Thanks for watching! A few title corrections (when you have 100s of titles sometimes you’ll make a typo or two - but these didn’t make a difference in the analysis): Fuel economy should read Kona 6.9, Venue 7.1, Seltos 7.4, Stonic 5.4. Then the annual fuel spend adds up properly!
This mega test came across as a whirlwind of compressed info. Really appreciate the work that went into it. Maybe the pace could be slowed just a tad, and the transition between different vehicles and presenters caught me out a few times. The conclusion is hard to fault, I’d be happy with the Skoda Kamiq, but intrigued by the BYD Atto3.
Skoda make fantastic cars, so their win in this comparison doesn’t surprise me. The Karoq Sportline is my favourite, and is the car I own. Sure EV’s and the BYD Atto are fantastic, but try living in a regional City as I do, distances, range and charging are incredible problems outside Australian cities and for Australia to succeed in introducing EV’s the installation of charging stations throughout regional Australia must expand and allow us, who live regionally, to be able to charge and safely travel the distances we need to in everyday life.
In Australia the Ford service is terrible and disrespectful. I personally paid $380 for a service on my Ford Focus and when I got home I found they hadn't even changed the oil. Never been back to a Ford service centre since and never will.
If the alternative Continental tyres had been fitted to the Atto 3, I think it would have won. The problem is that the Continental Tyres are a lot more expensive than the Atlas Batman tyres that come as standard, but I can say from 1st hand experience the Continental UC6 tyres (with are 20mm wider) make a lot of difference to the handling of the car, especially close to the limit and in the wet.
The Continentals might have helped its case a bit more, but dry grip on the Atlas tyres actually wasn't that bad (as demonstrated in the video). Wet grip was average but we still did a number of laps around the track in very wet weather and noticed the ESC system worked reasonably well to compensate.
Bit of a challenge to have the only EV which also comes from a brand very unfamiliar in the Australian market as the winner. Even if the car is technically the best, which I suspect it probably is especially considering real price with incentives and equipment levels, 2nd place still makes sense.
I own an Atto 3 and it's genuinely brilliant to live with. I do have better tires (Standard here in Israel), and it's a big deal for laying all that torque on the ground, so if you get that no brand rubber in Australia I strongly recommend to invest a little bit more and upgrade the tires.
This was really interesting, it was most shocking how poor their braking and handling was. Would you guys be doing something similar for the premium segment, kind of the Lexus UX, BMW X1, Audi Q3, etc? Would be interesting to see if the extra cash fixes some of those serious concerns. Would also certainly be interested in seeing the differences between these and the hatchbacks they are often related to.
Wow, so useful for someone looking for a new car. It's so difficult to cut through the advertising and get some meaningful real world comparisons out there. Great job!
We love our Skoda Signature which we’ve had since Dec 21. It never ceases to surprise, luxury, performance, economy, space, it’s got it all, and the 1.5 turbo just makes it that little bit more fun. This is our second Skoda and more than likely won’t be our last.
On the other side, what about reliability? I feel that often these comparisons lack information on longevity of transmissions, engines and electronics. This information is so critical. How are they after the warranty is over?
I've just returned from a holiday in NZ and had the pleasure of renting a Skoda Kodiak for a week or so and was hugely impressed at how good it also is. It has heated leather seats and steering wheel, two features i've never seen on a hire car before, along with truly everything you would ever need. Spanish division Cupra and Skoda are both kicking well above the weight of their VW parent these days and are are offering better value IMHO.
I rode the Corolla Cross Hybrid and the Mazda Cx30 on the same day and no way that the Corolla Cross handles better. The Corolla is also quite loud-tyre and wind noise, mucb louder then the CX30
Change the tires on the Mazda to a 235/50R18 V and you’ll definitely see a difference in handling. stock 215/55R18 H are not a great selection for performance.
I agree! I've had my Kamiq for 2 years Limited edition 110tsi. It's the best car. Still loving it. My warranty is only 5 yr so in 2026 I'll upgrade to the new 7 year warranty car. Also I got the first edition so it came with 5 years free servicing. What's not to love!❤❤❤
Hi We have a Mazda CX30 in the UK it is the GT sport with a 2 ltr none turbo engine this gives a 0-60 in 806 seconds and an average 42 mpg The build quality is excellent and it drives very well indeed I have tried the swerve test in the UK and we had no problems at all but we do have a smaller engine up front The rear is on the small size but if you have a young family you will have no problems (We don't have any kids to lug around) We have all the safety kit you could ever need and you just use your thumb (with adaptive cruise) to drive around town Out on open roads the CX30 is good and very comfortable on long journeys in the UK you pay £ 32000 for our trim level and that includes a six speed auto box which never hunts for gears Over all I would recommend the CX30 to anyone without a second thought and the only car we have owned (27 cars later) our Mercedes C Class had a smoother ride but not as much tech as the Mazda CX30 Go on buy a CX30 you won't regret it Bear Kingston upon Hull UK
Excellent review. Love the Škodas they are a fantastic car. Have a Karoq Sportline and would love to own another! These small-mid sized Škoda SUVs are really fun to drive.
