Hi All,

 

I've been mainly viewing this forum as we're potentially looking at either a Kamiq or Karoq as my wife's first "good car" (she passed her test later in life and I've made her cut her teeth on an old 2007 VW Polo!)

I see there are quite a few 1L Karoq in the market. It just worries me with a relatively small engine on a relatively large vehicle.

Am I better off waiting for a 1.5 to appear with the spec and within budget? Or is it worth going to take a look at the 1.0? Don't' like wasting my time and don't like wasting dealership time

I've had 2 1.0 karoqs since 2018 and they have been brilliant for me. They are easy to drive in the city and on the motorway.

On holidays I have driven with 4 adults, a full boot and a full roof box and still had power to accelerate and overtake vehicles on the motorway.

I calculate that in 54 years of driving and owning over 20 cars, my 21 reg karoq is the best car I've had!!

The 1.0tsi when coupled to DSG box works brilliantly.

 

The free revving tsi engine can accelerate well, but can be rather hard work changing through the gears quickly to keep engine at sweet spot

 

However I would caveat that if you live in a very hilly area, or regularly load the car with lots of passengers or heavy goods then the bigger engine could be better choice.

Back in 2019, when my 1.5tsi kangarooing/dying Karoq was taken off the road by DVSA for a couple of months, I was loaned a 1.0 tsi Karoq by the dealer.  I only had use of it for a few days but, bearing in mind that I live in flattish East Anglia, and wasn't fully loaded, I couldn't tell the difference between the 1.5 and the 1.0. Considering the trouble that I had experienced with the 1.5, I seriously wondered if I had made the wrong decision in choosing it over the 1.0.

I feel the 1.0 actually feels nippier than the 1.5 untill you get to high speeds 

I'm driving daughter's old 1 litre manual SEAT Ateca at the moment.  It's nudging 90K miles and it drives amazingly well.

 

In manual form, it does have a lot of gears (6) but it's quite high geared and we live in a semi-rural area so don't need to use 5th and 6th much - there's quite a range available in each of the ower gears.

 

It's amazing economical - in trips where our Karoq would be doing high 30's MPG, the Ateca will be nudging 50.

 

Power-wise, it is what it is, if that makes sense.  I'd say it's perfectly adequate, but probably best to avoid iffy fast A road overtakes.

Edited 28 February, 20251 yr by Rory

I agree, fuel economy will be noticeably higher even without trying 

I miss our first Karoq with its 999cc engine and DSG box - it was brilliant for both, knocking about and longer journeys down to the Italian Lakes.

Our current 1.5 is ok but I don’t enjoy driving it as much as I did the smaller engined version.

Thank you all for the posts. She took the Auto Licence route, so it would be the DSG.

Cheers - I'll stop ruling it out and go see some.

It will have to be an early Auto as they stopped making DSG's about 2019 if I remember correctly

 

I was told I bought the last 1.0 DSG (SE Tech) to be delivered to UK, that was at the end of July 2019. Agree with most comments, a very nice car (if not perfect - what car is?) with plenty enough performance for me and CAR magazine noted it was the quietest of all the Karoqs they drove - engine is very quiet. From what some people have said in the past, it may not be any more economical than the 1.5, but it still has impressively low petrol consumption. I aim to keep mine as long as reliability holds out / petrol remains readily available / it remains viable in cities as regards emissions / or I'm still able to keep driving into increasing old age.

On 02/03/2025 at 16:57, Smokeyjoe said:

It will have to be an early Auto as they stopped making DSG's about 2019 if I remember correctly

 

Yer - seeing April/May registered 1.0 DSG - but nothing newer. Did Skoda ever say why they had stopped the DSG on that engine?

Good engine, but, as it starts to get hilly, like in Belgium with long steep climbs, it lacks power, even when kept in right gear. But as I live in the Netherlands, and just drive through Belgium 2 times a year heading to France: excellent car/engine combi. It does what it says on the package. Don’t expect more.

4 hours ago, Stoofa said:

Yer - seeing April/May registered 1.0 DSG - but nothing newer. Did Skoda ever say why they had stopped the DSG on that engine?

They do still offer it in other models, just not Karoq. When it was dropped they thinned down the drivetrain configurations quite a lot - quick look back says 12 versions dropped.

VW Group have been increasing dropping manuals recently.

I don't know, mine is quite good on hills, and it is quite hilly round here - one passenger I had last year commented on how torquey the engine seemed to be, as we were climbing one of the steep hills nearby. The only thing to say is that the 1.0 DSG seems to want to stay in as higher gear as possible, for as long as possible, but pulling the shifter into Sport position easily sorts that out. I find getting the engine a little above 2000rpm, then makes hills no problem, nor is overtaking, but I rarely drive flat out. Long hauls up steeper motorway inclines at 70mph and the car sails up very comfortably in 7th.

I do recall a few year ago driving over one of the steep passes in Derbyshire Peak District with my Aunt and a car full of shopping, powering round the many bends and quite enjoying the experience. My car is always half full with someone or something or other, but I must admit, I've never tried really steep hills with 5 up plus all their luggage, so then yes, a 1.5 or even 2.0 is likely desirable.

Haven't driven a 1.0 Karoq, but we are enjoying my wife's 1.0 Polo. The 110 HP engine. DSG too.

Can be wound up quite happily. But I guess the Polo has a better power to weight ratio than a Karoq.

Some of the owners above clearly get on well with a 1.0 Karoq, but I couldn't live with the lack of grunt once you fill the car.

You can only try one out to see if it meets your needs.

Edited 4 March, 20251 yr by BoxerBoy

I suppose it appeals to the modernist concept in me of doing more with less.