What a Car - UK - (2020-04)

whatcar.com April 2020 57

Ford Puma vs Renault Captur vs Skoda Kamiq

initially, especially with our test

car’s optional orange interior pack

(£350). Everything that’s orange

and the top of the dashboard are

squishy, but you’ll fi nd plenty of

hard plastics and a particularly

fl oppy gearlever surround. It feels

the cheapest interior here.

The Puma has just as many hard,

scratchy plastics as the Captur,

but Ford has been more cunning

with their deployment. Only the

top of the dashboard is soft-touch,

but the expanse of padded cloth

on the doors is perfectly placed

for your arm to rest on and looks

better than black plastic.

SPACE AND PRACTICALITY

Front space, rear space,

seating  exibility, boot

The Captur feels the tightest up

front. That’s because it has the

least head and leg room and a

high-mounted gearlever bisecting

the interior. Even so, a six-footer

will fi t fi ne. The Puma has a little

more head room and matches the

Kamiq for maximum front leg

room, but the Skoda has by far the

most head room and feels airiest.

Move to the rear seats and

the Kamiq is in a class of its

own. It has enough leg and head

room to shame some SUVs in

the class above and it’s the best

for accommodating three rear

passengers. Our only slight gripe is

that it has a tall, thin hump in the

fl oor that can make climbing in

and out awkward.

The Captur offers a little more

rear leg room than the Puma, but

even so, the Puma is the more

comfortable of the two for those

in the back, because even though

the Captur has more head room

on paper, the sides of the car curve

in to meet the roof, so you’re more

likely to bump the side of your

head. That’s especially true if you

try to squeeze three in the rear.

Add in the Captur’s larger central

fl oor hump and the Puma squeaks

ahead in this area.

All three get regular 60/40 split-

folding rear seatbacks, although

the Captur’s bench also slides

fore and aft as one piece. Handily,

this can be done from the boot or

the rear seat area. The Kamiq is

the only one without a standard

height-adjustable boot fl oor, but at

least it’s only £155 as an option.

What the Kamiq does have is

a huge boot, which can swallow

seven carry-on suitcases to the

Captur’s six. The Kamiq also has

handy hooks and cubbies to stop

shopping and smaller objects

from rolling around your boot.

However, it’s the Puma that comes

out on top, swallowing eight cases

thanks to something Ford calls

the MegaBox. This sizeable >>

925mm

935mm

985mm

655mm

570-695mm

735mm

1315mm

1345mm

1370mm

715-1500mm

715-1520mm

730-1510mm

990-1000mm

1020mm

995mm

385-765mm

410-790mm

570-840mm

Boots’ suitcase-carrying capacities are measured with a 560x350x230mm Antler suitcase, with the rear seatbacks in place and up to the parcel shelf

While the Puma is only adequate

for rear seat space, its boot is the

most practical in the class by far.

The large compartment under the

boot  oor allows you to stack two

bagsof golfclubsupright

A lowroofis theCaptur’s biggest

problem,leadingto a particularly

claustrophobicrearseatarea.

Sixcasesisn’ta badscore

at allforbootspace,butit’s

overshadowedin thiscompany

AlthoughtheCapturhasa bigger

bootonpaper,wewereable

to cramanextracaseinto the

Kamiq.Nostandardtwo-level boot

ooris disappointing,because

there’sa highloadlipto negotiate

955mm

1075mm

1345mm

935mm

1050mm

1365mm

990mm

1075mm

1385mm

Boot 401-1161 litres

Suitcases 8

Boot 422-1275 litres

Suitcases 6

Boot 400-1395 litres

Suitcases 7

BIGGEST

BOOT