The Kamiq also drives really well. In our short time together so far, it has proved to be both a solid motorway hauler and a nippy around-town runabout. That’s thanks in part to its pedigree: it may be relatively new, but as it sits on the Volkswagen Group’s
incredibly versatile MQB platform, it shares the same underpinnings as cars ranging from the Audi A1 to the Volkswagen T-Cross.
It’s a deceptively big car, too. At 4241mm long, 1793mm wide and 1562mm tall, it’s no bigger than the Nissan Juke but offers 400 litres of seats-up boot space – enough to fit, as I’ve already discovered, a lot of sports gear and a cockapoo. Plus you get generous rear leg room and practical touches such as bag hooks, deep storage bins and an actual bin.
That practical approach manifests in the Kamiq’s usability, too, with a host of physical buttons and switches for key controls such as cabin temperature. A proper volume switch, rather than a non-haptic touchpoint on the 9.2in infotainment screen, feels an oversight.
There is, though, a roller on the steering wheel. Additional plus points come from wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, which means no more cable faffing.
A divisive quirk is the seating position: compared with similarly sized rivals, you sit low to the floor, giving it more of a hatchback feel on the move. I really like that, but my partner, who drives a crossover, isn’t a fan. You can pump up the seat, but the layout doesn’t suit it.
