Skoda Kamiq vs Citroen C3 Aircross

What's the difference?

The Kamiq's entry price is much higher than when Skoda Australia launched the small SUV, and it is missing key features - some of which are a result of the semiconductor crisis and beyond the company's control.

It also proved a little thirstier than expected too, but for the most part, the Kamiq is a solid pick.

It is one of the most enjoyable small SUVs, of any price, to drive, with sharp dynamics and a willing turbocharged engine.

A spacious-for-the-segment cabin and top-notch tech add to the Kamiq's appeal.

It's a good car, no question. Individuality is key to Citroen's brand appeal and you get that, too. A comfortable cabin, plush ride and hot damn, it's way too expensive, which is a crying shame. You could argue - as Citroen's product planners probably have - that it doesn't help to offer one in the mid-$20K mark because it won't make much money because so few people will buy it. Drop it at a premium, only lose a few opportunistic buyers but make more money per unit with committed fans? Why not, I guess?

Like most French cars, I'm glad it exists for weird French car fans like me to consider.

The Kamiq is something of a contradiction in that it is visually appealing, yet conservative at the same time.

The standard Candy White paint of our test car probably didn't help the staid vibe.

But, there are elements – such as the split headlights with a crystal-like pattern of the daytime running lights, and the well-crafted rear end – that set the Kamiq apart.

These features and the signature grille leave no doubt that you're driving a Skoda.

If you're after a more visually arresting Kamiq, check out the sporty looking Monte Carlo.

Inside, the design is again on the conservative European side. In fact, in Ambition grade at least, the Kamiq's cabin looks a little drab.

The cream headliner and a metal-look insert running the width of the dash breaks up the grey, and there are some interesting angles to the dash and door panels, but it all looks a bit generic.

As you might imagine, it's an individual design. Lots of Cactus cues, like the roof rails, bluff front end and stacked headlights Hyundai, uh, appropriated for the Kona. Curiously, no 'airbumps' along the side despite the C3 hatch having them...

The 17-inch wheels somehow look tiddly given the airspace over the wheels and I can report that black is not really this car's colour, even with the contrasting white roof and weird Mazda 121 Shades special edition venetian blind treatment on the quarter window. Bit of an '80s throwback there for you.

Lots more Cactus inside though, starting with the brilliant front seats, squared-off steering wheel and funky air vents. The little tray on top of the glove box is good, but it isn't rubber-lined, so that's annoying.

The Top Gun handbrake is hilarious but apart from the texturing of the fabric on the seats, it's a tad dark below the windowline. 

The cabin might look a little drab, but you'd be hard-pressed to fault the overall quality of the interior.

There are some hard plastics on the lower part of the dash but soft-touch materials on top. The Kamiq features a lovely flat-bottom, perforated leather steering wheel that feels nice to touch and has simple controls. However, the cruise control buttons are housed on a stalk on the left side of the steering column. It can be hard to see the controls on these secondary stalks which are often hidden behind the steering wheel and we don't know why carmakers insist on using them. Keep cruise controls on the steering wheel, please.

Tall folk will love the headroom in the Kamiq, and it's easy to find a good seating position but the front seats aren't super supportive. They could do with a little more thigh padding.

The Kamiq's design ensures it is one of the best models in its class when it comes to visibility; there's plenty of glass and narrow pillars, meaning no obvious blind spots.

It features a small but deep central storage bin, a decent glove box, good space for big bottles (1.5L bottles, according to Skoda) and more in the front doors.

The configurable ‘Virtual Cockpit' digital instrument cluster is hard to fault. Although the system asks to hit the ‘OK' button to reset the trip computer, we could not locate an OK button anywhere on the steering wheel.

The 8.0-inch multimedia system has a logical menu and it houses functions for the driver-assist features and other vehicle functions.

Annoyingly, the air conditioning controls are split between analogue switches and digital controls via the touchscreen. You can only adjust fan speed on the screen. Surely it makes more sense for this function to be either digital or analogue, not both?

There's a surprising amount of occupant space in the rear, with plenty of legroom behind my 183cm (six foot) frame, and acres of headroom.

As well as the two USB-C ports up front there's a further two in the rear, as well as lower air vents, map pockets, grab handles and coat hooks. Door storage is narrow and will only fit tiny bottles.

The rear seats fold 60/40 and there's no centre armrest.

At 400 litres (1395L with the rear seats folded), it's a decent-sized boot, but it can't match the Kia Seltos (468L).

Being a Skoda, it has handy touches like a storage nook on the side of the cargo area, rubber mats, hooks for a luggage net and a solid cargo blind for added security.

The Kamiq's 16-inch space-saver spare wheel is housed under the boot floor.

Even for a little car, the Aircross could do better. The lack of a proper cupholder provision for the car - a solitary spot at the rear of the centre console - is mildly baffling until you remember that this car is from France. The French hate a cupholder but, obviously, you can fit wine bottles in the doors.

It's worth repeating just how comfortable and supportive the front seats are on any given journey. Broad but supportive and somehow perfectly sprung, I would cheerfully rip out most other front seats and replace them with these.

The rear seats are less of these things and anyone who forces anyone to use the middle seat should be ashamed of themselves. The headroom is good back there, though.

The boot is a big one for the size of the car, swallowing 410 litres and expanding to 1289 litres with both rear seat sections folded.

A perennial Citroen problem is the price - at $32,990, the tiny SUV is doing battle with cars that are really a size up, coming in closer in size to the Venue than, say, the ASX.

