Kia Soul DCT (South Africa)
Kia
has announced the introduction of the new 7-speed DCT unit in the Kia Soul for
the South African market, which is priced at ZAR 399,995.
The
7-speed DCT is only available with the 1.6 CRDi SMART diesel engine. With the
introduction of the new gearbox, the diesel variant gets a bump in power, fuel
consumption figures and gear shift times in manual mode.
Power
of the 1.6-liter engine is upped from 94 kW to 100 kW at 4,000 rpm and peak
torque also increases from 260 Nm to 300 Nm that is still accessible between
1,900 rpm and 2,750 rpm.
With
improved figures, the new transmission has lowered the Kia Soul’s 0-100 km/h
acceleration time from 12.2 seconds to 11.1 seconds, while top speed has
increased from 182 km/h to 188 km/h. Compared to the six-speed torque converter
unit, the 7-Speed DCT claims to offer better fuel economy and lower emissions.