Hello, what model is the CX 30? I have a skyactive x, allwhell drive and a Skoda Octavia. Mazda kicks Skoda on all acounts except interior space and boot space.
Excellent work, however when showing the results of each test I think it would’ve been easier to read if they were sorted from best to worst rather than alphabetical order. Also when calculating the fuel costs you used a 20c/L premium for 95, but at most servos the premium is only 12 cents.
Great mega test. Just wanted to correct you on a few things that I noticed, firstly I've never seen a public fast charger that costs more than 30 cents per KW and secondly you said that the BYD Atto 3 doesn't have Apple CarPlay it certainly does. Android Auto is going to be an over the air update at the end of May 👌
I wanted to order the hrv, looks great, has magic rear seats, beautiful interior, great handling but is so underpowered, Honda would sell a lot more if they added a turbo. I will probably go with a t-roc R
Surely they could have loaded the 1.5 litre turbo? HA just gets greedier and greedier. Is this the ghost of Collins still at work? Underpowered, 4 seats and the Honda warranty that isn't a warranty make a compelling case for Honda's continuing fall to irrelevance.
Id personally take the new generation Subaru Crosstrek. The waiting list for the Corolla Cross Hybrid is ridiculous here in the States 🇺🇲 . Well done comparison, gentlemen!!
We are loving our Kamiq. We test drove it against a number of the competitors in your line up and we came to the same conclusions which surprised me as I really didn’t consider it as a contender before we started the process. We ended up with the 1.5 Signature which adds to the sporting feel of the car. So far so good.
@@jjwoody6532 Amazing. You grew up insulting strangers, did you? Karma can be a bitch, just saying. :) Trust an old German who has been in this industry for ages. It might be a Czech brand, but it still is a German design (technically nearly identical with VW T-cross/ SEAT Arona due to the Plattform MQB A0 (Polo), unless you bought the very new Tiguan build) and German management (like Porsch). So motor issues and failures in a few years are a feature, not a disadvantage. I wonder how it came to be that even in the 21st century Skoda built over 1 Million Diesel with manipulated software right under the nose of the consumer. Btw, does your 1.5 also have acceleration issues like the Arona/T Cross?
perfect timing, we have been researching small suv's for the past few weeks and still undecided which one we want, we currently drive a vw golf and love it but its now 8 years old so want to trade it in and get a small or compact suv , theres so many out there we really dont know which one we want, so far some of our faves are the vw t roc, toyota corolla cross or hyundai kona
I have a Kamiq (Signature variant, more expensive than this Style version but has leather, 1.5 Lites turbo, panaramic roof, etc) . Definitely recommend test driving Kamiq!
First thing, what is wrong with the interior designs. They all look lazy as they just plopped on a tablet to the dash and called it good. (most of them anyway) Second thing, the big lie of calling these CUV's. The auto industry has fooled us with these cars. They are just a new version of the old station wagons we used to have but they sit a little taller.
In Europe Skodas are in service of Police forces, Taxis and Ambulances, even NZ Police picked up Skoda to supply cars for them as well the British Police.
have a Puma ST-Line V and its such an amazing car. Very premium, sporty, lots of features and we average 4.7L/100km, best being 4.4L/100km, over 1000km on that tank!
I have also placed an order for a Ford Puma. That car has triumphant reviews, has been in the market for three years and has many happy owners and is more beautiful and affordable than most competitors.
Congratulations with this phenomenal Small SUVs test. It will be a video that I will be referring to many times in the future. There is lots of fantastic information. Thanks for doing the acceleration tests (wasn't expecting the Honda HR-V to be the slowest). Whilst the braking test was an eye opener with the Yaris Cross being 44.36 metres. Well done to the Skoda Kamiq with coming first. The big surprise (in a good way) is with the Hyundai Venue obtaining an Honourable Mention, earning it a gold star. Just out of interest, the 2023 Elite model of the Venue now comes with Hyundai Bluelink. Keep up the work. Cheers. :)
Another great review. I agree with the outcome that was arrived at. However, I have to say that the driver of the Skoda Karoq made a mistake when he said the 1.4 turbo has a DSG, it's an 8 speed torque converter auto. Thanks.
