Skoda Karoq 110TSI 2018 Review

The Skoda Karoq is a great SUV, I really like it… but it’s also a confused individual. Not THAT sort of confused; more of a “Am I in grade 2, or being bumped to grade 3?” kind of uncertainty. You see, the oddly-named Karoq straddles the line between ‘small’ and ‘medium’ SUV.

But which is it?!

The official but nebulous Australian new car categorisation regulated by VFACTS, a dark and shadowy organisation most consumers have never heard of and will rarely contact for a blithe 10am weekday chat, reckons the Skoda Karoq is a small SUV.

It makes this judgement based on the Skoda Karoq SUV’s size, which is 4.38m long. Now, the medium-sized Hyundai Tucson is 4.48m in length and the Mazda CX-5 is 4.55m.

So putting the Karoq in the ‘small SUV’ category along with the teeny-tiny 3.67m Suzuki Jimny seems, well, a smidge wide of the mark. Or manifestly incorrect, whichever you prefer.

Even the pricing of the Karoq is closer to the CX-5 and Tucson, with its $29,990 (plus on-road costs), and given that my wife recently bought a second-hand 2016 Hyundai Tuscon, I was able to line them up side and side and test the passenger and cargo spaces – which are very similar.

There’s just one model grade available for the European SUV, and it’s the Skoda Karoq 110TSI. That number means it’s fitted with a 1.5-litre turbo-petrol engine (110kW/250Nm) that is does a great job blasting the car into fast moving traffic on busy freeway onramps.

Now, this tiny engine may be another reason the VFACTS brains trust is erroneously convinced it’s a compact SUV, but whatever the case this Volkswagen Group vehicle has the same impressive throttle response and snappy dual-clutch gear changes as a Volkswagen Tiguan SUV. Which has been lumped into the medium SUV segment… and is based on the same MQB platform as the Karoq… but I digress.

The Volkswagen-sourced 110TSI turbo-petrol engine itself is smooth, refined and quiet at low revs but gets noisy and less composed and less responsive when you pump it hard.

At higher speeds the Karoq’s small turbo four-banger lacks a bit of mumbo but when you’re committed to overtaking a truck on the freeway, for instance, the dual-clutch gear box snaps into actions quickly and smoothly, blasting the engine into action and almost masking its low power output.

I reckon the Skoda Karoq Sportline model that’s been confirmed for Australia, with its bigger 19-inch alloy wheels and 2.0-litre turbo-petrol worth 140kW will be a lot fun.

There’s no steering wheel paddle shifters on this model but they’re not necessary, the gearbox is generally proactive and with two occupants and a modicum of luggage the engine was using just 5.0L/100km at freeway, which is very economical. It can autonomously deactivate two of its cylinders too, half the engine essentially, which means you’re kind of purring along using a puny 750cc engine, or 0.75-litre – smaller than many motorcycle engines!

After a week in the saddle, commuting to work every day in slow-moving bumper-to-bumper gridlock, my final fuel figure was 7.9L/100km which I reckon is very impressive for a vehicle of this weight (around 1400kg) and size.

It’s a quiet car on the freeway and although there’s a bit of wind noise off the mirrors at 110km/h the Canton stereo has great clarity. Question is, has anyone heard of Canton before now?

Thrown into a few corners the Skoda Karoq feels like a Volkswagen Tiguan, with a surprisingly dynamic side. It’s fun and capable. The steering is vague but the car has good road holding and ride comfort.

There’s a blind spot assistance feature that flashes up on the mirrors which is better than nothing (but I always like to head-check, technology or not), but I prefer the Mazda system that flashes it up on the dash as well – it means you get the info quicker and don’t need to take your eyes as far off the road.

By and large the high-riding Skoda Karoq affords a good view of the road and although the vehicle on test has been optioned to the hilt, the extras a nice-to-haves, not must-haves.

The premium pack ($3600) adds 18-inch alloy wheels, an automatic powered tailgate, leather-appointed upholstery, front parking sensors, and adaptive LED headlights. The tech pack ($3200) adds a hands-free powered tailgate, auto parking, wireless phone charging, digital radio and an upgraded infotainment system. Lastly there’s the travel pack ($1700) which is the most affordable and the best if you ask me, adding lane assist, blind spot detection, rear cross-traffic alert, folding side mirrors and an electric driver’s seat.

But standard features like dual-zone climate control and automatic acceleration and braking on almost any road type, via adaptive radar cruise control, is pretty impressive. We’re talking Audi-grade tech here.

Vision out the side windows and rear windscreen is very good thanks to the upright glass, only problem with function over form is that you sometimes end up with a car that looks like a like a bag of smashed crabs, as it was.

Overall it’s a very easy car to drive not just due to all the parking sensors and reversing camera (or the automatic parking doodad) but because it’s a good size – not too big, not too small. You might call it medium-sized… nudge, nudge VFACTS.

While I found it painful to let my gaze drift over the thoughtless, drab, incomplete exterior design of the Skoda Karoq SUV, the interior is a sensory delight.

My first impression was “Wow, how can the outside of the car look so shite while the interior is so stylish?!” My personal opinion is that there’s a conspiracy within parent company VW Group to ensure that Skoda cars look one or two generations old so sales don’t overtake Volkswagen. Just a theory – but true blue, a drunken marmoset using a stylus could do a better job than this.

The first thing the eye is drawn towards upon plonking down in either of the front seats is the large 8.0-inch touch screen that’s identical to the gear used in Volkswagens and Audis. The graphics are crystal clear and operation is about as intuitive as you’ll find, with smartphone-esque swiping and pinching functionality.

However, one shortcoming is the lack of an analogue volume dial. You have to touch screen to change volume which I find to be haphazard and time consuming. There is volume control on steering wheel for the driver however, which mostly makes up for it.

Soft touch dash plastics give the Karoq a more upmarket feel than most of its rivals that have hard plastics here and there. It has a thoroughly modern interior design that has a classy appeal and the push button glove box makes it feel a bit special too. This vehicle even had wireless phone charging with the tech pack, but there’s always a USB port if you want to charge the regular way and/or want to engage Android Auto or Apple CarPlay.

The steering wheel is a classy unit with good button placing and all the switch gear, such as the indicator stalks, are pleasant to manipulate. It’s all very Audi.

Back-seat room is pretty good, there’s rear air vents, two ISOFIX anchorages for proper child seats and three top tether points too. Walk around to the boot and find plenty of flexibility and functionality.

The boot has so many options and hooks and dividers it’s almost like a Lego set back there. You can slide the back seats fore and after which provides between 479 and 588 litres of cargo space – a lot more than most medium-sized SUVs, such as the CX-5’s 442 litres. Fold the back seats and you’ll liberate 1605 litres. But wait, it gets better – remove the rear seats entirely and you’re looking at 1810 litres. That’s a lot.

For a European car, it offers a pretty good warranty of five-years/unlimited kilometres – the same as most Asian cars. Capped-price servicing means you’ll pay around $360 per annum too, which is very competitive for a Euro import.

Like a great many things from the Czech Republic, the Skoda Karoq is a peculiar-looking unit. But if you move past its uninspired exterior design you’ll find one of the best-equipped, economical and fun-to-drive SUVs in the, um, medium SUV segment. Yep, definitely medium.

How much does the 2018 Skoda Karoq TSI 110 DSG cost?
Price: $32,290 (plus on-road costs)
Engine: 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 110kW/250Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel: 7.9L/100km (ADR Combined); 7.9L/100km (as tested)
CO2: 132g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star EuroNCAP (2017)