Ford Puma vs Renault Captur vs Skoda Kamiq How does Renault’s new small SUV fare against our reigning Car of the Year, the Ford Puma, and the capable Kamiq?
As a member of the small SUV club, the new Renault Captur’s rst job is to try to gain the upper hand over high-riding rivals from Ford and Skoda
THE PROBLEM WITH being at the top of your game is that there’s always someone trying to topple you. Take the Ford Puma. Despite winning our overall Car of the Year gong in January, there’s already a brand new Renault Captur gunning for it.
The original Captur was a smash hit, thanks to funky looks, a clever interior and keen pricing, and this second-generation version promises all of those attributes but with a bit more polish. We’ve got our hands on an entry-level TCE 100 in mid-rung Iconic trim, which costs well under £20,000.
Because of the Captur’s bargain price, we’ve lined up a Puma in
entry-level Titanium trim with the least powerful engine in the line-up: a 123bhp 1.0-litre petrol. With an asking price of just over £20,000, is it worth the extra?
Our final contender is the Skoda Kamiq, which has impressed us in match-ups against the Volkswagen T-cross and Kia Stonic. For the first time, it’s appearing here in 1.0 TSI 115 SE form, which could be the sweet spot of the range.
DRIVING Performance, ride, handling, re nement
Although it doesn’t have much less power on paper, the Captur is well off the pace here. Whereas the Kamiq and Puma can cover 0-60mph and 30-70mph in about 9.5sec, the Captur takes a full two seconds longer. That’s not good on a short motorway slip road with a car full of people. The Captur also has flat spots in its power delivery, where acceleration seems to tail off, only to increase again as engine revs rise further.
Special mention should go to the Puma’s mild hybrid technology. It can’t drive the car on electricity alone, but a small electric motor attached to the engine boosts low-rev urgency and improves fuel economy. That means the Puma pulls from as little as 1000rpm – 500rpm earlier than the Kamiq and nearly 1000rpm sooner than the Captur, so you have adequate acceleration from lower engine speeds. Changing gears is a joy in the Puma, too, while the Kamiq’s gearshift is also slick, but the Captur’s is long and a bit vague.
The Captur’s engine can’t match the Kamiq’s and Puma’s for refinement, either. The only downside to the Puma’s engine is that it sounds boomy when it’s asked to pull hard from low revs in a high gear, something the Kamiq avoids. Around town, the Puma’s automatic stop-start system works almost imperceptibly, thanks to the hybrid tech. The Kamiq fires up again smartly, too, but the Captur takes ages to wake up and is frustratingly easy to stall.
Overall, the Puma is the quietest at 70mph, with the least wind and road noise. You’ll notice more gustiness in the Kamiq, along with some slight engine noise, but the Captur suffers most from wind noise and there’s a bit of whine from the gearbox.
As for ride quality, the Kamiq is the most comfortable of our contenders on all types of roads. Its suspension is soft without being wallowy, and only particularly vicious ruts and bumps can be felt through your backside. The Captur somehow manages to feel >>
firmer than the Kamiq, fidgeting more over imperfect asphalt, even though it lollops around far more over undulating road surfaces. As a result, the Puma gets the silver medal for comfort, even though it has the firmest suspension here. That’s because it quickly recovers its composure after negotiating a bump, whereas the Captur wobbles around for a second or two after.
The Puma is also the best through corners, with plenty of grip balanced evenly front to rear, not much body lean and a real feeling of agility. Impresively, the firmer St-line models handle even more sharply with little impact on ride comfort.
The Kamiq leans a little more than the Puma but has plenty of grip and good balance, so it handles tidily. While the Puma’s steering gives you a slightly better sense of connection to the front tyres, the Kamiq’s is far better than the Captur’s, which is overly light and vague. The Captur also has the least front-end grip and the most lean, discouraging you from trying to drive it quickly.
BEHIND THE WHEEL Driving position, visibility, build quality
The Kamiq feels rather vertically challenged from behind the wheel, with the seat placing you barely any higher off the ground than you’d be in a regular hatchback. Jump into the Puma and you certainly sit higher, even with the seat in its lowest position, but it’s the Captur that feels the loftiest.
