New York 2011: Kia updates 2012 Soul with new engines, transmissions and style

Up front, the Soul gains projection-beam headlights accented with LED daytime running lights, and two new paint colours have been added to the option sheet – Canyon and Moss. Indoors, top-trim buyers are treated to Kia's new Microsoft-branded hands-free connectivity system called UVO or an optional navigation system for the first time.

But the most exciting news comes from under the Soul's hood. The engineers at Kia have fitted an all-new 1.6-liter direct-injected four-cylinder engine that produces 135 horsepower and 121 pound-feet of torque. That's a pony increase of 11 percent over the old, non-DI 1.6-liter engine, and Kia says that when coupled to either a new six-speed manual transmission or a similarly minty six-speed automatic gearbox, which replace the old five-speed manual and four-speed automatic, the engine will return 8,4 L/100km in the city and 6,9 L/100km highway.

A more powerful 2.0-liter engine is also still on hand, but Kia has a new version that's more powerful than the one it replaces, producing 160 hp or 18 hp more than the engine its replacing, and it too can now be bolted to the new six-speed transmissions. Fuel economy for the updated 2.0-liter engine is now rated at 8,7 L/100km city and 7,1 L/100km highway for both cogswappers.