That Yaris Hybrid price (we're all still reeling from that number) scores you a 17-inch alloys, a six-speaker stereo, climate control, front camera, reversing camera, keyless entry and start, front and rear parking sensors, cruise control, sat nav, halogen headlights (yep, you read that right), head-up display, leather wheel and shifter, auto parking, auto wipers and headlights, wireless charging pad and a space-saver spare.

The central touchscreen is annoying in that there are almost no hardware switches for functions like climate control. The software is a bit on the slow side, too, but you do get Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The stereo is fine.

As mentioned, the Kamiq is no longer offered with an entry-level 1.0-litre three-pot unit. Instead, all variants are powered by VW Group's 1.5-litre four-cylinder turbocharged petrol engine delivering 110kW of power at 6000rpm and 250Nm of torque at 1500-3500rpm.

The Kamiq is front-wheel drive only and the Ambition is available with a six-speed manual gearbox and the seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission offered as standard on all other grades.

One of the great engines in mass-produced road cars today has found its way under the bonnet of the Aircross. Peugeot-Citroen's 1.2-litre three-cylinder turbo is a cracking engine, serving up 81kW/205Nm through a six-speed Aisin-sourced auto to the front wheels.

While the 11.8-second dash to 100km/h is, uh, leisurely, the torque figure means that on the move it's not as sluggish as that number or its 1200kg kerb weight would suggest.

According to Skoda, the official combined fuel-use figure for the automatic Kamiq is 5.6 litres per 100 kilometres. The manual is more frugal at 4.9L.

After a week of mixed but mostly urban driving, we recorded 8.5L/100km in the Ambition. That's quite a difference from the official figure.

In terms of CO2 emissions, the figure is 128g/km.

Citroen claims a handy 6.6L/100km on the combined cycle and my week with the fizzy Frenchie included a trip over the hills and far away as well as a lot of suburban running. 

The digital display on the dashboard read 7.3L/100km, which isn't bad going without stop-start. It does require 95 RON premium fuel, though.

Prior to getting behind the wheel of the Kamiq Ambition, I was impressed by the former base Kamiq with the 1.0-litre engine, which I sampled shortly after it launched.

Now having driven the 1.5-litre version, I'm even more enamoured with the Kamiq.

It is quick off the mark, with the responsive 110kW engine providing a lot of urge. Previous-generation VW Group models with the brand's dual-clutch transmission (they call it a DSG) have a tendency to lag on take-off -  a combination of the jolty transmission and the turbocharger.

These days the lag is much more subtle and doesn't impact the responsiveness, certainly when it comes to the Kamiq. Even the idle-stop function lacks the delay found in older VW Group product.

There is a bit of low-speed jerkiness caused by the transmission, but it's not a deal-breaker.

The Kamiq is a star performer among its rivals when it comes to dynamics. as well as super-sharp steering - typical of Skoda and VW models - it impresses when cornering, planting itself thanks to a balanced chassis, well-calibrated traction control and good tyres.

Road manners on loose surfaces are also hard to fault, and the Kamiq's cabin is relatively well insulated from outside noise.

The Kamiq's ride is mostly settled, particularly on urban streets, but the low-profile tyres and slightly firm suspension tune mean you will feel potholes and speed bumps. But again, not to the point of being a deal-breaker.

French cars have a very specific audience in this country, which includes weirdos like me. I've owned Peugeots and Renaults and loved every second of it.

Top of my list after my darling baby boy wrote off our family car (which was bought for him to drive), the Cactus was close to the top of the list. This fandom isn't blind, though - I know what I'm getting myself into having to dispassionately assess their faults and foibles as well as their triumphs and tangible benefits.

If I'm being honest - and it's just you and I here - I didn't think I'd like the C3 Aircross, there was just something about its SUV pretensions. I can't say the looks grabbed me and the inexplicable exclusion of the airbumps made me irrationally cross.

But once you slip behind that square-ish wheel into the comfortable embrace of those excellent seats, you forget the aesthetics (which did grow on me, even in black). 

The 1.2 turbo is, as ever, eager to please and well-matched to the six-speed auto. The two work well together to get you moving, although the engine is the noisiest installation I can remember. In the Peugeot 308, it's virtually silent.

On the move, the lovely ride also impresses, soaking up the bumps (except those aggressive rubber speed humps in shopping centre car parks) while keeping body roll to an acceptable minimum.

It's perfectly fine in the suburbs, even with its limited power. Breaking into traffic can be a bit of a moment, but there are slower cars about.

Where the Aircross is really good is out on the freeway. It's quiet for such a small car and that torque figure makes joining the M4 freeway (west out of Sydney) fine, and it cheerfully kept up on the climb up the Blue Mountains and the brakes and transmission were great down the other side.

Citroen is unashamedly about comfort over handling, but the trade-off for the comfort is pretty good in that it still handles despite a plush ride and being up on stilts.

Along with six airbags, ABS, stability and traction controls, the Aircross has low-speed AEB (up to 30km/h), blind-spot monitoring, lane departure warning, driver attention monitoring and speed sign recognition.

Three top tether anchors and two ISOFIX points complete the picture with a five-star Euro NCAP rating dating back to 2017. There is no corresponding ANCAP score, despite the agreement between the two agencies.

Skoda offers a five-year/unlimited-kilometre warranty for the Kamiq.

The servicing schedule is every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first.

The Czech brand offers customers two service packs for the Kamiq Ambition, including a five-year/75,000km term for $1500, or a seven-year/105,000km for $2100.

Citroen offers a class-competitive five-year/unlimited kilometre warranty with a five year service plan if you want to pre-pay.

That plan costs a stiff $2727 for your five visits (or every 12 months/15,000km). That's nearly three times what you'll pay for a C-HR or about $400 more than a Mazda CX-3.