range.

Flash over to South Korea, where automakers were not exactly known – except until recently – for original thought, let alone seizing an opportunity with the all-new Kia Soul. Call them opportunists, if you will.

After seeing a niche go neglected by Scion after a relatively smart start, Kia decided to target roughly the same demographic that was supposed to be attracted to the xB, xD and tC, by introducing an accessory-oriented box-shaped vehicle that fills many needs.

The one question is, by naming your target market which eventually becomes less hip over time (think MySpace), does the brand risk losing its mojo simply by declaring its “hipness,” too? Kia brought the new Soul down to Miami to give us a chance to check out their version of “cool.”

What is it?
A five-passenger, two-box design that looks as at home outside a photography studio as it would being driven to college classes or band practice. But with personalization being the key to the Soul’s anticipated success, buyers can customize it in up to 50 different configurations. So the Soul is, in essence, what buyers will choose to make of it.

Or, how much Soul do you really want? We’re trying really hard to stay away from the Seoul jokes.

What’s it up against?
Worthy competitors naturally include Scion’s entire lineup for one (save the tC sport coupe). Add to that the Honda Fit, which has turned out to be cool without trying too hard and perhaps the Element. Definitely don’t forget about the upcoming Nissan Cube.

Any breakthroughs?
From a technological sense, no; but from a value standpoint, yes.

And what’s this? Truth from the marketing side of a car company. According to Michael Sprague, Kia’s VP of marketing, the plan for the Soul, which will only be offered in two-wheel-drive form is to take you to the fun stuff, not to actually participate in it. Hence you will not see any pretentious photos showing the Soul running off-road or through the forests and such. You might see some mountain bikes strapped to the roof, however.

How does it look?
The Soul is built on an enhanced version of the Kia Rio platform, meaning it has been pulled wider, stretched longer, and so on.

Penned by former Audi designer Peter Schreyer and his team at the SoCal-based Kia Design Center, the Soul features a reverse wedge shape that looks like its roofline slowly slopes rearward after leaving the A-pillar. Sculpted high-sided door panels make the Soul appear stockier than it really is and a D-pillar gives off the look that some critics say resembles an In-N-Out burger logo.

Tall tail lights flank the rear hatch, which takes on a vault-like appearance with its bulging rear panel. Our Sport model test car was equipped with side skirts and stylized front and rear fascia (with fog lamps) and a rear lip spoiler.

When we first saw the concept, as introduced in Detroit back in 2006, we were concerned for its, uh, shall we say proboscis? And just as Audi vehicles have a unique nose, so too, does the Soul. At least this time, it seems to have undergone a little rhinoplasty, tapering the overall shape down to a more appropriate size. The end result is a tasteful look that should grow on the viewer rather quickly.

According to Kia PR boss Alex Fedorak, the Kia Soul is just the tip of a “very big iceberg, and a totally new type of “Halo” car.”

Soul is available in four trim levels starting at $13,300 for the base to the Soul+, the Soul! (exclaim) and Soul Sport, which prices in at $18,600 fully loaded.

And inside?
A sea of red, gray and black, our test Soul Sport’s interior is bright enough to scream, “Hey look at me.”

The supportive seats didn’t tire our backs after a day of driving around the Magic City, as Miami is known. The dashboard alone is enough to guarantee that you stay awake even after the most intense night of hanging in a South Beach techno bar. Bathed in a hard red plastic, the materials are nicely textured. A floating center stack houses all the audio and climate controls in an easy to reach position. Overall, the interior build quality is top notch – something that becomes even more apparent when you take into consideration the list price.

Our Soul Sport was equipped with the 315-watt audio system and includes upgraded speakers with glowing lights that are variably adaptable to the pulse of the music you are listening to or can be adjusted downward to a less intense mood lighting mode or can be switched off. Once you leave the club, you can continue the party in the car, apparently. Hopefully only the passengers enjoy that party, however.

Thoughtful controls are throughout and include power windows, locks and mirrors, surprising at the price point. The interior seating for three features a 60/40 split-folding rear bench and enough legroom for six-footers in the back. Cargo capacity is 19.3 cubic feet with the rear seat in the up position, and 53.4 cubic feet with the rear seat down in a fold-flat position. An optional underfloor storage divider is available.

Harmon International’s Infinity division was on hand to show off a preproduction audio upgrade that enhances the speaker system and adds a rear-mounted subwoofer.

But does it go?
The base Soul comes with a standard 1.6-liter transverse-mounted 122-horsepower four-cylinder that puts out 115 lb-ft. of torque. It is only available with a five-speed manual transmission to keep costs low.

The Soul+, Soul!, and Soul Sport all ship with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder outputting 142-horsepower and 137 lb-ft. of torque and featuring continuously variable valve timing. With the larger powerplant comes your choice of a five-speed manual or a four-speed automatic. Our tests were confined to the 2.0 with a manual gearbox.

At south of $20,000, you wouldn’t expect to find Porsche precision coming from the five-cog shifter, but the Soul’s transmission provided reliable and surefooted shifts throughout the day along our test routes – par for the class, if you will. The engine does get a bit buzzy under heavy acceleration, but once it achieves cruising speed it calms down considerably. If the engine had a balance shaft it would calm down even more.

The rack and pinion steering was direct and didn’t have that weirdly assisted feel that many of the Soul’s competitors have. Suspension bits consist of MacPherson struts, coil springs and gas shocks with a stabilizer bar out front while the trailing piece is a torsion beam with coils and gas-charged shocks in the rear. The Torsion beam setup, by the way, helps to keep the cargo floor flat in back. Curb weight for the manually equipped Soul Sport tips the scales at 2800 lbs. Add another 20 for the four-speed automatic. All this is good for an EPA rating of 24 mpg city and 30 mpg highway – not bad for a boxy vehicle.

The ride was surprisingly quiet at speed on the pockmarked macadam that is Interstate 95. Since our Soul was the Sport model, it came with an enhanced suspension that managed to tame any sense of top heaviness. Brakes had the usual assists including ABS and stability control and made for fade-free stops when we had to toss the anchor out quickly, which happened quite frequently as we encountered’ some of Miami’s finest drivers. The Soul made mincemeat out of evasive lane changes that popped up whenever traffic, for no good reason, seemingly came to an abrupt stop.

Why you would buy it:
You are looking for a value-driven, accessory-laden vehicle that is more than capable of duty on the mean streets and hanging in after dark.

Why you wouldn’t:
You’re not cool, never have been, never will be and don’t aspire to that moniker either – or you think cool stops with Scion.

Leftlane’s bottom line
In the burgeoning “urban explorer” segment, the Kia Soul has the funkiness that Scion embraced and then faded away from. It deserves serious consideration on your list of urban niche vehicles.

We think Kia’s off to a better start than Scion was – and we hope that the Korean automaker keeps its funky mojo going.

2010 Kia Soul Sport base price, $16,950. As tested, $18,345.
Power sunroof, $700; Destination, $695.

Words and photos by Mark Elias.

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