The Kamiq is a small city SUV that sits under the Karoq and Kodiaq in Skoda’s line up.
It shares the same underpinnings as the the VW T-Roc and the Seat Arona. Other rivals include the Nissan Juke , Kia Stonic and Mazda CX-3.
It’s a good looking car, with a split headlight design that has a strip of daytime-running LEDs along the top.
Prices start at just under £17,000 and my SE L model with seven-speed DSG transmission cost a little over £23,000.
There’s a 1.6 litre diesel option but Skoda expects the vast majority of Kamiq sales to be petrol. Here we have a 1.0 litre, three cylinder with 95 or 115bhp, or a 1.5 litre with 148bhp.
The higher powered 1.0 I drove may well be the pick of the bunch. It pulls strongly enough even with two or three adult passengers and their luggage – only if you tow a caravan or trailer should you need to go for the diesel or the 1.5 litre petrol.
Paired with the seven-speed automatic gearbox it sat quietly at 70mph up the A90 on a trip to the Angus Glens. Indeed, the Kamiq is one of the most refined of the breed of small SUV, with road, wind and engine noise all kept well in check.
It handles well enough, though not quite as sharply as the sportiest small SUVs – Mazda’s CX-3, the Kia Stonic and Ford EcoSport.
Skoda has always had a knack of squeezing more internal space out of their cars than rival manufacturers – the Octavia and Superb are by far the most roomy in their class – and the Kamiq also scores well here.
Belying its modest exterior dimensions, there’s room inside for four adults to sit in comfort. It’s noticeably more spacious in the rear than all of its rivals, and there’s 26 litres of clever cubby storage space in the cabin. The boot’s a handy 400 litres as well.
Cabin quality is very good indeed, with higher up models getting the kind of digital “virtual cockpit” that used to be the preserve of Audi and Mercedes.
There’s an old fashioned handbrake lever, which is fine except that it means the cup holders beside it have shrunk to accommodate it – I had to jam my travel mug in the door bin. The steering wheel controls are very sensitive too and I found myself changing radio stations when I was trying to go round a corner.
There’s little of substance to criticise, however. Skoda have come up with a car that’s spacious, refined, good value and very much one of the best small SUVs out there.
Price:
£23,220
0-62mph:
10 seconds
Top speed:
119mph
Economy:
45.6mpg
CO2 emissions:
113g/km