Compare the2023 Toyota Corolla HatchbackVS 2023 Kia Soul

Safety
Warranty
Reliability
Engine
Fuel Economy and Range
Brakes and Stopping
Tires and Wheels
Suspension and Handling
Passenger Space
Ergonomics
Model Availability
Economic Advantages
Recommendations

Safety

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The Toyota Corolla Hatchback has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps 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.

The Corolla Hatchback has standard Whiplash Injury Lessening Seats (WIL), which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the WIL system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Soul doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.

The Corolla Hatchback has a standard Secondary Collision Brake, which automatically applies the brakes in the event of a crash to help prevent secondary collisions and prevent further injuries. The Soul doesn’t offer a post collision braking system: in the event of a collision that triggers the airbags, more collisions are possible without the protection of airbags that may have already deployed.

The Corolla Hatchback’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.

Compared to metal, the Corolla Hatchback’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.

The Corolla Hatchback has standard Safety Connect, which uses a global positioning satellite (GPS) receiver and a cellular system to get turn-by-turn driving directions, help track down your vehicle if it’s stolen or send emergency personnel to the scene if any airbags deploy. The Soul doesn’t offer a GPS response system, only a navigation computer with no live response for emergencies, so if you’re involved in an accident and you’re incapacitated help may not come as quickly.

Both the Corolla Hatchback and the Soul have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, front seatbelt pretensioners, 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, available blind spot warning systems and rear cross-path warning.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Toyota Corolla Hatchback is safer than the Kia Soul:

	Corolla Hatchback	Soul
OVERALL STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
	Driver
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	187	253
	Passenger
STARS	5 Stars	4 Stars
Chest Compression	.6 inches	2 inches
Neck Injury Risk	27%	39%
Neck Compression	86 lbs.	86 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Toyota Corolla Hatchback is safer than the Kia Soul:

	Corolla Hatchback	Soul
	Front Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	92	142
Chest Movement	.9 inches	1 inches
Abdominal Force	129 lbs.	259 lbs.
Hip Force	330 lbs.	490 lbs.
	Rear Seat
STARS	5 Stars	5 Stars
HIC	137	422
Spine Acceleration	43 G’s	73 G’s
Hip Force	367 lbs.	611 lbs.
	Into Pole
STARS	5 Stars	3 Stars
Max Damage Depth	12 inches	13 inches
HIC	239	322
Spine Acceleration	32 G’s	46 G’s
Hip Force	623 lbs.	1090 lbs.

New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.

Instrumented handling tests conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and analysis of its dimensions indicate that the Corolla Hatchback is 4.2% less likely to roll over than the Soul.

For its performance in IIHS driver-side and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, updated side impact, headlight, and daytime pedestrian crash prevention testing, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Corolla Hatchback the rating of “Top Safety Pick” for 2023, a rating granted to only 53 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Soul has not been fully tested, yet.

Warranty

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

Toyota pays for scheduled maintenance on the Corolla Hatchback for 2 years and 25000 miles. Toyota will pay for oil changes, lubrication and any other required maintenance. Kia doesn’t pay scheduled maintenance for the Soul.

There are over 59 percent more Toyota dealers than there are Kia dealers, which makes it much easier should you ever need service under the Corolla Hatchback’s warranty.

Reliability

From surveys of all its subscribers, Consumer Reports’ January 2023 Auto Issue reports that Toyota vehicles are more reliable than Kia vehicles. Consumer Reports ranks Toyota first in overall reliability. Kia is ranked 9th.

Engine

The Corolla Hatchback’s 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder produces 22 more horsepower (169 vs. 147) and 19 lbs.-ft. more torque (151 vs. 132) than the Soul’s 2.0 DOHC 4-cylinder.

As tested in Consumer Reports the Toyota Corolla Hatchback is faster than the Kia Soul:

	Corolla Hatchback	Soul
Zero to 30 MPH	3.4 sec	3.5 sec
Zero to 60 MPH	8.7 sec	8.8 sec
45 to 65 MPH Passing	5.4 sec	5.6 sec
Quarter Mile	16.8 sec	16.9 sec
Speed in 1/4 Mile	87 MPH	84 MPH

Fuel Economy and Range

On the EPA test cycle the Corolla Hatchback gets better mileage than the Soul:

		MPG
Corolla Hatchback
	SE 2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	32 city/41 hwy
	XSE 2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	30 city/38 hwy
Soul
	EX 2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	29 city/35 hwy
	2.0 DOHC 4-cyl.	28 city/33 hwy

Brakes and Stopping

For better stopping power the Corolla Hatchback’s brake rotors are larger than those on the Soul:

	Corolla Hatchback	Soul
Front Rotors	11.5 inches	11 inches
Rear Rotors	10.5 inches	10.3 inches

Tires and Wheels

The Corolla Hatchback SE’s standard tires provide better handling because they have a lower 55 series profile (height to width ratio) that provides a stiffer sidewall than the Soul LX/S’ standard 60 series tires. The Corolla Hatchback’s optional tires have a lower 40 series profile than the Soul GT-Line’s 45 series tires.

Suspension and Handling

For superior ride and handling, the Toyota Corolla Hatchback 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 Corolla Hatchback has standard front and rear stabilizer bars, which help keep the Corolla Hatchback flat and controlled during cornering. The Soul’s suspension doesn’t offer a rear stabilizer bar.

The Corolla Hatchback has vehicle speed sensitive variable-assist power steering, for low-effort parking, better control at highway speeds and during hard cornering, and a better feel of the road. The Soul doesn’t offer variable-assist power steering.

For a smoother ride and more stable handling, the Corolla Hatchback’s wheelbase is 1.5 inches longer than on the Soul (103.9 inches vs. 102.4 inches).

The Corolla Hatchback XSE handles at .85 G’s, while the Soul GT-Line pulls only .83 G’s of cornering force in a Motor Trend skidpad test.

Passenger Space

The Corolla Hatchback has .9 inches more front legroom and .4 inches more front hip room than the Soul.

Ergonomics

The Corolla Hatchback’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 Corolla Hatchback’s front and rear power windows all 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.

If the windows are left open on the Corolla Hatchback the driver can close them all at the outside door handle. On a hot day the driver can lower the windows at the outside door handle or from a distance using the keyless remote. (This window function must be activated by your Toyota service department.) The driver of the Soul can only operate the windows from inside the vehicle, with the ignition on.

The Corolla Hatchback’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.

The Corolla Hatchback’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.

Both the Corolla Hatchback and the Soul offer rear vents. For greater rear passenger comfort, the Corolla Hatchback XSE 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.

Model Availability

The Toyota Corolla comes in sedan, four door hatchback and four door bodystyles; the Kia Soul isn’t available as a sedan or four door hatchback.

Economic Advantages

According to The Car Book by Jack Gillis, the Corolla Hatchback is less expensive to operate than the Soul because it costs $446 less to do the manufacturer’s suggested maintenance for 50,000 miles. Typical repairs cost much less on the Corolla Hatchback than the Soul, including $73 less for a water pump, $51 less for a muffler, $11 less for front brake pads and $476 less for a power steering pump.

Recommendations

Consumer Reports® recommends both the Toyota Corolla Hatchback and the Kia Soul, based on reliability, safety and performance.

The Toyota Corolla outsold the Kia Soul by almost five to one during 2022.