- Doors and Seats
5 doors, 5 seats
- Engine
1.4T, 4 cyl.
- Engine Power
110kW, 250Nm
- Fuel
Petrol (95) 6.6L/100KM
- Manufacturer
FWD
- Transmission
Auto
- Warranty
7 Yr, Unltd KMs
- Ancap Safety
5/5 star (2017)
2023 Skoda Karoq Style 110TSI review
Skoda’s not-quite-but-very-nearly mid-sizer has a curious approach to pricing but lots of compelling reasons to buy in. Peter Anderson runs the numbers.
- Flexible seating layout
- Compact footprint, but plenty of space
- Makes the most of modest engine outputs
- Some safety equipment on the options list
- Middle rear seat less accommodating
- Optioned-up price sits too close to more powerful Sportline model
2023 Skoda Karoq Style 110TSI
Skoda’s Karoq has had a tough few years. The facelifted car was six months late owing to, well, you know, and then had to stomach a hefty price rise into the bargain. Then the supply situation strangled sales a little while things sorted themselves out.
It’s a slightly weird car – Skoda says it’s the medium SUV of its range, but its exterior dimensions are barely longer than the small SUV Kia Seltos and it’s even shorter than Mazda’s CX-30. Added to that there’s no real 'entry-level' car because the specification looks like a mid-ranger rather than a bargain basement, but that’s definitely a thing Skoda (and parent VW) does because, as it turns out, nobody buys them.
We spent a week in a Premium Pack-equipped Skoda Karoq Style 110TSI.
How much does the Skoda Karoq cost in Australia?
The Skoda Karoq Style 110TSI is currently advertised at $43,990 drive-away. Our test vehicle wears extra-cost Graphite Grey Metallic paintwork priced at $770.
There are two options packs available as well as a couple of individual pieces. The Premium Pack – a hefty $10,900 – includes Matrix LED headlights, surround-view camera, leather seating, parking assist, lane assist, powered front seats with memory, heated front and rear seats, side mirrors with memory function and auto-dimming, interior ambient lighting, 9.2-inch Columbus media and sat-nav screen, and DSG paddles.
It’s kind of annoying that the safety gear isn’t standard, but here we are. The leather is – obviously – a matter of personal preference, the heated rear seats are a nice touch, but it would also be nice if the Matrix LEDs were standalone options.
This brings me to the Tech Pack, which includes the Matrix LEDs, surround-view camera, 9.2-inch Columbus media and sat-nav screen, parking assist, lane assist, and ambient interior lighting for a more palatable $5900.
Side assist with rear traffic alert (should probably also be standard at this price) is $1250, a panoramic sunroof is $1900 and side steps $1200.
Annoyingly – or perhaps deliberately – a Sportline with its cheaper Premium Pack retails for barely more than a specced-up Style. And that’s with all-wheel drive and a more powerful 2.0-litre engine. So if you want a Style with the Premium Pack, it's probably worth pricing up the Sportline.
The as-tested price of our Skoda Karoq Style 110TSI with Graphite Grey Metallic paint and the Premium Pack is $55,660 drive-away.
Key details | 2023 Skoda Karoq Style 110TSI |
Price | $43,990 drive-away |
Colour of test car | Graphite Grey Metallic |
Options | Premium Pack – $10,900 - Matrix LED headlights - Surround-view camera - Leather seats - Parking assist - Lane assist - Powered and heated front seats with memory - Heated rear seats - Side mirrors with memory function, auto-dimming - Interior ambient lighting - 9.2-inch Columbus media system - DSG paddles Metallic paint – $770 |
Price as tested | $55,660 drive-away |
Drive-away price | $55,660 |
Rivals | Nissan Qashqai | Kia Seltos | Hyundai Kona |
How much space does the Skoda Karoq have inside?
The Karoq, being a Skoda, appears to straddle the segments the rest of the VW Group product seems to stick within. The Karoq is bigger than a T-Roc (although doesn’t look it) but smaller than the Tiguan. It’s more closely related to the larger Tiguan and is closer in interior dimensions. As ever in a Skoda, the interior is as big as possible and full of practical features.
Front seat passengers score the usual and welcome storage, such as a pair of cupholders, a spot for your phone under the climate controls, bottle holders in the doors, and even a lidded dash top compartment. The seats, which are part of the Premium Pack, look great and are very comfortable, even holding you in if you get a little too enthusiastic in the twisty stuff.
