Comparison test: Kia Soul Sport, Nissan Cube S, Scion xB
The fellows at Popular Mechanics have put the all-new Kia Soul urban crossover head to head with the latest Nissan Cube S and the good old Scion Xb. This is believed to be the first comparisson test of these three fuel-sipping box-cars, all of them targeting the same, Y-generation consumers.
Popular Mechanics took all three over a variety of road conditions on a 300 mile journey throughout Los Angeles and Santa Barbara counties. After their evaluation, they put the Soul in front of it’s rivals.
Among all three cars, Soul Sport was the most fun to drive and it also achieved the best fuel economy (31.2 mpg). The Soul was praised for it’s spacious cabin, which offers plenty of passanger room and feels more comfortable than the one in Cube and Scion. In terms of design, the Soul Sport was the least boxy of the group but its 18-inch alloy wheels and flared fenders provide this car a very muscular appearance.
Here are the final editors words:
After one very long day testing these three boxes back-to-back over a variety of road conditions, each car’s unique personality bubbled to the surface. The Cube S is the roomy and hip city car. The Scion xB is the powerful long-distance hauler. And the Soul Sport is the canyon carver of the group. Picking a winner is never easy.
But this time, the edge goes to Kia. The speed, both in a straight line and on a windy road, the efficiency and the overall grin-inducing persona of the Soul Sport made it our favorite. Follow the link to read the rest of the comparison test.
February 25th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
haha! no surprise really…
February 25th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
Yeah!!! That’s what I’m talking about.
February 25th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
Is cube awd?
February 25th, 2009 at 6:34 pm
Don’t think so Boris.
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Looking at the Cube makes me wonder who the heck is gonna buy that ugly car. I don’t want to be offensive to the Nissan brand and their hard-working personel, but compared to the Soul, the Cube looks like a little tiny toy with no expressive design language.
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Funny how this could be said for Kia cars a few years ago, but look at them now. Full of style, sporty and hip!!
GO KIA!!
February 25th, 2009 at 6:44 pm
just some bizare design for eccentric ppl. and since I’m crazy, I actually like the design but a there are things that make it look unattractive to even me. decent designs meets a wacky design. eg the wheels, lights and grille. and just spoils it for me as well.
February 26th, 2009 at 5:17 am
@boris–the Cube is not AWD. The last generation Cube was offered with an innovative “e-AWD” system which used electric motors in the rear wheels to affect AWD, and it’s likely that system will return for the fourth-generation Cube.
@himi–the Cube is terrific in person. While I still prefer the Soul, the Cube has lots of really neat design detailing. But I think the Soul remains the best all-around package.
March 17th, 2009 at 11:51 am
What about safety? Consumer Reports rates the Scion XB as a best buy. This report seems pretty vapid.
March 17th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
Joe, Kia has the superior warranty, and resale values continue to rise as well. I just sit back and watch as my miles go up, my car gets older, and the value keeps increasing! Scion xB is bigger, has lower power-to-weight ratio, and gets worse gas mileage. And agian Kia has the better warranty. Decide for yourself, but to me it’s easy to see the clear winner.
April 18th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Greg ,
You can get an extended factory warranty for the Scion and I think the Nissan as well, giving the buyer the option of getting 100K bumper to bumper coverage. The xB actually has a higher power to weight ration (Soul = 20.2 lb/hp vs xB = 19.6 lb/hp ) making a 4sp auto xB faster than the Kia 5sp manual. Not to mention, you can get a Toyota TRD super charger for the xB at the dealer. As for resale value, i know the Kias are getting better, but they are still not on par with Honda, Nissan, or Toyota/Scion. Just for the record, cars do not appreciate as the miles go up and as they get older (unless it’s a classic car, or rare cars like a Ferrari)
I agree the millage on the xB could be better. But it makes it up in reliability, and safety, and resale value.
For me the clear winner is the Scion xB. it’s rated safest in class, most reliable in class, and best resale value in class at 52% (Predicted 5-year retained value). It was also 2008 Motor Trend Car of the Year contender.
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http://www.iihs.org/news/rss/pr112508.html
http://www.theweeklydriver.com/articles/1310/1/Scion-Tops-Consumer-Reports-2009-Reliability-List-Chrysler-Falters/Page1.html
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/autos/0711/gallery.2007_best_resale_value_top_10//6.html
http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2007/autos/0711/gallery.2007_best_resale_value_segments//4.html
http://blogs.motortrend.com/6220056/car-of-the-year/2008-motor-trend-car-of-the-year-the-contenders/index.html
April 18th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
Well if Scion and Nissan is that reliable, then why waste money extending the factory warranty? Obviously, the Soul brings up the most popularity regardless if haters like it or not. That may be true about most safe but the Soul wasn’t out yet. As for Motor Tend Car of the Year that true also but lets see what happens now that the Soul is on sale. It’s funny, until now people want to compare Kia to Honda, Nissan and Toyota because it seems this blog pretty much defends average car companies. So to try to win over , they now just want to go for top manufacturers. They can’t compare Kia to Suburu, or Suzuki or even Mazda. Now they got to go strickly to Nissan and Toyota. But I don’t care because when haters begin comparing Kias to Nissan or Toyotas I know that just shows me how much better Kia has gotten. Becuase I can also birng up Kia’s history as good as Gary can bring up Scion’s. I want to see Scion’s go up against Kia’s Forte Koup. I want to see that too. I don’t even see no one bring up the Honda Element to compare agaisnt the Cube or xB. It’s just Soul against ever thing else. What about the Scion againts that Mini Cooper? Nope Soul agaisnt Mini Cooper. Not Chevy Spark agaisnt xB. Chevy Spark vs. Soul. I smell jealousy in the air.
April 18th, 2009 at 5:22 pm
You know what else is funny? When the Borrego first came out, haters kept saying bad timing. that’s stupid. but when the new Landcrusier came out I didn’t see that on any forum. Why’s that?
April 18th, 2009 at 6:14 pm
as you can imagine i sell cars for a living. don’t get me wrong the scion is a nice car but dollar per dollar you get more for you money in the soul. I personaly think scion xb and xd and soul are ugly but that is just my opinion. the 2009 optima is the car to buy. fully loaded with navigation you can get them UNDER 25k!
April 18th, 2009 at 7:26 pm
You can extend the warranty of ANY car. We did that with our Spectra’s bumper to bumper, and the third party warranty service the dealership sells the warranty for still calls us about our Spectra! Those extended warranties are worthless.