The Skoda Kamiq looks dated from inside & outside and doesn't come with an AWD option. Mazda CX-30, Kia Seltos and Toyota Corolla Cross would be my top 3.
If you are thinking about buying a new Seltos I'd suggest you hold off until they fix the overspeed warning - it's absolutely infuriating, and it is not a quick process to turn it off every time you start the car. Ridiculous feature that if I knew how bad it was I would not have bought the car. It will beep at you every time the speed limit changes. It will beep at you if you go over 40km/hr in a school zone outside of school hours. It will beep at you if you go over a crawl in a car park, and even then exit onto the road. INSANE.
Obviously a lot of hard work went into this, and to package so much information into 30 minutes is no mean feat. Well done Chasing Cars!! One minor thing I'd mention, you gave away the 2 drag race winners prior to showing us the drag races, so ruined a bit of the drama there!
I can see the appeal of Skoda, but the small dealership network is a bit annoying. I live in inner Sydney, and getting to the nearest Skoda dealer feels like a bit of a trek when Toyota, Kia, Hyundai et al are just around the corner From a practical point of view, IMO it still makes sense to go with the makes that sell the largest volume and have the biggest dealer network
I have a Corolla Cross Atmos AWD and I love it. Glad Cross did pretty well. Almost fasted and great fuel economy. Just wish there would have been a Skoda hybrid and boy I would have bought that
i have a corolla cross with 2.0 engine. i use extreme driving style to get 5.0L/100km, which is 47MPG. i never go over 100km/h, seldom let the engine go over 2500rpm when accelerating and hyper mill when ever possible. so l smile when i see the gas pump, and its a different kind of fun to squeeze for MPG.
@@daweigo6851 when you go from A to B and barely touch your brake, its a very relaxing way to drive. (compared to 95% of people who accelerate to a red light, do a hard brake, and then repeat) 😅
We have a 2 year old Kamiq limited edition, which I think is the signature now. Opted to take the fam in this car up to the blue mountains today, over our other larger suv, purely because this car is a pleasure to drive. Love the Kamiq
@@shadowmysticranger maybe a little but wouldn’t say I’ve noticed it being annoying - I mean it’s not as sound proof as a Audi, but neither is the price tag. I’ll often start driving and realise I forgot to put music on, so can’t be that bad.
@@framo_official yeah the little lane assist vibrate does catch me off guard on things like a dodgy road with a tar line over a crack, but it doesn’t make a audible noise, just a vibrate like you have run over something. Any downsides? Probably just the service network, there isn’t one particularly close to me. I guess the cost of buying a more of a niche brand. The other thing would be pot holes, in that wet year we had last year I became much more aware of how bad the roads can get - opposed to my other car with big wheels that just would glide over the same. The little kamiq sometimes felt I might disappear into some heading up to the northern beaches. I also did notice that torsion beam crash, particularly on short sharp speed humps. And probably last thing the front wheels do like to spin if your a little too enthusiastic, which took me a while to get used to from a AWD. I’m too old now to have dirty looks from pedestrians for a little tyre chirp. So again took a bit to get used to the power delivery.
Rule out all KIA and Hyundai given law suit. VW and Skoda maintenance costs, you are basically left with Toyota, Mazda, and Honda. Given the crap CVTs the Mazda CX3 wins as you can get a manual gear box. A winner all day long. close second Corolla Cross.
Fantastic job guys! what a great comparison. I'm from Malaysia. I hope someone from Malaysia have some effort to do comparison like this. Since car specs are different in each country.
I want a Vehicle that is not overtly complicated (Less Tech). The More bells and whistles a Automobile has, the more there is too go wrong and the less robust the Automobile can be. Is there a option with out a Infotainment Touch Screen? Also, I want an option that has a Key with a Keyed Ignition. The Absence of these Physical Security features and only having Electronic Locks and Ignition is not good. The Best Security is a multi leveled system. In addition, I want a Manual Parking Break and things like a Oil Dip Stick are things I want in a New Vehicle. I want Regular Buttons, Switches, and Knobs for the controls in my Vehicle. Being forced to Navigate through Menus in the Screen is distracting and dangerous. I have been looking for this. I have not found it. I have found my self being less and less interested in New Automobiles. If this is the Case I will not be purchasing a New Automobile at all. The Laws need to change. All the Saftey features in the World will not solve the problem of Not paying attention to what is going on around the vehicle. Better Driver training is what is needed.
