17 March 2011
Kia has lent a helping hand to The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute (VCCRI), aka ‘The Chang’, by donating a new Soul vehicle as a mobile health check booth.
The Soul has been kitted out with an inflatable booth, equipment, along with nurses to reach corporations and organisations across Sydney.
The mission? According to spokeswoman Jan Savage, “to encourage employers to invest in the heart health of their employees and enhance their wellbeing by providing a service to increase awareness of the modifiable risk factors for cardiovascular disease”.
“We often refer to a heart attack as ‘the disease that doesn’t let you say goodbye’,” she adds. “Unfortunately, heart disease doesn’t have the high profile of some other diseases, cancer for example, but it is just as deadly, far more sudden and very often preventable if identified.”
The health check test process takes around 10 minutes and targets key heart disease indicators in cholesterol, blood sugar and blood pressure.
The Soul is the car of choice due to its spacious interior and key equipment; and consists of 2 model grades, the Soul and Soul+.
Standard features include ESC (Electronic Stability Control) with traction control, folding keys, trip computer, and front and rear passenger seatbelt reminders.
The Soul+ also comes with 16” alloy wheels, front fog lamps, a wide view bumper, side sill moulding and eye liner lights giving it a striking appeal, a tilt and telescopic steering wheel with remote audio controls and driver’s seat with height adjustment. The Soul+ is available with either the petrol engine or the 1.6-litre CRDi diesel engine also available with manual or automatic transmission. Additionally the diesel version of the Soul+ has cruise control.
The Soul is powered by the 4-cylinder 1.6-litre petrol engine, which can be matched to either a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmission.
The Soul and Soul+ have a 5-star ANCAP safety rating, are available in 6 striking colours and, like all new Kia vehicles sold in Australia, are covered by the peace of mind offered by Kia’s 5-year/unlimited kilometre warranty for private buyers.
Recommended retail pricing for the Kia Soul starts at $21,490 for the Soul petrol manual, through to $29,190 for the range topping Soul+ diesel automatic.