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Moving to the rear you’ll find plenty of leg room for folks up to and even over 180cm, and the seats slide back and forth as part of the VarioFlex seating system. Head room is also excellent – the boxy vibe of the exterior certainly translates to more space inside. You get air vents to keep you cool and in this optioned-up version there are heated outboard seats.
The middle seat won’t be a barrel of laughs for anyone over about 140cm as the centre console intrudes into shin space. Also, there’s no armrest so the cupholders are set in the back of the seat that folds down.
The VarioFlex seating system in the rear is only available in the Style as the Sportline’s all-wheel-drive gear takes away the space it needs. While not quite Honda’s Magic Seats, they’re very clever in that each section can recline individually or you can hoof them out individually to make a lot more space.
One trick is to remove the middle rear seat and slide the outboard seats slightly inboard to make a bit more room while storing, say, skis or a surfboard between the seats.
Its boot is massive, starting at 588 litres and expanding to a whopping 1810L with the seats out of the way. The Karoq also comes with a series of nets for tying things down, as well as a boot floor you can remove and flip over to stop the carpet being ruined. Those nets are handy given you have to fold down the middle seat to use the cupholders and armrest for rear seat passengers.
2023 Skoda Karoq Style 110TSI | |
Seats | Five |
Boot volume | 588L seats up 1810L seats folded |
Length | 4390mm |
Width | 1841mm |
Height | 1603mm |
Wheelbase | 2638mm |
Does the Skoda Karoq have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto?
Standard fitment in the in the Karoq range is an 8.0-inch infotainment system with eight speakers, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, plus Bluetooth. The Premium Pack fitted to this car sees the screen bumped up to a 9.2-inch unit and adds satellite navigation.
The screen itself responds quickly to inputs and features ‘gesture control’, where an approaching hand can expand on-screen menus for a cleaner look when dormant, but added functionality when required.
A wireless smartphone charging can be found ben death the centre stack, while additional power is provided via two USB-C plugs in the front, while the second row features a single 12V plug.
Skoda’s 10.25-inch digital driver offers a range of display options, including mapping, and continues to lead the pack in terms of ease of use and customisation.
Is the Skoda Karoq a safe car?
The Skoda’s five-star safety rating dates back to before the car’s introduction in 2018 and will expire in December according to ANCAP’s recently introduced rules. The test itself was run by Euro NCAP with which ANCAP has an agreement, hence the datestamp coming before the car's on-sale date.
The Karoq scored well in adult occupant protection at 93 per cent, while child occupant protection (79 per cent) and pedestrian protection (78 per cent) fell into the 70s. Its safety assist score of 58 per cent is based on the specification at the time, but given blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert and lane assist are all options, that’s probably reflective of how things are today.
2023 Skoda Karoq Style 110TSI | |
ANCAP rating | Five stars (tested 2017) |
Safety report | Link to ANCAP report |
What safety technology does the Skoda Karoq have?
The Karoq arrives with seven airbags, the usual traction and stability controls, forward AEB, reversing camera, lane-departure warning, and front and rear parking sensors.
As I’ve already mentioned, if you want rear cross-traffic alert, lane assist or more cameras, you’ve got to pony up either for the Premium Pack or the Sportline. I’m a particularly loud and obnoxious proponent of rear cross-traffic alert being standard on everything, because it’s great at preventing stupid little accidents in car parks and out of driveways.
How much does the Skoda Karoq cost to maintain?
Skoda offers a seven-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty across the range.
Servicing is every 12 months/15,000km, and you can pre-pay your servicing for either five or seven years. If you go for five at $1850, your average is $370 per year and for seven years it’s $400 per year at $2800. This is pretty much line ball with Korean and German rivals, whereas prominent Japanese rivals (Mazda excepted) will charge significantly less for at least five years. It’s anyone’s guess what happens after the fixed-price period ends on the Corolla Cross and Honda HR-V.
Insurance came out at $985.95 per year based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.
At a glance | 2023 Skoda Karoq Style 110TSI |
Warranty | Seven years, unlimited km |
Service intervals | 12 months or 15,000km |
Servicing costs | $1850 (5 years) $2800 (7 years) |
Is the Skoda Karoq fuel-efficient?
In a week of suburban and urban pushing and shoving, as well as a moderately fun morning in some twisties with a dull highway run in between, the Karoq got commendably close to its official figure of 6.6 litres per 100 kilometres, missing by just half a litre. Which isn’t really a miss given 30 per cent isn’t unusual when you’re talking about ADR figures.
