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2010 Kia Soul Edition Irmscher 001 
The Kia Soul has sen its fair share of customizations. Even without the aid of tuning companies, Kia has released the Shadow Dragon Soul, Ghost Soul, Ignition Soul, and a few others. Now, a tuning company has decided they want to take a stab at the Kia Soul. Irmscher is usually known for its customization program for Opel models, but today the German tuner announced the first tuning kit for the Kia Soul. Called "Edition Irmscher 001", the tuning kit features a black and white exterior, large five-spoke custom rims, and a combination of black and red on the interior. The exterior is painted in white combined with black mirror cases and roof and bumper inserts. The car sits on 18-inch alloy wheels. For the interior, customers will be able to choose between a range of leather finishes: a two tone upholstery for the seats (red quilted leather and black leather) and black-carbon-style leather on the steering wheel and gearbox. The new Soul "Irmscher 001 Edition" is offered for any powerplant including a 126HP 1.6-liter petrol and a 128HP 1.6-liter diesel with a manual or automatic transmission, and trim levels. Video: Kia turns to the Hamsters - again - to promote the SoulWe didn’t think that a pair of furry little rodents would spawn such a huge following, but apparently, they did. And due to popular demand, the Kia Hamsters are back promoting the new Kia Soul with an oddly entertaining rap asking us to choose between ’this’ or ’that’ ’This’, of course, is pertaining to the 2010 Kia Soul whereas ’that’ pertains to a slew of household items that we honestly don’t know how they can be remotely connected to the Soul. Apparently for Kia, there is a link between their new crossover with, among other things, a washing machine, a cardboard box, and, yes, a toaster. Apart from that, however, the commercial is beyond entertaining, especially when the Hamsters trade in their usual garb for pair of baggy sweats and over-sized hoodies, rapping their way out into the streets of New York City and telling everyone that choosing ’this’ over ’that’ is not so much the right choice as it is the only choice. And oh, if you notice, the Hamsters are also wearing a clothing line called Hamstar, which, believe it or not, will be available at hamstarclothing.com. Talk about making the most out of a marketing campaign. Press Release after the jump Full story 2010 Kia Ghost Soul
Kia announced today the fourth and last special edition of the 2010 Soul (next to the Ignition Soul, Denim Soul and Shadow Dragon Soul). Are they serious with these names? The new Ghost Soul is on sale at a price of $19,490 which is the highest of the four special edition models that Kia has introduced. Needless to say, consumers will have to show Kia the money if they want to ride around in the spirited special edition. The Kia Ghost Soul is based on a Soul+ model and will be distinguished by a body kit, moonroof, fog lights, black 18-inch alloy wheels with machined accents, a sport trim spoiler as well as the leather-wrapped steering wheel and shift knob. On the interior, it will get black leather-trimmed seats with seat warmers and metallic and chrome accents. It also comes with the Audio Upgrade Package (center speaker, subwoofer and external amplifier). We think it’s safe to say we love all four models simply because the Kia Soul had us at toe-tapping, head-bobbing hamsters. They complete us. Just a little much needed Jerry Maguire humor. Press release after the jump. Full story Kia Soul wins Automotive Ad of the YearWe are sure we are not the only ones that resort to channel surfing when our favorite TV show becomes the victim of yet another commercial break, but we are also sure that no one was dumb enough to change the channel when the Kia Soul commercial came on the big screen. The commercial opens up in a quiet neighborhood featuring hammers commuting in their ever-revolving hamster wheels. As the run-of-the-mill hamsters truck along aimlessly on their circles of death, a bright red Kia Soul thumping to music by Marz featuring Pack and Mumiez comes rolling along. Inside, the hip, music-loving rodents are bobbing their heads and tapping their paws expressing just how cool they really are. With a quick, cool guy...umm cool hamster nod, the Soul rolls on its way to wherever the young, trendy hamsters are hanging out these days illustrating their “new way to roll”. It is because of this hilarious commercial that Kia has won the “Automotive Ad of the Year” award from the Nielsen Automotive Advertising Awards event at the 2010 New York Auto Show. This is their fourth year doling at such awards and the winners are chosen by a panel of TV viewers who watch the programs and commercials in a non-controlled, natural environment and then answer survey questions about what they have seen. "Truly effective advertising starts with a great creative idea," said Nielsen Automotive President Lois Miller. "When you combine that idea with a memorable and unique hook that grabs viewers’ attention, you are going to get the results that we saw from Kia this year." Hit the jump to see Kia’s so-called competition as well as the press release. Full story 2010 Kia SOUL Safety Car