All of our contenders have steering wheels that adjust up and down as well as in and out, plus height-adjustable driver’s seats. Although the Puma and Kamiq come with adjustable lumbar support, this isn’t available at all in the Captur. All said, the Puma edges the Kamiq for the best driving position, with the Captur a distant third.
The Kamiq’s huge windows give it by far the best visibility. Factor in standard rear parking sensors and bright LED headlights (matched by the Captur) and it’s a clear winner here. The Puma and Captur suffer from windows that narrow towards the rear of the car and a much smaller rear screen. At least both have rear parking sensors as standard, while all three have the option of front sensors and a reversing camera.
In terms of quality, the Kamiq comes out on top, with lots of squishy plastics and a few attractive trims. Its interior is by no means flashy, but it’s solidly built and very grown-up.
The Captur looks far glitzier
INFOTAINMENT
Although the 8.0in touchscreen’s graphics look a bit crude, this is actually a pretty good system. Sat-nav plus Apple Carplay and Android Auto smartphone mirroring are standard, while the screen is mounted high, so you don’t have to look too far away from the road when you’re operating it. It’s responsive to inputs and has big icons that are easy to hit on the move. Physical shortcut buttons are handy, too.
INFOTAINMENT
Although you get a 9.3in screen on top-spec Capturs, Iconic trim makes do with a relatively small, 7.0in one.the graphics aren’t particularly sharp and it can be sluggish to respond to commands. Sat-nav, Apple Carplay and Android Auto are all standard, but there are no physical shortcut buttons, so jumping between functions is tricky on the move, not helped by some small icons.
INFOTAINMENT
Standard 8.0in touchscreen is the best of the bunch when it comes to usability, with big, clear icons, clear graphics and logical menus. Android Auto and Apple Carplay are standard – handy, because sat-nav isn’t, unless you upgrade to a 9.2in screen (£1230, combined with a digital instrument panel). Physical shortcut and volume buttons would be better than the touchsensitive ones, though.
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initially, especially with our test car’s optional orange interior pack (£350). Everything that’s orange and the top of the dashboard are squishy, but you’ll find plenty of hard plastics and a particularly floppy gearlever surround. It feels the cheapest interior here.
The Puma has just as many hard, scratchy plastics as the Captur, but Ford has been more cunning with their deployment. Only the top of the dashboard is soft-touch, but the expanse of padded cloth on the doors is perfectly placed for your arm to rest on and looks better than black plastic.
SPACE AND PRACTICALITY Front space, rear space, seating exibility, boot
The Captur feels the tightest up front. That’s because it has the least head and leg room and a high-mounted gearlever bisecting the interior. Even so, a six-footer will fit fine. The Puma has a little more head room and matches the Kamiq for maximum front leg room, but the Skoda has by far the most head room and feels airiest.
Move to the rear seats and the Kamiq is in a class of its own. It has enough leg and head room to shame some SUVS in the class above and it’s the best for accommodating three rear passengers. Our only slight gripe is that it has a tall, thin hump in the floor that can make climbing in and out awkward.
The Captur offers a little more rear leg room than the Puma, but even so, the Puma is the more comfortable of the two for those in the back, because even though the Captur has more head room on paper, the sides of the car curve in to meet the roof, so you’re more likely to bump the side of your head. That’s especially true if you try to squeeze three in the rear. Add in the Captur’s larger central floor hump and the Puma squeaks ahead in this area.
All three get regular 60/40 splitfolding rear seatbacks, although the Captur’s bench also slides fore and aft as one piece. Handily, this can be done from the boot or the rear seat area. The Kamiq is the only one without a standard height-adjustable boot floor, but at least it’s only £155 as an option.
What the Kamiq does have is a huge boot, which can swallow seven carry-on suitcases to the Captur’s six. The Kamiq also has handy hooks and cubbies to stop shopping and smaller objects from rolling around your boot. However, it’s the Puma that comes out on top, swallowing eight cases thanks to something Ford calls the Megabox. This sizeable >>