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Fuel Useage | Fuel Stats |
Fuel cons. (claimed) | 6.6L/100km |
Fuel cons. (on test) | 7.1L/100km |
Fuel type | 95-octane premium unleaded |
Fuel tank size | 50L |
What is the Skoda Karoq like to drive?
The numbers on the Karoq 110TSI aren’t immediately promising. A 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbo engine with just 110kW doesn’t feel like a lot, and if we’re being honest with each other, it’s not. Especially when you take into account its relative chunkiness at 1510kg.
Its secret, at least in the get-up-and-go department, is the eight-speed automatic. As favoured by BMW, the Aisin transmission is unexpected in a VW Group product with the company often choosing the six- or seven-speed twin-clutch. The eight-speed is a smooth transmission, and with that extra gear or two it means there’s a bit more scope to get things moving, while also having the space for a long gear to save fuel.
The Karoq doesn’t feature a variety of drive modes, but you can select sport mode by tugging the shifter back once it’s in drive. It doesn’t make a heck of a lot of difference, and I found it perfectly agreeable in stock-standard drive. It’s not going to set the world on fire, but with its modest power and torque figures it gets along pretty well. Well enough, in fact, to chirp the front tyres a little more often than is strictly necessary.
Once you’re on the move, you’ll notice a lovely ride quality that evades some of its obvious competitors. The Style gets by with a torsion beam rear suspension (like most of those rivals), but the higher-profile tyres knock the edges off the bumps before they reach your backside. Well, most of them anyway.
The steering is quite positive, too, if feeling a little light and artificial. But as the Karoq is likely to be a city-bound SUV, that’s no bad thing for the commuting grind.
If you do point it down a winding road, the Karoq is an amusing car to thread through the bends. You’ll want to keep up the momentum as 250Nm will only go so far, but the grip on offer and the impressive body control mean that you and brave passengers will enjoy some fun without shredding your licence. I know that’s not a primary concern for a lot of people, but it is a nice bonus for a reasonably big SUV.
Wind and road noise are quite well suppressed, and it’s one of the quieter cabins in its class. So while the numbers aren’t there and the price can be a little hard to wear, you can see where the money has gone.
Key details | 2023 Skoda Karoq Style 110TSI |
Engine | 1.4-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol |
Power | 110kW @ 6000rpm |
Torque | 250Nm @ 1500–3500rpm |
Drive type | Front-wheel drive |
Transmission | 8-speed torque converter automatic |
Power-to-weight ratio | 72.8kW/t |
Weight (tare) | 1510kg |
Spare tyre type | Space-saver |
Tow rating | 1500kg braked 690kg unbraked |
Turning circle | 10.2m |
Should I buy a Skoda Karoq?
One of the things I like about the Karoq is that it fits a lot of interior space into a relatively small footprint. It's a good 13 or so centimetres shorter than a Tiguan, but it barely gives up any interior volume, just a bit here and a bit there. That’s pretty good going, and will work for buyers with tight parking spaces to deal with where a traditional mid-sizer might be marginal.
The glaring weirdness of the pricing does need careful consideration, however, as the price of the Sportline with a similar tech spec, as well as more power and torque from its 2.0-litre engine, is pretty compelling. Assuming, of course, you want all that gear.
In its basic form it’s reasonably pricey, but it does have a long warranty, sensible cost of ownership, and a pretty thrifty drivetrain. And it’s very well made, drives nicely and – once again – is incredibly roomy for four adults and their stuff.
How do I buy a Skoda Karoq – next steps?
I would very much suggest a close comparison of the Sportline if you want to add the Premium Pack to the Style. It just seems like a no-brainer if you can stretch a few more bucks to get the Sportline with its Premium Pack instead. The base-model Style is a trickier sell given it misses out on a few important safety items and is more than matched by its rivals for similar money.
If you go for a test drive – which you can book through the Skoda website – it’s well worth the effort to sit in and poke around in the different variants to ensure the one you buy is comfortable enough for you. It’s unusual for a car’s spec to differ so widely based on option packs, so it’s worth doing your homework.
According to the Skoda website’s stock search, there are plenty of Karoqs to go around and in various colours and specifications, so chasing one down shouldn’t be too difficult. The Karoq was tricky to get for a while but supply appears to have loosened up, with plenty in stock with the Premium Pack and more on the way. You can also check out drive.com.au/cars-for-sale.
If you want to stay updated with everything that's happened to this car since our review, you'll find all the latest news here.