Another New Soul from CA

[Real_Ale_Act]

Howdy!

I drive 770 miles per week to work, and just got a new Kia Soul. I'm here to see what I can find out about topics that are probably well-trodden ground here...so I'm off to go read threads.

[cfguy2000]

Welcome to EcoModder!

[cfg83]

Real_Ale_Act -

Welcome to EM! My wife likes the Soul, but I think part of it is the cute thing.

CarloSW2

[Real_Ale_Act]

Thanks for the welcomes. I picked the Soul because I'm addicted to cargo space...I traded in my '08 Scion tC with just under 100K miles on it (got ~31mpg the whole time I had it) since it's a space upgrade without a loss in baseline fuel economy.

[cfg83]

Real_Ale_Act -

Originally Posted by Real_Ale_Act

Thanks for the welcomes. I picked the Soul because I'm addicted to cargo space...I traded in my '08 Scion tC with just under 100K miles on it (got ~31mpg the whole time I had it) since it's a space upgrade without a loss in baseline fuel economy.

How does the Soul compare to it's "competition"? I am talking about the Scion xB, the Nissan Cube, the Toyota Matrix, and ??? Can you remove the rear seats easily if needed?

CarloSW2

[Real_Ale_Act]

The xB cost a few thou more, and if memory serves also claims a slightly lower mpg although the cargo capacity is greater. The Cube...I hava a lot of respect for nissan in general, but I just can't do it. I do regard styling as much lower priority than whatever performance or service characteristics I'm in the market for in the moment; that having been said I draw the line at significant asymmetry. The Transit, matrix and element were out of my price range as well.

If I'd bought a different vehicle than this, I would have gone for comprable price on an upgrade a few years broken in. Maybe a matrix, but ultimately the "new" won out.

I haven't thought of removing the rear seats, but I am now. The ones on the old scion were always folded.

[Soulster]

Hey base owner, if you want an easy mod that will boost your mpg go get a scan guage. I put one in my soul and found easy ways of getting atleast 2mpg better just with it installed.

Oh, and depending on your driving conditions an addition of a partial grill block is well worth the 20 or so minutes it takes to make one.

[Real_Ale_Act]

Originally Posted by Soulster

Oh, and depending on your driving conditions an addition of a partial grill block is well worth the 20 or so minutes it takes to make one.

Scangauge is on the list for sure. The factory instrumentation tells me nice things when I behave with my throttle and rpms, but I'm not sure how much I can trust it. I like the fuel log better.

Did you block the upper or lower? I was thinking about the upper for good aero reasons, but there looks to be an oil cooler right there. What does your scan gauge tell you about the oil temp?

[Soulster]

Lol well mine being an "10 doesn't come with cool gauges like yours apparently does.

As to the oil temp, really what you want to look at is the engine coolant temp as that will tell you if it is running any hotter than it usual does. Normal operating temp holds steady at 182F when the thermostat opens the valve allowing the coolant to flow through the radiator. It is safe to run up to around 200F on a regular basis although i have had it up to 209F. I run (with a 2.0 liter engine) with no block when above 55F. Between 55F and 32F I only put on the upper, and below that I'm not sure as I just made up a lower grill block tonight. I will post up tomorrow morning as to the temps with the two grill blocks.

Oh, and a side note, what you are seeing when you look through the grill is actually two radiators, one is for the engine and the smaller one is for the transmission. The three lower holes will keep the tranny cool enough.

[Soulster]

As for the aero gain on the upper block, search soul and it will bring up all that I've done. If i recall correctly I found a possible .34 mpg aero boost... the benefit really doesn't lie in the aero though, it comes from the engine warming up faster and therefor going off rich warm up mode. ( i see about a 3-4 mpg boost when it warms up fully)