Compare the2023 Honda CR-VVS 2023 Kia Soul

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Chassis
Passenger Space
Cargo Capacity
Towing
Ergonomics
Recommendations

Safety

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For enhanced safety, the front and rear seat shoulder belts of the Honda CR-V have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision. The Kia Soul doesn’t offer pretensioners for its rear seat belts.

The Honda CR-V has standard driver and front passenger side knee airbags mounted low on the dashboard. These airbags helps prevent the driver and front passenger from sliding under their seatbelts or the main frontal airbags; this keeps them better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. Knee airbags also help keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Soul doesn’t offer knee airbags.

Using vehicle speed sensors and seat sensors, smart airbags in the CR-V deploy with different levels of force or don’t deploy at all to help better protect passengers of all sizes in different collisions. The CR-V’s side airbags will shut off if a child is leaning against the door. The Soul’s side airbags don’t have smart features and will always deploy full force.

Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The CR-V has a standard Low-Speed Braking Control that uses rear sensors to monitor for objects to the rear and automatically applies the brakes to prevent a collision. The Soul doesn’t offer automatic braking for stationary objects directly to the rear.

The CR-V offers all-wheel drive to maximize traction under poor conditions, especially in ice and snow. The Soul doesn’t offer all-wheel drive.

The CR-V’s standard lane departure warning system alerts a temporarily inattentive driver when the vehicle begins to leave its lane and gently nudges the vehicle back towards its lane. A lane departure warning system costs extra on the Soul.

The CR-V has a standard blind spot warning system which uses sensors to alert the driver to objects in the vehicle’s blind spots where the side view mirrors don’t reveal them. A system to reveal vehicles in the Soul’s blind spot costs extra.

To help make backing out of a parking space safer, the CR-V has standard Cross Traffic Monitor, helping the driver avoid collisions. Kia charges extra for Rear Cross-Traffic Collision Warning on the Soul.

Compared to metal, the CR-V’s plastic fuel tank can withstand harder, more intrusive impacts without leaking; this decreases the possibility of fire. The Kia Soul has a metal gas tank.

Both the CR-V and the Soul have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front wheel drive, height adjustable front shoulder belts, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, rearview cameras, driver alert monitors and available rear parking sensors.

The Honda CR-V weighs 499 to 747 pounds more than the Kia Soul. The NHTSA advises that heavier vehicles are much safer in collisions than their significantly lighter counterparts. Crosswinds also affect lighter cars more.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, daytime pedestrian crash prevention, and nighttime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the CR-V its highest rating: “Top Safety Pick Plus” for 2023, a rating granted to only 29 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Soul has not been fully tested, yet.

Warranty

The CR-V’s 5 year corrosion warranty has no mileage limitations, but the corrosion warranty on the Soul runs out after 100,000 miles.

Honda pays for scheduled maintenance on the CR-V for 2 years and 24,000 miles. Honda will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance. Kia doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Soul.

There are over 37 percent more Honda dealers than there are Kia dealers, which makes it easier should you ever need service under the CR-V’s warranty.

Reliability

A reliable vehicle saves its owner time, money and trouble. Nobody wants to be stranded or have to be without a vehicle while it’s being repaired. Consumer Reports rates the CR-V’s reliability 24 points higher than the Soul.

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Honda vehicles are more reliable than Kia vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Honda 4 places higher in reliability than Kia.

Engine

The CR-V’s 1.5 turbo 4-cylinder produces 43 more horsepower (190 vs. 147) and 47 lbs.-ft. more torque (179 vs. 132) than the Soul’s 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder.

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the CR-V FWD gets better fuel mileage than the Soul 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder (28 city/34 hwy vs. 28 city/33 hwy).

The CR-V has a standard cap-less fueling system. The fuel filler is automatically opened when the fuel nozzle is inserted and automatically closed when it’s removed. This eliminates the need to unscrew and replace the cap and it reduces fuel evaporation, which causes pollution. The Soul doesn’t offer a cap-less fueling system.

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the CR-V’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Soul:

	CR-V	Soul
Front Rotors	12.3 inches	11 inches
Rear Rotors	12.2 inches	10.3 inches

Tires and Wheels

For better traction, the CR-V has larger tires than the Soul (235/60R18 vs. 205/60R16).

For better ride, handling and brake cooling the CR-V has standard 18-inch wheels. Smaller 16-inch wheels are standard on the Soul LX/S.

Suspension and Handling

For superior ride and handling, the Honda CR-V has fully independent front and rear suspensions. An independent suspension allows the wheels to follow the road at the best angle for gripping the pavement, without compromising ride comfort. The Kia Soul has a rear torsion beam axle, with a semi-independent rear suspension.

The CR-V has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the CR-V flat and controlled during cornering. The Soul’s suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the CR-V’s wheelbase is 3.9 inches longer than on the Soul (106.3 inches vs. 102.4 inches).