Great test guys but after my Nephews experience with Skoda I could not buy one. Nor would I ever recommend one. They can offer a 100 year warranty and it wouldn't matter as they just won't fix it and there is no way around and no one to complain to. Unless you want to go to small claims. If you get a good one you are blessed and never have to experience what he went through.
Find a czech mechanic or some European mechanic who is living in Australia and you will never have any issue with Skoda, European mechanics are able to fix all skodas easily.
@@jeanvonbarberode2377 He went to a Volkswagen specialist who said it was a common fault with all gen 7 golf's also and mentioned the car was also not road worthy. Yet it was still under warranty and they would not fix it.
I would have loved to have seen what the MG ZS EV could have done in comparison to the BYD in these tests particularly. Would love to see you do the same test in a year or two with EV only using say a $55k pricing for these CUV formats.
In other comparisons I’ve seen the BYD has usually beaten the ZS EV. The Atto 3 is a much newer design, a dedicated EV platform, and has a nicer (if polarising) interior.
Was very curious to see how the Yaris Cross handling would be, but it seems to have been skipped in the edit. :( Would you guys mind still giving us the summary? Thanks!
Great mega test. I ordered a Kamiq earlier this year, due to arrive very soon, but I drove the Atto 3 last week and really loved it. I was really surprised that such an affordable EV performs so well all round. If I could cancel my Kamiq order without penalty I’d get the Atto instead. That’s unlikely though. I’m sure I’ll be happy with the Kamiq but I’ll always have a little bit of regret of not going with the Atto.
As we said, the Atto 3 is just lacking that last bit of polish - no doubt its second-generation will be absolutely excellent if it continues on its current trajectory. Still, second place is nothing to be sneezed at.
You'd be happy with the Atto 3. The cameras are great, it's comfortable and smooth. Depends if you're willing to pay the premium upfront for an EV and live with the need to charge on longer trips (it's not the huge problem some people make out but it does pay to plan ahead). The Atto 3 LR has a realistic range of 380 - 400kms (WLTP is 480kms). If you have any questions from someone who's lived with the Atto 3 for 6 months ask away. I also own a Model 3 RWD so I can give you a good EV perspective.
@@mondotv4216 Cheers. This would be mainly for me to commute to and from work, weekend trips are done with the family car so don't need to plan too much about charging.
@@Himmelblausyd Not a relevant question. I was never in the market for a petrol car and if it were an ICE vehicle it would lose all the advantages it has as an EV. Smoothness, quiet ride and effortless power - it would just be another small crossover SUV, probably with an underpowered engine and noisy. Test drive one and make your own mind up - no one can tell you what is right for you. If you'd settle for a slightly smaller car the new MG4 is very good - real driver's car from all reports. My last ICE car was a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV (so still ran on electric power a lot of the time). Great car that got even better with the new version but at $60 -70K it was getting a little pricey even though it's a much bigger car than the Atto 3.
The greatest comparison I have ever encountered with. In the end of 2024\start of 2025 I am about to buy a new car that will replace Mazda cx30. The Kamiq is top contender overall.
Good luck with your purchase plans. One thought I have is that reliability is a critical part of the ownership experience that is difficult for reviewers to assess in a comparison like this... Like most Volkswagens, the Skoda presents very well when new... however in the 2023 UK "What car?" owners survey, the Skoda Kamiq was ranked as the 3rd least reliable small SUV (it beat the Citroen Aircrews and the MG ZS). The most reliable small SUY's were the Suzuki Ignis, Mazda CX-3 and Hyundai Kona. Unfortunately, I cannot find an equivalent survey in Australia!
Given the long distances cars sometimes have to travel in Australia why no mention of a range test given the need to charge the ev and the lack of charging infrastructure against the other suv's .i would have thought this would be an important aspect in Australia.
Great test, thanks for all that work! Good timing, picking up my Corolla Cross hybrid tomorrow, glad it got the tick of approval! Was looking at the Atto but that quirky interior design let it down for me.
I'm looking to buy a new car in around 35-36k but still confused after watching so many cars and review videos. Has anybody got any ideas or suggestions?
