The car’s entry-level 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine has strong torque and is pretty drivable and reasonably refined, although it doesn’t raise eyebrows for outright performance.
It has a more flexible and slightly roomier interior with sliding back seats it has a surprisingly classy level of perceived quality, with plenty of ritzy in-car tech to drive up the richness of the ambience and it has a much broader engine range, which increases your chances of finding just the right car to suit your needs.įine styling and great value have been Captur strong suits since the first-gen car, of course, as they remain now. The second-generation Renault Captur edges out its Alliance partner sibling, the Nissan Juke, here for several reasons. Save money with new Arona deals from What Car?
In a class pitched for style, convenience and practicality, the Arona offers more than most of its rivals, with slightly higher pricing than the class average offset by top-notch infotainment and solidity of tactile feel. The car has strong refinement and drivability and a fairly broad range of engines, although there's no diesel option, which you might find in other cars in this class. The Arona’s interior is a little bit staid and its handling more bland than that of Seat’s other sportier-than-the-norm models, but it’s better than some rivals. Now, albeit only in comparison to the T-Cross, its interior doesn’t seem quite as accommodating as it once did, and its driving experience isn’t quite as well rounded. The Seat Arona beat the related T-Cross to the UK market by a year and was our top pick of the class for a while. Corners are taken with surprising handling accuracy and poise, while the car’s damping is particularly fluent and skilfully tuned if you avoid the sportiest trims.Īlthough cabin space and perceived quality are hardly class-leading, the car comes with some neat storage solutions, the cleverest of which is a hosable underfloor storage area for dirty boots and wet clothes called the Mega Box. It shares its model platform with the current Fiesta supermini – and shares plenty of its vital, engaging dynamic character with that sibling model, too. The Puma line-up has a trio of 1.0-litre turbocharged petrol engines, with 48V hybrid technology enabling the top-level version to produce up to 125bhp.
Crossover vehicles driver#
The Puma certainly raises the temperature of that water now, though, since it brings plenty of the driver appeal for which its maker is known to a part of the market that badly needed some. Save money with new T-Cross deals from What Car?įord has been slow to hop into the warm and inviting water of the compact crossover class, having so far ventured only the disappointing Ecosport (which didn’t make much of a dent, for reasons that will have been apparent to anyone who drove one).
So overall, while perceived cabin quality isn’t quite as good as you might expect from Volkswagen, the T-Cross is easily good enough to be our class-leading recommendation. Practicality is very good for such a compact car, a standard-fit sliding rear bench adding versatility when you need to carry bulkier items. Refinement is good, economy likewise (both cars are well capable of 50mpg on a longer out-of-town trip) and ride and handling are nicely resolved, with a sense of pragmatic compliance and low-speed cushioning to the ride that should endear the car to owners.
Crossover vehicles manual#
We’ve driven both 94bhp and 113bhp tunes of the 1.0-litre TSI and, while the 113bhp model is a little bit faster and more drivable (thanks in no small part to having an extra cog in its manual gearbox than the 94bhp model), neither version feels slow. The engine range consists of a pair of 1.0-litre turbocharged three-pot petrols and a 1.5-litre turbo four-pot with 148bhp. Sitting right in the middle of the class on size and price, the T-Cross rises higher than some of its rivals, and has more SUV-typical styling than others. Volkswagen has watched and waited as its rivals have rushed to cash in on the popularity of cars like this – and the firm’s first compact crossover, the T-Cross, feels very much like the sort of car that’s been judged and executed with care.