Skoda Kamiq

While aboard this 2022 Skoda Kamiq Signature, I ponder one of modern motoring's great mysteries: the persistence of Skoda jokes that are also Lada jokes that are also Fiat jokes and so on.

For two decades, the Czech brand has been delivering great cars. They’re bigger than you think, deliver on the technology and engine fronts and the brand sort of strikes me as a European Subaru, just without the polarising styling but with the enthusiastic owners.

Skoda has three SUVs on sale in Australia today, the big Kodiaq, middish-size Karoq and the supposed baby of the range, the Kamiq.

Whereas the VW T-Cross is very much a higher-riding Polo, the Kamiq is not so obviously a higher-riding Fabia. It’s appreciably bigger, with a long wheelbase delivering interior space to rival that of a car a size up.

What Skodas aren’t always in 2022 is cheap. The Kamiq range does without a stripped-out range opener to get punters through the door, it plants a flag in the mid-$30K range and goes from there to over $40K.

It’s a bold move but Skoda has been known to throw a curve and make it stick.

Pricing and features

At face value, it’s difficult to see where Volkswagen is pitching the Kamiq. The entire range is tightly packed from the $37,990 85TSI Style to the Signature 110TSI at $42,990 (both figures drive-away).

That means the lower end of the range doesn’t really go after anything but the more expensive end of the ageing Mazda CX-3’s range and doesn’t really price itself to tempt T-Cross prospects.

It almost feels like it’s nipping at the heels of the VW T-Roc (which starts in the mid-$30K range) and Skoda’s own Karoq.

Anyway, my confusion aside, this top-of-the-range Signature commands the higher figure, $42,990, although given it’s a drive-away price, it’s rather more appealing.

For that not-inconsiderable outlay you’re getting a five-door small SUV with 18-inch alloys, an eight-speaker stereo, digital dashboard, dual-zone climate control, reversing camera, keyless entry and start, front, rear and side parking sensors, adaptive cruise control, sat-nav, and auto LED headlights.

There's also a a mix of leather and fake suede trim (believe me, fake suede is a genuine blessing), power tailgate, auto parking, auto wipers, heated and folding mirrors, heated front seats and steering wheel, heated rear seats, powered driver’s seat, wireless charging and a space-saver spare.

That’s quite a lot of stuff, going some way to justifying the price tag.

The Signature carries the larger 9.2-inch touchscreen over the lesser models’ 8.0-inch unit and features sat-nav. It also has wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, which pairs nicely with wireless phone charging.

The system didn’t miss a beat with my iPhone connecting wirelessly every time without drama. Weirdly, there’s no DAB+ digital radio but one could argue that a phone app will get you whatever station you want and – again arguably – will work better than DAB+ does in, say, tunnel-heavy Sydney.

The five-star ANCAP safety rating hails from 2019 and comes courtesy of seven airbags, the usual stability and traction controls, forward auto emergency braking (AEB), lane-keep assist, reverse AEB, front and rear cross-traffic alert, blind-spot monitoring, driver attention detection and lane departure warning. Again, that’s a lot.

The forward AEB features cyclist and pedestrian detection at city speeds but is not available at higher speeds.

You also get three top-tether points and two ISOFIX anchors for child seats.

Comfort and space

The Kamiq Signature’s mix of leather and fake suede (or Suedia, which sounds like one of the kingdoms over the sea in Game of Thrones) is immediately appealing.

The cabin looks very neat and tidy, with nothing out of place and to help keep it neat and tidy in these tryingly damp times, there are the usual umbrellas hiding in the doors. Such a cool idea.

My wife was hugely amused by the mass of identifiably Audi switchgear and we enjoyed a stuck-in-traffic game of spot the part. Hey, I never said we were an exciting pair.

It’s all very high quality as you might expect at this price, with just the occasional scratchy plastic moment. The digital dash and the big touchscreen make it feel like you’ve not wasted any money, too.

Getting into the rear seat is pretty straightforward. However, you do step over a bit of high sill and once you’re in, the tall transmission tunnel firmly divides the space. But legroom is very good, particularly for a car this size and with air vents and two USB-C, there’s even more to like.

Although it stops there as the Kamiq goes without a rear centre armrest and therefore no cup holders. There are bottle holders in the doors, though.

The Kamiq’s boot is typically Skoda in that it’s pretty big. At 400 litres it’s not going to set the world on fire but there are some full-size SUVs with not a lot more than that crammed into their nearly five-metre length.

With the seats down you get 1395 litres, which is also impressive in this segment. The floor mat in the boot has carpet on one side and rubber on the other, which is a nice touch.

