[Braedenk]

Hi! As the title states my dash reads about 10 miles left around the 11.5-12 gallon used ranged and I was wondering if this was a computer error or a design choice. I have the 2017 Kia Soul plus. Everywhere I’ve seen claims 14.2 gallon tank but it’s always seemed to claim empty around the 12 gallon mark.

 

[tmport]

Welcome to the site! Not to worry, that's completely normal with new cars, including the Soul. They do that because running the tank dry can cause damage.

 

[Hammerhead]

Welcome to the site! Not to worry, that's completely normal with new cars, including the Soul. They do that because running the tank dry can cause damage.

True, when your guage shows empty you still have a couple gallons left.

 

[GeoSoul]

Hi! As the title states my dash reads about 10 miles left around the 11.5-12 gallon used ranged and I was wondering if this was a computer error or a design choice. I have the 2017 Kia Soul plus. Everywhere I’ve seen claims 14.2 gallon tank but it’s always seemed to claim empty around the 12 gallon mark.

One way to settle your claim is to look in your Owners Manual.

 

[barnabas1969]

I have a 2019 Soul Plus. It appears that the tank only holds 12 gallons. I wish it was larger.

 

[rhysoul]

Hi! As the title states my dash reads about 10 miles left around the 11.5-12 gallon used ranged and I was wondering if this was a computer error or a design choice. I have the 2017 Kia Soul plus. Everywhere I’ve seen claims 14.2 gallon tank but it’s always seemed to claim empty around the 12 gallon mark.

Yes. The capacity is 14.2 gallons.

But when your gauge is on E, you’ll still have around 2 gallons left. It’s like that to protect the fuel pump from running dry which can damage it.

Or you can think of it as a little safety net reserve so you can get to a gas station. But you shouldn’t run your tank that low anyway, especially with the price shock of filling it back up. 😱 Good idea is to refuel when you’re at 1/4 tank.

 

[barnabas1969]

Yes. The capacity is 14.2 gallons.

But when your gauge is on E, you’ll still have around 2 gallons left. It’s like that to protect the fuel pump from running dry which can damage it.

Or you can think of it as a little safety net reserve so you can get to a gas station. But you shouldn’t run your tank that low anyway, especially with the price shock of filling it back up. 😱 Good idea is to refuel when you’re at 1/4 tank.

View attachment 139779

All I can say is this:

My most recent vehicle was a 2011 Chrysler 200. It weighed 4000 pounds vs the Kia Soul's 3000 pounds. It had a 2.4L engine vs. the Kia Soul's 2.0L engine.

The 33% heavier Chrysler with a 20% larger engine got 20% better highway fuel economy. 36MPG highway for the Chrysler vs. 30MPG for the Kia.

The 16 gallon tank in the Chrysler gave me EASILY 450+ miles on the highway, but the Kia tells me that distance to empty on a full tank is less than 350 miles.

That just sucks. This tiny little Kia, which weighs 1000 pounds less than my previous vehicle, should get AT LEAST as good fuel economy as my 2011 Chrysler which weighed 1000 pounds more and had a 20% larger engine.

 

[barnabas1969]

The fuel economy is the only thing that disappoints me about this cool Kia. I bought it new in June 2021, even though it is a 2019 model. Prior to purchase, I read that it should get 37MPG.

The window sticker was in the glove box. I didn't look at it until after I bought the vehicle. The window sticker says 30MPG highway. That is exactly what I get, based on my own calculations by dividing the number of miles driven by the number of gallons added from the previous fill-up.

I do not rely on the MPG display on the dash. I use fillup-to-fillup and miles driven.

I expected a smaller vehicle with a smaller engine to get better MPG than my prior (larger) vehicle which had a larger engine.

So... yeah... I am disappointed in the fuel economy, but overall... this little car is really great.

 

[GeoSoul]

The fuel economy is the only thing that disappoints me about this cool Kia. I bought it new in June 2021, even though it is a 2019 model. Prior to purchase, I read that it should get 37MPG.

The window sticker was in the glove box. I didn't look at it until after I bought the vehicle. The window sticker says 30MPG highway. That is exactly what I get, based on my own calculations by dividing the number of miles driven by the number of gallons added from the previous fill-up.

