Right-sized SUV joins the fleet without an electric motor in sight
Why we’re running it: To help us assess whether this B-segment SUV can make a case for petrol-only powerplants in the automotive near-future
Month 1 – Specs
Life with a Skoda Kamiq: Month 1
Welcoming the Kamiq to the fleet
In just over a decade’s time, pure-petrol cars will be exclusive to the used market. Actually, that point could come even sooner.
The new Labour administration is discussing plans to bring back the original 2030 ban on new internal-combustion-engined car sales (it was pushed back five years by the Conservatives last year) and some automotive timelines are prioritising electrified vehicles by the time we enter the 2030s.
This all means that cars such as our new Skoda Kamiq, with its 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine (that’s right: no hybrid assistance here), are a dying breed. So we’re here to find out, over the coming months, if such powertrains will be missed.
To introduce you, the Kamiq is Skoda’s smallest ‘big’ car, sitting below the Karoq, Kodiaq and electric Enyaq. It was launched in 2019 and refreshed last year (it’s not conventionally pretty, giving off Star Wars Stormtrooper vibes), and it’s positioned as a raised and slightly roomier alternative to the Scala. Its target market is smaller families shopping in the highly populated B-SUV segment.
Being a Skoda, the Kamiq is priced very competitively, from just £24,040 (which gets you a 94bhp 1.0-litre turbo petrol triple and five-speed manual). That positioning has pushed it to become one of the Czech brand’s best-sellers in the UK, matching the stalwart Octavia with some 16,000 sales since the start of last year.
Our car is the top-rung Monte Carlo Kamiq. Sounds sporty, right? Well, think less Toyota GR Yaris and more Yaris GR Sport: this is style over substance. So while nothing changes underneath, inside you get squidgy, bucket-like sports seats, a panoramic glass roof, dual-zone climate controls and a 10.25in digital driver’s display.
And it rolls along on smart 18in alloys. At £31,580, which includes optional £660 Moon White paint (I was surprised to find this wasn’t a standard colour), it’s still a bit of a bargain. But don’t expect a luxury model: this Kamiq is a workhorse at heart, given away by its manually adjustable seats and mostly plastic interior.
Now that you’ve met, let’s talk about first impressions. The Kamiq is no-frills wonderful. No, we’re not EV haters here at Autocar: far from it, as they’re becoming more and more brilliant by the day.
But one thing that electric powertrains remove (ignoring the interesting transmission work currently being done by Toyota/Lexus) is the need for conventional gearing and therefore a gearbox. And for car lovers, the analogue, hands-on experience that a stick-shifter offers really can’t be matched.
So to have a six-speed manual transmission in the Kamiq is a real delight: the clutch pedal has a lovely weight and spring to it and the lever offers a pleasing feel. However, the gating feels a tad closer than that in rivals such as the Kia Stonic, so I’ve already found myself in third when I’m hunting for first. That’s something to keep an eye on over the coming months.
The Kamiq also drives really well. In our short time together so far, it has proved to be both a solid motorway hauler and a nippy around-town runabout. That’s thanks in part to its pedigree: it may be relatively new, but as it sits on the Volkswagen Group’s
incredibly versatile MQB platform, it shares the same underpinnings as cars ranging from the Audi A1 to the Volkswagen T-Cross.
It’s a deceptively big car, too. At 4241mm long, 1793mm wide and 1562mm tall, it’s no bigger than the Nissan Juke but offers 400 litres of seats-up boot space – enough to fit, as I’ve already discovered, a lot of sports gear and a cockapoo. Plus you get generous rear leg room and practical touches such as bag hooks, deep storage bins and an actual bin.
That practical approach manifests in the Kamiq’s usability, too, with a host of physical buttons and switches for key controls such as cabin temperature. A proper volume switch, rather than a non-haptic touchpoint on the 9.2in infotainment screen, feels an oversight.
There is, though, a roller on the steering wheel. Additional plus points come from wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, which means no more cable faffing.
A divisive quirk is the seating position: compared with similarly sized rivals, you sit low to the floor, giving it more of a hatchback feel on the move. I really like that, but my partner, who drives a crossover, isn’t a fan. You can pump up the seat, but the layout doesn’t suit it.
One positive is that it promotes quite an enjoyable driving experience, especially from what I’ve found so far on back roads. This is aided by the light, smooth steering and enhanced by its short (2651mm) wheelbase. An added bonus is incredibly easy manoeuvrability in tight car parks.
Add in that the 148bhp 1.5-litre turbo engine is already returning close to 50mpg and this is starting to look like a bona fide bargain.
It will be interesting to see if anything begins to grate once our honeymoon period fades away and whether it will be the Kamiq’s practicality or its economical powerplant that becomes the star of the show.
Road trips are already planned, including a cross-continent expedition, and I can’t wait.
Second Opinion
By the time the Kamiq arrived, crossover fatigue had fully set in, so I never really appreciated its strengths. But with decent space and a compact footprint, there’s a lot to recommend it. It’s also a reminder that manual gearboxes should have a future in more than just performance cars.
James Attwood
Skoda Kamiq 1.5 TSI 150PS Monte Carlo specification
Specs: Price New £30,580 Price as tested £31,580 Options Moon White metallic paint £660, towbar preparation £240
Test Data: Engine 3 cyls inline, 1498cc, turbocharged, petrol Power 148bhp at 5000rpm Torque 184lb ft at 1500rpm Kerb weight 1227kg Top speed mph 0-62mph 8.3sec Fuel economy 47.8mpg CO2 132g/km Faults None Expenses None
