If you've attended a recent auto show, you may have noticed a billboard at the Scion stand.
The Scion xB is "Not the Copy", it says.
It's tough to trace the origin of the box-shaped subcompact.
One fact is proven: the Nissan Cube is no copy.
It debuted in Japan two years before the Scion xB.
And though the xB's lines have softened, the Cube continues to live up to its name.
But not without -- strong competition.
The Kia Soul may have borrowed its form factor, but finally delivers what its peers have yet to provide.
Cubic cars may have radical sheetmetal, but their interiors remain mostly pedestrian.
Except -- for the Kia Soul.
Soul shoppers can choose from four premium interior fabrics that vary with the vehicle's trim level.
Each themed interior -- dares to stand out.
This Soul Exclaim wears high-contrast houndstooth
wrapped around exceptionally supportive seatbacks and bolsters.
Though most interior elements are borrowed from Kia's compact car parts bin,
novel touches like a contrasting steering wheel hub
and bass-reactive LEDs in the speakers lend the Soul a measure of autonomy.
The Cube Krom's seats wear a more subtle technical material,
but super-soft bolsters underneath induce backaches on even short roadtrips.
Nissan's "Jacuzzi Curve" styling theme is unique to the Cube.
Echoes in the speaker grilles and headliner show close attention to detail,
but the novelty of a shag-carpet dash mat is eclipsed by a label
that warns against placing items on the mat while driving.
These cars' road manners match their interior ethic.
The Nissan Cube has ample power to crest hills and merge on the freeway,
and darts through subdivisions or parking lots with ease.
But the /Kia's/ wider stance and thicker tires
gift it an athleticism previously unseen among cube cars.
The Soul stays planted at cornering speeds where the cubic competition can't keep up.
Carefully tuned damping rates micro-manage ride quality at normal speeds,
but drivers aren't totally sheltered from road feel.
That's the key to the Kia Soul's conscience:
as small cars grow in popularity and plushness,
it's easy to abandon driver engagement in favor of numbness.
The Cube was obviously built to be a metropolitan city-runner.
The Soul, on the other hand, is cosmopolitan and well-rounded.
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