I do not rely on the MPG display on the dash. I use fillup-to-fillup and miles driven.

I expected a smaller vehicle with a smaller engine to get better MPG than my prior (larger) vehicle which had a larger engine.

So... yeah... I am disappointed in the fuel economy, but overall... this little car is really great.

My miles-to-empty always shows 411 at fill up. It is accurate IF I burned every last drop & vapor of gas, leaving the pump bone dry.

I average 28.9 mpg in the 8 years since new.

 

[Darkthefox]

If you stay between 55-65 that is where you get the best mpg in my experience. I got 32 mpg going from Wisconsin to Indiana. The Soul has a lot of drag so you can't expect sedan-like mpg.

 

[rhysoul]

All I can say is this:

My most recent vehicle was a 2011 Chrysler 200. It weighed 4000 pounds vs the Kia Soul's 3000 pounds. It had a 2.4L engine vs. the Kia Soul's 2.0L engine.

The 33% heavier Chrysler with a 20% larger engine got 20% better highway fuel economy. 36MPG highway for the Chrysler vs. 30MPG for the Kia.

The 16 gallon tank in the Chrysler gave me EASILY 450+ miles on the highway, but the Kia tells me that distance to empty on a full tank is less than 350 miles.

That just sucks. This tiny little Kia, which weighs 1000 pounds less than my previous vehicle, should get AT LEAST as good fuel economy as my 2011 Chrysler which weighed 1000 pounds more and had a 20% larger engine.

How heavy is your foot and what type of traffic do you drive in? Stop and go?

With my box on wheels and 1.6L manual, I get the best fuel economy when I’m driving between 35-55 mph. The engine revs at 3,000 going 70 mph with the manual transmission Soul, so I actually get worse mileage on the highway. With a medium foot most of the time, I have been averaging around 34 mpg consistently. I can do a few mpg better when I drive with a light foot. This is actually mpg. The computer is always about 3-4 mpg higher than actual.

 

[Tree 44]

How heavy is your foot and what type of traffic do you drive in? Stop and go?

With my box on wheels and 1.6L manual, I get the best fuel economy when I’m driving between 35-55 mph. The engine revs at 3,000 going 70 mph with the manual transmission Soul, so I actually get worse mileage on the highway. With a medium foot most of the time, I have been averaging around 34 mpg consistently. I can do a few mpg better when I drive with a light foot. This is actually mpg. The computer is always about 3-4 mpg higher than actual.

Yesterday I completed a trip to New Haven CT from the Reading PA area where I live. The Kia’s computer said 38.5 mpg. My measured mpg was 35.3. Considering this is a brick on wheels, I’m not complaining. In fact, I’m pretty happy with my mileage. I’ve had mine since one week pre-Covid. it has about 14300 miles on it. The measured fuel economy for those mile is 30.8 mpg combined. This Kia replaces a 2011 Forte EX which had 63500 miles on it. It averaged about 33 mpg on the highway and overall mileage was 28.9. I like my Soul EX.
I found that the original Nexen tires were garbage on wet, slushy or snow covered streets . They were down right hazardous when it came to stopping on snow, slush, or ice so I replaced them with Nokian WR4G all weather tires which have been excellent. I figure I may be paying a slight mpg penalty, but the added safety factor is worth it .

 

[rhysoul]

I found that the original Nexen tires were garbage on wet, slushy or snow covered streets . They were down right hazardous when it came to stopping on snow, slush, or ice

I agree with that. The Nexens were lousy tires and mine got noisy at only 23k miles or so. I recently replaced them with General AltiMAX rt43 and so far so good. We’ll see how they do on slush and snow but reviews of them are overall very good.

 

[Staetik]

I was obsessed with MPG after seeing a member post they were getting like 42ish in a gen 3. I average 24, but when trying I got to 32. I can't drive like that LOL. I treat my Soul like a big Mini Cooper. I even use the manual shift feature of the automatic when I'm feeling really frisky. Bought my Soul new in 2019 and it cost me $27 to fill up, now it's $42. Still one of the greatest cars I have owned.

