Spending a day with the Arona which I guess is like a Karoq.  Given that my daily driver is a Rapid (Toledo) it's an interesting comparison. On first getting in, the Arona seating position seems high to me but once adjusted its quite comfortable, although there is no lumbar adjustment and I may need just a little more support for my lower back. Drive away and it seems quite spritely. Without the figures to back it up this 1.0/95 seems to have more torque through its 5 gears than my 1.0/110 6 speed and its easier to make smooth gear changes. However I do find myself shoving the pedal to the floor to get the performance out of it. If I drove the Toledo like this I'd be travelling a lot faster on the straight - if not the corners. The Arona has handling and ride to spare on country B-roads whereas the Rapedo does not.  It feels very solid,  and the wider body feels roomy, definitely a 5 seater (regardless of the centre seat seat belt recall fiasco) where the Toledo only really seats 4. The controls are standard VW and familiar, and the 8 inch satnav is very clear, if a rather big and ugly unit with less logical control layouts than the older RNS & MIB units. Equipment levels are not bad for the price - DAB+NAV+WIreless charging coming with the Tech pack.  The car feels solidly built, much more so than the Rapid, it doesn't flex in corners and it's a clearly more modern and higher quality piece of kit.  Would I have one? Maybe not at RRP of £17.8k, but within 10 seconds searching on the net I already found one at £15.5 so discounts are available.  Although this SE is fairly cheaply trimmed inside it is probably the value for money leader of the range. SE Lux, FR and Xcellence trims all retail at 20-22k, before options, which for me is too much. If I could find a new SE nearer to 14k though I'd probably go for it.

On getting back in my own car it confirms my impression that the standard sound in the Arona is inferior to the one in the most recent Rapid/Toledo. So if I do go for an Arona the Beats Audio upgrade offered by SEAT would be a must.

 

Overall though it's clearly the best loaner / rental I've had this year beating about 10 different Honda Citroen Hyundai and Mini products.

Arona is not like a Karoq, 

The Ateca & Karoq are sister cars, even built by Skoda.

Edited 18 October, 20187 yr by Offski

Understood. Just found a smart prereg Arona FR 115 for 17k, Now that's tempting:

 

 

Edited 18 October, 20187 yr by camelspyyder

I had a loan of an early 1.0TSI DSG and it was quite nice, and i was driven in a 1.0TSI Manual and it was horrible.

Edited 18 October, 20187 yr by Offski

I often thought the 7 speed dsg would hide the torque shortcomings of the higher powered 1.0, seems like you've experienced just that. I was surprised how the manual 95 strikes a much better balance between power and torque and I must say I liked it.

Edited 18 October, 20187 yr by camelspyyder