Mokka proves a tasty option

By Jonathan Crouch

August 13 2014, 4:00 pm

A small, trendy little crossover model can also be a practical choice. If you doubt that, take a drive in Vauxhall’s Mokka.

Mokka buyers are people likely to be enthusiasts for life rather than for cars. So they may not care that this car isn’t quite as sharp and wieldy as a rival Nissan Juke, nor does it have the ‘big SUV’ polish of a comparable Skoda Yeti. Instead, there’s a potentially pleasing compromise between the two.

Under the bonnet, there are three main engine options, the most affordable, as ever, being the least desirable of the trio, the 2WD-only 113bhp petrol 1.6-litre variant which, with only 114lb/ft of torque, needs to be rowed along a little with the gear lever – a stick that only offers you five speeds.

A better bet for petrol people is the Mokka we tried, the 138bhp 1.4-litre turbo. Sixty is just 9.4s away en route to 118mph, so it’s usefully more rapid, and there’s a healthier 148lb/ft of torque. Despite all this and the standard inclusion of 4WD, the provision of a six-speed gearbox and more modern mechanicals mean that this pokier 1.4 is actually cheaper to run than the feebler 1.6.

The most practical engine choice though is the one most buyers will probably select, the 128bhp 1.7-litre CDTi diesel capable of a top speed of around 116mph and rest to sixty in around 10s. You get all the main mechanical choices with this unit – so you can specify your car with 6-speed manual or automatic transmission and with or without 4WD. Perhaps more importantly, you get a lot more pulling power – 221lb/ft in all. Every Mokka is theoretically capable of towing a braked trailer of up to 1200kg in weight, but this diesel variant is the only one that’ll really take such a task in its stride.

So, this Mokka’s a small, trendily-styled five-door little SUV/Crossover isn’t it? Well yes. So it’ll be priced directly against the other car we tend of think of in this market sector, Nissan’s Juke, won’t it? Well, no. Vauxhall points out – correctly – that their car is a significantly larger thing – hence the price span for the range that lies in the £16,000 to £24,000 bracket. To put that into perspective for you, that means you’ll be paying a price premium of around £2,500 for this Mokka over an equivalent Juke.

As far as cost of ownership is concerned, it would be fair to call this Mokka ‘class competitive’. As you’d expect these days, a start/stop system is fitted across the range (though only on manual gearbox models) to cut the engine when you don’t need it, stuck in traffic or waiting at the lights. As a result, even the oldest engine in the line-up, the 113bhp 1.6-litre petrol unit, doesn’t lag too far behind its 1.6-litre petrol Nissan Juke or MINI Countryman rivals, returning 43.5mpg on the combined cycle and 153g/km of CO2. As for the 138bhp 1.4-litre petrol turbo 4×4 Mokka we tried, well despite the extra power and weight, the figures are nearly as good – 44.1mpg and 149g/km of CO2. Much pricier all-wheel drive petrol Juke and Countryman models use much bigger, thirstier, dirtier engines that don’t ultimately take you much faster.

Stacking up even better is the Mokka in 1.7-litre CDTi 128bhp diesel form. Thanks to ‘Clean Tech’ technology that optimises combustion control, NOx nitrogen oxide emissions are reduced and overall efficiency is dramatically improved. To the point where the figures for this variant – 62.8mpg on the combined cycle and 120g/km of CO2 – get close to those of a MINI Countryman Cooper D that, with around 18bhp less, takes around a second longer to get you from rest to 60.

Not too long ago, it was hard to think of a more conventional brand than Vauxhall. But that was then. Here’s how the company is thinking now: looks a lot more appealing doesn’t it?

True, this isn’t the sharpest handling car of its kind but the pre-launch tweaks have made it as good as it needs to be. Nor is it as affordable as some might expect – but that’s only an issue if your comparison is with something smaller, much less well equipped and probably more feebly powered.

Look clearly, as I’ve tried to do here, at what you actually get for what you actually pay and the Mokka makes fashionable sense. With styling and size almost perfectly pitched, it’s practical, well equipped, affordable to run and, in 4×4 form, seasonally capable too. A car with an appeal that builds as your interest in it grows. The kind of car Vauxhall needs to make. For a more fashionable future.