For better handling and stability, the average track (width between the wheels) on the CR-V is 1.3 inches wider in the front and 1.6 inches wider in the rear than the track on the Soul.

Chassis

The front grille of the CR-V uses electronically controlled shutters to close off airflow and reduce drag when less engine cooling is needed. This helps improve highway fuel economy. The Soul doesn’t offer active grille shutters.

The CR-V uses computer-generated active noise cancellation to help remove annoying noise and vibration from the passenger compartment, especially at low frequencies. The Soul doesn’t offer active noise cancellation.

Passenger Space

The CR-V has .2 inches more front legroom, 2.1 inches more front hip room, 2.4 inches more front shoulder room, 1.6 inches more rear legroom and 1.2 inches more rear shoulder room than the Soul.

For enhanced passenger comfort on long trips the CR-V’s rear seats recline. The Soul’s rear seats don’t recline.

Cargo Capacity

The CR-V has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat up than the Soul with its rear seat up (39.3 vs. 24.2 cubic feet). The CR-V has a much larger cargo volume with its rear seat folded than the Soul with its rear seat folded (76.5 vs. 62.1 cubic feet).

A low lift-over cargo hatch design makes loading and unloading the CR-V easier. The CR-V’s cargo hatch lift-over height is 26 inches, while the Soul’s liftover is 29.8 inches.

The CR-V’s cargo area is larger than the Soul’s in almost every dimension:

	CR-V	Soul
Length to seat (2nd/1st)	37.5”/71”	26”/59”
Max Width	54”	45.6”
Min Width	41.5”	41.5”
Height	41”	33”

A standard locking glovebox (which can’t be accessed with the valet key) keeps your small valuables safer in the CR-V. The Soul doesn’t offer locking storage for small valuables.

To make loading and unloading groceries and cargo easier, especially for short adults, the CR-V EX-L has a standard power liftgate, which opens and closes automatically by pressing a button. The Soul doesn’t offer a power liftgate.

Towing

The CR-V has a 1500 lbs. towing capacity. The Soul has no towing capacity.

Ergonomics

When two different drivers share the CR-V EX-L, the memory seats make it convenient for both. Each keyless remote activates different, customized memories for the driver’s seat position. The Soul doesn’t offer memory seats.

The CR-V EX-L’s standard easy entry system glides the driver’s seat back when the door is unlocked or the ignition is switched off, making it easier for the driver to get in and out. The Soul doesn’t offer an easy entry system.

The CR-V’s power parking brake sets with one touch and releases with one touch or automatically. The Soul has a lever-type parking brake that has to be strenuously raised to engage properly. It has to be lifted up more and a button depressed to release it.

The CR-V’s standard front power windows open or close fully with one touch of the switches, making it more convenient at drive-up windows and toll booths, or when talking with someone outside the car. The Soul’s power window switches have to be held the entire time to close them fully. Only its driver’s window opens automatically. The CR-V EX-L’s front and rear power windows all open or close fully with one touch of the switches.

On a hot day the CR-V’s driver can lower all the windows from a distance with the keyless remote or at the outside door handle. The driver of the Soul can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The CR-V’s power window, power lock, power mirror and cruise control switches are lit from behind, making them plainly visible and easier to operate at night. The Soul’s power mirror switches are unlit, making them difficult to find at night and operate safely.

The CR-V’s speed-sensitive wipers speed up when the vehicle does, so that the driver doesn’t have to continually adjust the speed of the wipers. The Soul’s manually variable intermittent wipers have to be constantly adjusted.

The CR-V’s LED headlights produce a whiter, brighter light (up to 3x) using five times less power than the Soul’s halogen headlights. LED lights also light instantly and last over twenty times longer than halogen.

Consumer Reports rated the CR-V’s headlight performance “Good,” a higher rating than the Soul’s headlights, which were rated “Fair.”

The CR-V’s standard outside mirrors include heating elements to clear off the mirrors for better visibility. Kia only offers heated mirrors on the Soul EX/GT-Line.

The CR-V has a standard dual zone air conditioning allows the driver and front passenger to choose two completely different temperatures so people with different temperature preferences won’t have to compromise. This makes both the driver and front passenger as comfortable as possible. Dual zone air conditioning is only available on the Soul S/EX/GT-Line.

Both the CR-V and the Soul offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the CR-V has standard rear air conditioning vents to keep rear occupants cool in summer or warm in winter. The Soul doesn’t offer rear air conditioning vents, only heat vents.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Honda CR-V and the Kia Soul, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The CR-V was chosen as a Car and Driver’s “5Best Trucks/10Best” for 2023 and 3 more times in the last 22 years. The Soul hasn’t been picked since 2018, and the Soul has only been chosen twice.

Motor Trend selected the CR-V as their 2018 Sport Utility of the Year. The Soul has never been chosen.

The Honda CR-V outsold the Kia Soul by over four to one during 2022.