On the road

Skoda fits its 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine to the Signature, replacing the 85kW turbo triple in the Ambition. The four spins up 110kW and 250Nm, with power going to the front wheels via a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission.

Nothing out of the ordinary here and a familiar scene in large chunks of Skoda’s – and the broader VW Group's – ranges. It’s a good engine, with only a little lag and cylinder deactivation to save fuel under light or steady throttle.

The same can’t be said for the transmission, which lacks the polish that it does in other cars in the group, such as the VW Polo I drove recently.

It doesn’t seem to like this more powerful engine, struggling to smoothly pick up the power, with regular chirps from the front tyres under power in damp conditions or moderate throttle.

It’s not a big drama most of the time, but it can also dither a bit. You can fix that with gearshift paddles as I did, but nobody wants to have to do that. Pulling the shifter back into Sport does remove some of that hesitation, working better around town but presumably using more fuel.

The sometimes-abrupt clutch does also expose the Goodyear Eagle F1 tyres a bit, too, which suggests that at the first change, some more capable rubber will be in order. If your experience doesn’t match mine, however, you’ll be fine to continue with what’s already fitted.

With all that out of the way, the Kamiq is actually pretty good to drive. The steering is clearly set for the city and is, therefore, a bit lighter than I might like, but that’s obviously a bit subjective. There’s still some feel, though, so that’s useful.

Once you’re up and running, the Kamiq lopes along very nicely. It’s not a quick car but is usefully quicker than most of its rivals and works well in the suburban and commuting cut and thrust.

It’s quite good on freeways and motorways, too, riding, handling and accelerating well where needed, particularly in some scenarios where the 85TSI might start to look a little outclassed.

If you’re after a bit of fun, you can have a moderate amount, but the Kamiq will run straight to understeer when pushed, but not riotously or suddenly.

Staying within the likely envelope, there’s great vision to the front and sides, with a slightly letterboxey rear window leaving you thankful for the reversing camera. It’s also very quiet around urban areas and at higher speeds, with almost no suspension or road noise to speak of.

Ownership

Out of the box, Skoda offers a five-year, unlimited-kilometre warranty, which lines up with most rivals except for Kia and MG that both have cars of similar size and offer two more years. Skoda is currently offering a way to take the warranty to seven years via a pre-paid servicing plan.

This leads us neatly to servicing. There are a few options here, the simplest being the purchase of a pre-paid service pack of five or seven years.

The five-year pack costs $1500 on the Kamiq ($300 per service) and the seven-year $2100. Skoda says the seven-year pack equates to the first three services being free, which suggests a pretty sizeable uptick in service costs after the fifth one.

The seven-year pack has another handy benefit of kicking in another two years of warranty coverage to match the service plan. Service intervals arrive every 12 months or 15,000km, while the extra warranty coverage is unlimited kilometres.

So if you plan on keeping your car that long, you’re in good shape and if not, it’s transferable to the next owner. Servicing at Skoda also keeps your complimentary roadside assist going.

Another option is a service subscription, which charges you like a Netflix plan to spread out the cost of your servicing and some extra maintenance.

There’s a tiered structure for the number of kilometres you cover (15,000km-40,000km every 12 months) with pricing ranging from $69 per month for the Essential Plan and $99 per month for the Complete Plan, right up to $92 or $264 per month for the massively high miler.

These plans cover things like replacing brake discs, pads, wiper blades, that sort of thing. The Complete plan even covers tyres, hence the big jump in price.

The advantage of the subscription plan over the pre-paid is that, well, you don’t have to pre-pay it.

VERDICT

The idea of a $42,990 (yes, drive-away) small SUV initially had me ready to lay in with “this car is way too expensive” but given just how loaded with gear it is, I can’t really say that.

I can’t say anyone is going to be smashing their way into a Skoda dealer to demand one, so it feels like a slow-burn rather than Kia’s steel-wheeled Seltos base model that nearly caused a riot on its release.

It’s a shrewd move, really. It has more stuff than T-Cross and a better driveline than the upper-end Hyundai Kona or Kia Seltos, which only justify their price tags against the Skoda with all-wheel drive to go with the ho-hum engine and transmission combination.

And they’re also a class above yet, especially in the case of the Kona, not that much roomier. The Audi Q2 is now a $50K proposition but with less standard kit.

Puzzling as it was at first, the Kamiq makes a lot of sense for someone chasing something a bit different, a lot clever and with a specification level justifying the hefty price.

I really can’t see why people think those dodgy old jokes apply anymore.

2022 Skoda Kamiq Signature specifications