Brothers in arms
Seat’s Ateca has been so successful that af liated brand Skoda has borrowed the design for the new Karoq. Is our favourite small SUV about to be usurped?
UNLESS YOU’VE BEEN hibernating these past few weeks, you’ll doubtless have seen news of another Catalan revolution in the offing. We say ‘another’, because it was only last year that Barcelona-based Seat introduced the Ateca and revolutionised the SUV market, knocking our longterm class favourite, the Nissan Qashqai, off the top spot.
The Ateca is a class act. Which is exactly why Skoda – Seat’s more sensible Czech cousin – pinched the basic design as the footing for its new SUV, the Karoq.
Consequently, these two cars are similar in many ways. That said, the Ateca is set up in line with Seat’s sporty philosophy, while the Karoq is more biased towards comfort, with Skoda’s usual attention to practicality woven in, too.
DRIVING
Performance, ride, handling, re nement
One difference is their engines. While the Ateca uses the Volkswagen Group’s established 148bhp turbocharged 1.4-litre petrol unit, the Karoq has the company’s next-generation turbo 1.5. Although larger, it makes identical power and torque to the 1.4, so you’d presume there would be barely anything in it when it comes to performance.
Except that isn’t the case. The Ateca always feels a little more potent and pulls harder when you squeeze your right foot. As well as sounding wheezier past 4000rpm, the Karoq’s 1.5 motor feels less energetic from mid to high revs – a point proven in our acceleration tests; the Karoq sprinted from 0-60mph in 9.2sec, whereas the Ateca took just 8.4sec.
With both cars having optional seven-speed dual-clutch automatic gearboxes fitted, a knock-on effect of the Karoq’s less enthusiastic engine is that when you put your foot down, its gearbox tends to change down one or two more gears than the Ateca’s, forcing the engine to rev harder. On the move, both cars’ gearchanges are mostly slick and quick, but they can get a mite jerky in stop-start traffic.
We mentioned that the Karoq was designed with comfort in mind, and that’s how it pans out. The Ateca stays on the right side of comfortable but is firmer over ridges and potholes, particularly around town. The Karoq irons out such imperfections more adeptly, but the trade-off with squishier springs and dampers is more bounce over peaks and troughs.
Being softer also means you get more body lean through corners in the Karoq. Factor in its lighter, slower-geared steering and it’s the less agile car, but it’s still a tidyhandling car by SUV standards. The Ateca is downright sporty; this is a car that you can enjoy down a winding road, drawing confidence
from its tauter body control and emphatically more alert steering.
The Ateca is a little more refined, too. There’s less suspension noise around town and less background engine, tyre and road noise on motorways. That said, both cars can eat up the miles with ease.
BEHIND THE WHEEL Driving position, visibility, build quality
With near-identical design fundamentals, it comes as little surprise that the two cars feel similar from behind the wheel. Both offer terrific driving positions, with driver’s seat height and lumbar adjustment
as standard. The Koroq’s optional electrically adjustable seat (£950) doesn’t sink quite as low as the Ateca’s manually adjusted standard sports seat, but these points are small beer.
It’s also tough to split them in terms of build quality, because both feel robust. The Karoq’s more modern-looking dashboard includes extra soft-touch plastics around the centre console; the Ateca’s cloth-lined front door trims feel nicer than the Karoq’s hard plastic ones. But, all in all, the Karoq has the edge over the Ateca.
With their traditional lofty SUV driving positions, both cars are easy to see out of. Even where visibility isn’t quite so good around the rear quarters, reversing isn’t tricky, thanks to standard rear-view cameras and rear parking sensors. The Karoq has sensors at the front, too.
SPACE AND PRACTICALITY Front space, rear space, seating exibility, boot
Both of our test cars came with optional panoramic roofs, which limit head room in the front and even more so in the rear – particularly in the Karoq. It’s not quite to the degree that six-footers will have their heads jammed against the ceiling, but we’d recommend trying before buying.
No need to worry about leg room, though. There’s plenty in the front and rear of both. But high central tunnels running the length of their floors cramp things up for a rear middle-seat passenger.
Seating flexibility is an area of distinction. The Ateca’s 60/40 split-folding rear seats are unremarkable, while the Karoq, in this trim, has Skoda’s Varioflex seats. These are split into three individual chairs that slide back and forth, recline or can be removed entirely.
Even without removing those rear seats, it’s a win for the Karoq regarding boot space. Despite having a lower claimed minimum volume, being longer helped it swallow nine carry-on suitcases, without us sliding the rear seats forward. That said, the Ateca’s boot still managed eight cases.
The Ateca has handy levers next to the tailgate opening to fold down the rear seats and the option of a height-adjustable boot floor (£120). You can’t have either in the Karoq. It’s a shame, because a height-adjustable floor would level out the step up to the rear seats when they’re folded down.
BUYING & OWNING
Costs, equipment, reliability, safety and security
Although the Ateca has the higher list price, Seat dealers are willing to negotiate. With no discounts on the Karoq yet, the Ateca ends up the cheaper option if you’re buying outright. Yet most people will choose to buy on PCP finance, and this reverses the situation. Assuming a £2500 deposit, a 36-month term and 10,000 miles per year, the Karoq is £45 a month cheaper than the Ateca.
There’s little difference in benefit-in-kind tax. Over three years, the Ateca is just £36 a month cheaper than its sibling to lease.
Neither of these mid-level trims is stingy on standard equipment. The Ateca’s FR trim comes with niceties such as 18in alloy wheels, dual-zone climate control, LED headlights and privacy glass. The Karoq matches those and adds adaptive LED headlights, keyless entry and heated front seats.
Euro NCAP hasn’t appraised the Karoq yet but, being in effect an Ateca underneath with similar safety aids, including automatic emergency braking, it’s likely it’ll equal its sibling’s five-star score.
We’d consider adding the Advanced Comfort and Driving Pack Plus to the Ateca. For £995, this brings more safety aids, including blindspot warning and lane assist, plus neat features such as adaptive cruise control and a heated windscreen. A similar package costing £1200 is available for the Karoq.