Hooow can u have a fully electric car compete with a pararell hybrid car like the corolla cross??......i mean ofc the byd will win the its got no lagg since its electric
2 years ago I bought the Skoda Karoq because my wife liked it better over the Kamiq. The only problem of the Kamiq is that the towing is limited to 1200 kg. Sofar I drove 25k km with the smal problems. These were covered by the 2 year warranty. The car does 5,6 ltr. / 100 km with I think is very acceptable. I could buy the car at a very nice price. If I would have bought the car two years later it would have cost me € 8000,00 more!! (in the Netherlands) That might be the only reason I wouldn't buy this model again.
Watching the full video up to the point results were announced I thought BYD Atto 3 was the clear winner. Surprised it was second. It is modern and represents more of the car of the future. BTW now Android auto and Apple car play both are available with a highly responsive voice assistant. Built-in navigation is brilliant too.
@chasingcars, hats off for a great comparison. But it is an EV not gas guzzler. It is currently one of the cheapest EVs. Comparing for a life of 6 or 7 years it will be cheaper and pay off the extra cost you invest. Plus if you novate the purchase, it is lot cheaper or equal to a similar size ICE car. Then you get all the latest tech and the benefits of EV as a bonus.
@SrinathPerera1 Thanks. A few responses: - we wouldn’t call 5.0L/100km a gas guzzler. That’s definitely an unfair characterisation - even with incentives the BYD is $10K DA more expensive than the Kamiq - the Atto 3 is a good deal, but we can’t just ignore that it is, indeed, still ~25% more expensive to buy. That’s not small change - remember only ~20% of new car sales in this country are on novated lease; it is highly beneficial to choose an EV with that structure but we can’t ignore 80% of people don’t utilise it The BYD came second out of 18. After considering all factors, that was the appropriate decision in early 2023.
I’m actually really glad that it was included. I drove one last week and it’s a really nice car, and to date haven’t seen a direct comparison to other cars in this segment. The stand range version is just under $50k on the road and in NSW you get $3k cash back at the moment on EVs so that puts it at $47k for some buyers.
Consider the EV purchase incentive and radically lower running costs and it makes total sense for us to include the BYD - so we did! We don’t do sponsored content.
Given the $3k subsidy and lower running costs, inclusion of EVs is logical and forward thinking. In respect to the charge that the reviewers are being paid by BYD, I fell off my chair laughing, just how would a new Chinese company go about influencing all of these Aussie reviewers?!
If it was offered we wouldn’t take it, because we are proud of our independent reputation, being fully funded by Budget Direct insurance. We just call it as we see it.
I'm a long time subscriber of ur channel...in fact, ur reviews helped me to book Outback XT. As everyone knows that Chinese brands spend millions for their low quality products n the way ur reviewers went gaga over Byd rose my suspicion over the content 🤷
We bought the Atto 3 several weeks ago, we done several short trips and coming from a volvo I can tell you this thing is impressive, I had no intentions of buying a new car but this thing impressed me so much that I did, and am glad I did, only downside for our growing family was the slightly smallish 440l boot, roof racks & roof basket have solved our camping chair& gazebo issues, plus can add push bikes on top now. So quite, so comfy, charging at home, mix of solar and grid at maybe 22cents/kw. Love the power, 150kw/310nm at any speed......
I’ve had my Suzuki Vitara S for 7 years from new and still waiting for the first thing to go wrong. Last year I changed the tyres for the first time. That’s it ! P1sses through the MOT every year, annual service very reasonably priced, cheap to insure and run. Can’t fault it. Was thinking about changing soon purely because of its age, was looking at the Kamiq at our local Skoda dealership 2 weeks ago….
Recently I have taken my mum car shopping as she's looking for a new grand-child hauler as her current 2016 Mazda CX3 back seat is too small to accomodate the rear facing baby seat we have (with a passenger in the front). We test drove the top-spec Toyota Corolla Cross Hybrid and the top spec Subaru Crosstrek. We found the Toyota to feel quite lethargic off the mark around town, and felt the AWD capabilities were overstated/compromised. The Subaru felt a lot more punchy around town and had a more stable feeling ride to it. Overall, we felt the Subaru was a better, more comfortable car, with much more cabin space (legroom in both front and back rows) as well as a nicer more confidence inspiring ride/engine package. Take all reviews with a grain of salt and test drive as much as you can! We are off to test the Kia Seltos LTD AWD with the 1.6 turbo and the Hyundai Kona N-line with the same drive train soon, along with the CX-30.
@@shadowmysticranger a little bit I am always listening to something on radio etc. If I put the back seats down I can hear it more, but with them up no real issue. I always have stuff in boot which may muffle it a little I am on phone often through speakers and no worries there to hear and be heard.