It’s not as high-profile and as powerful as the Mercedes SLS AMG F1 Safety Car, but the Kia Soul has been nonetheless tapped to be new Safety Car that will be used at the U.S. Touring Car Championship (USTCC) circuit this season. Sanctioned by the National Auto Sport Association (NASA), the SOUL Safety Car will be making its debut at the season opening race on March 21 at Infineon Speedway in Sonoma, Calif. The Safety Car is based on a Sport model and adds enhanced aerodynamics, low friction synthetic Mobil 1 engine oil, a custom free flow Borla exhaust, a light weight Optima battery, Whelen Engineering strobe lights, light weight Konig wheels with low resistance tires as well as a short ram intake by Takeda to further enhance efficiency. Press release after the jump. Full story 2010 Kia Shadow Dragon Soul
The Korean automaker Kia unveiled the third of four planned special edition Soul models at the 2010 Detroit Auto Show. The Shadow Dragon Soul is an all new special edition of the plus size people mover and features a deep shadow black finish complete with matte black dragon graphics on the larger panels like the hood and tailgate along with a set of matching 18 inch wheels with machined accents and a body colored rear spoiler while on the inside, the special edition Soul benefits from black leather trimmed seating, making it the first Soul with Leather ever, as well as the usual fare including an iPod connection to allow operators full control of the MP3 device via the standard head unit and steering wheel mounted controls along with the little tings that go a long way like carpeted floor mats and a power moon roof while the outside gets practical touches like fog lights and fender vents with side marker repeaters. The Kia Shadow Dragon Soul is priced at $18,1951 and combines the peppy little four cylinder with a five speed manual gearbox. Press release after the jump. Full story 2010 Kia Ignition Soul
Kia announced today the addition of the Ignition Soul special edition on the US market. Prices for the special edition Ignition Soul starts at $17,500 for five-speed manual transmission version.  The special edition name (Ignition) is a reference to its unique exterior color treatment: ignition orange. Besides the special exterior color, this edition is distinguished by striking black 18-inch alloy wheels with machined accents, an athletic-looking body kit and rear spoiler found standard on sport trims. The Ignition Soul comes fully equipped with: Audio Upgrade Package (center speaker, subwoofer, external amplifier and speaker lights that pulse to the beat of the music), an iPod® connection cable for full functionality via the radio head unit and steering wheel controls, carpeted floor mats, moon roof, fender vents with side marker repeaters and fog lights. Press release after the jump. Full story 2009 Kia Gogogear SOUL
The last customized SOUL Kia presented at the SEMA Show is the Gogogear SOUL. The car will be the official peace car at the 2010 US Touring Car Championship (USTCC) season.  "Building on our involvement in the GRAND-AM KONI Challenge Series and in an effort to introduce the Kia brand to even more racing fans, apparel maker GoGoGear.com has created a highly modified version of the popular Soul urban passenger vehicle which will serve as the official pace car at several races throughout the 2010 US Touring Car Championship (USTCC) season." 2009 Kia Antenna SOUL
While the first customized SUV presented at SEMA Show was black, the second one features a baby blue exterior by Lux Motorwerks. The Antenna Soul features a matte brown painted roof, grill trim, side vents and custom exhaust and 20-inch wheels paired with Nitto Tires and a lowered suspension.  The Antenna Soul includes a pop-up "shop" of the latest trends in clothing and accessories from Original Penguin, Huff and etnies. Custom seats feature Cone Denim, bespoke stitching and Rufus shirt material, and a G-shock clock is mounted on the dash. Perforated leather and denim adorn the interior along with a RICTA skateboard wheel gear shift knob, leather-wrapped mounting holsters for personal electronics, a custom display case in the glove box for fashionable watches and stylish sunglasses, a refrigerator in the back seat and a skate board in the roof liner. Arrive in style - or even fashionably late - for any occasion in the Antenna Soul with clothing packed neatly in a motorized organizer in the trunk featuring exclusive apparel and accessories. Press release after the jump. Full story 2009 Kia Sinister SOUL
Kia came at the SEMA Show with a line-up of customized SOUL crossovers. The first of them is Black “Sinister” Soul created by BuBuck Wild Designs. The matte sinister black exterior paint job is combined with Spectral gray accents and black-out custom trim.  The SOUL’s ride has been lowered and placed on 20-inch black rims. Its dark appearance is being accentuated by smoked-out headlamps and tail lamps. The Sinister SOUL features a 11-speaker 1,300-watt sound system, a pair of 12-inch single voice coil (SVC) subwoofers, driven separately by an 800-watt amplifier. Press release after the jump. Full story | Find us on Facebook | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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