 

[barnabas1969]

How heavy is your foot and what type of traffic do you drive in? Stop and go?

With my box on wheels and 1.6L manual, I get the best fuel economy when I’m driving between 35-55 mph. The engine revs at 3,000 going 70 mph with the manual transmission Soul, so I actually get worse mileage on the highway. With a medium foot most of the time, I have been averaging around 34 mpg consistently. I can do a few mpg better when I drive with a light foot. This is actually mpg. The computer is always about 3-4 mpg higher than actual.

The last time I tested the highway mileage, I filled up, got on I-95, and drove a long stretch of I-95 with zero traffic at 70MPH with the cruise control set. Drove for about an hour in one direction, then turned around and drove about an hour in the opposite direction. Filled up, and got 30MPG.

When I did that test, I had the A/C on using fresh air, not recirc. I was wondering if recirc would be more efficient, so...

Over the father's day weekend, I went to see my kids for the weekend. I drove to Tampa, straight down I-4 all the way across the state. I got stuck in a couple of really bad backups on the way, so I didn't bother to calculate the mileage when I got to Tampa. On the way back home Sunday night, the traffic was much better. I had the air on recirc for the entire trip and used the cruise as much as possible. When traffic backed up, I held wayyyy back and drove slow until traffic picked up again (so I wouldn't need to accel/decel constantly). When I got back home, I stopped at the first gas station and calculated 36.5MPG. The computer said 37.9. That's not bad. I think I'm going to start using recirc all the time since it seems to make such a large difference in MPG.

 

[dkmc]

Look at the KIA tail pipe. Black and sooty. Runs too rich. I thought computers and fuel injection were supposed to be more efficient than carburetors? No one can seem to explain why this is.

All I can say is this:

My most recent vehicle was a 2011 Chrysler 200. It weighed 4000 pounds vs the Kia Soul's 3000 pounds. It had a 2.4L engine vs. the Kia Soul's 2.0L engine.

The 33% heavier Chrysler with a 20% larger engine got 20% better highway fuel economy. 36MPG highway for the Chrysler vs. 30MPG for the Kia.

The 16 gallon tank in the Chrysler gave me EASILY 450+ miles on the highway, but the Kia tells me that distance to empty on a full tank is less than 350 miles.

That just sucks. This tiny little Kia, which weighs 1000 pounds less than my previous vehicle, should get AT LEAST as good fuel economy as my 2011 Chrysler which weighed 1000 pounds more and had a 20% larger engine.

 

[quitthisnonsenser]

They say 14 gallons but mine goes blank when it gets to 30 miles. At that point I can put in about 12 gallons which means there is somewhere a missing gallon. I have wondered if that is a safety feature & there is actually another gallon I could use. I have also considered that is to keep us from funning the take dry to protect the pump.

 

[rhysoul]

They say 14 gallons but mine goes blank when it gets to 30 miles. At that point I can put in about 12 gallons which means there is somewhere a missing gallon. I have wondered if that is a safety feature & there is actually another gallon I could use. I have also considered that is to keep us from funning the take dry to protect the pump.

Once it goes blank, you’ll get about another 50 miles or so. I tried it on my old Elantra once. But yes I think it does this to protect the pump. It’s not good to run it dry.

 

[MonsterSoul]

On a recent 400 mile trip to Lake Isabella, the computer said average 28.6 mpg.
This was maybe 1/2 freeway, mostly going 75-80, at least 100 miles of twisty mountain 2 lane, and the rest in town type driving. Seems pretty decent to me. In city (hellish) traffic it shows me around 24 mpg.

Brain has cued up, Going up the Country by Canned Heat.

 

[jim reader]

MY EXPERIMENT: Ran the fuel down. Fuel "low" light came on with a range of 33 miles left. Ran it until the range was ----, zero. Then recorded the odometer reading. Then drove another 100 miles or so and it was still running normally. Then I ran out of time. So after the "low" fuel light comes on, you still have at least 133 miles left. (That was my 2.0L, 2017, with a POS engine. uses about 1 qt of oil per tank of gas !)