Vauxhall Mokka

Yahoo

25-03-2025

As we know, jacked-up superminis like the Vauxhall Mokka can fly off the shelves. The Ford Puma is no stranger to the UK's best-sellers chart and Vauxhall showrooms have managed to shift Mokkas aplenty since the current iteration went on sale in 2021.
It's clearly succeeding in its statement to flex some design muscle and invite people to consider a Vauxhall who might never have before, then. But now that it's been on sale for a number of years, Vauxhall has given it a facelift, albeit a minor one, to keep it competitive.
Specifically, there have been some trim-level revisions, the exterior and interior have received new design touches, the damping and steering have been slightly tweaked, and the Mokka Electric, for which we have a separate review, gets a bigger, 54kWh battery as standard.
With that in mind, how does it stack up against a pool of small SUV rivals that includes the Ford Puma, Renault Captur, Skoda Kamiq, Nissan Juke and Hyundai Kona? Let's find out.
The engine line-up is fairly simple and largely unchanged from before. You can have a 134bhp 1.2-litre turbo three-pot mated to either a six-speed manual or eight-speed auto, although with the auto it produces 128bhp. There's also a 134bhp hybrid with a six-speed dual-clutch 'box only, as well as the Mokka Electric. The 98bhp version of the 1.2 turbo petrol has been dropped.
Each trim level, whether Design, GS or Ultimate, can be had with any powertrain you like. Every car gets LED lights, rear parking sensors, Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, a 10in infotainment screen and a 10in instrument binnacle. GS trim adds a rear-view camera, more adjustment for the driver's seat, 18in alloys and tinted glass, while top-spec Ultimate gets a heated steering wheel, heated front seats, lumbar support and massage seats.
Prices start at just under £26,000, which is about average for the class: a Ford Puma is just over £26,000 while the Peugeot 2008 is closer to £30,000 and the Volkswagen T-Cross just under £25,000.
Just like the current Vauxhall Corsa, the Mokka uses the Stellantis group's Common Modular Platform (CMP) as its mechanical basis.
But as it's a compact SUV rather than a conventional supermini, one of its closest relations is the DS 3 Crossback (with which it shares a production line in Poissy, France – although the Peugeot 2008 is also a pretty close sibling).
The new Mokka is 4151mm long, 1791mm wide and 1534mm tall, which makes it one of the smaller cars in its class, with the Puma, Captur and Kamiq being slightly larger in all dimensions.
Much of the Mokka's styling has been derived from the firm's pillarless GT X Experimental concept car of 2018, and with this facelift you get some redesigned lights, fresh alloy wheel styles and, for sustainability reasons, the deletion of chrome trim.
Talking of sustainability, the Mokka's interior - where most of the money seems to have been spent - now contains hardy fabrics made from recycled plastics, alongside updated software for the infotainment system and a new steering wheel with the same design as that in the new Grandland and Frontera.
Having first lifted your feet over the car's trip hazard of a sill, you settle into a medium-high-set seat, notice the good visibility to all quarters and sense that you are treated to a fairly adjustable and well-supported driver's seat.
Atop the dashboard sits some soft-touch, hard-wearing materials, there is some plush-feeling textile upholstery on the seats and it's generally a nice place to sit.
We do have one gripe, though: Vauxhall's colour and trim department didn't harness the potential of the other materials used on the dashboard to liven the cabin up. The sea of grey, textured surfaces is a bit too deep for our liking.
Vauxhall's Pure Panel infotainment display now runs updated software. This integrated-looking duo of digital infotainment and instrumentation screens sweeps across behind the steering wheel and into the upper centre stack. It is Vauxhall's attempt to notionally claim it as its own design convention despite it now becoming commonplace across the industry.
The thinking is that by surrounding both configurations in gloss black plastic, both better fit into the cabin architecture around them; and perhaps they do, although if you don't like cars with lots of gloss black plastic, you're unlikely to take to it.
Fans of tech will appreciate that the displays are bigger than they once were. Whereas before the standard screen was 8in, this time you get a pair of 10.0in screens, and there's a new-look digital instrument binnacle along with some crisper graphics for the infotainment thanks to the software update.
Generally, it's a pretty intuitive interior to work with, not least because there are shortcut buttons to the home screen and - praise be - physical rotary dials for the HVAC system. That being said, the infotainment menus and digital instrument display lack some configurability.
In terms of space, there's plenty of it up front for you and a passenger. At the rear, you've got a generous amount of rear head room, although rear passengers with longer legs may struggle behind a driver who's over 6ft tall. What's more, adults sitting in the back might be disappointed by the available oddment storage and the lack of a fold-down armrest. The 350-litre boot is unremarkable for the class, with the Puma managing 457 litres, the T-Cross 455 litres and the Captur 444 litres.
The driving position is okay, although we would like to see some more reach in the steering column, and the standard seats don't have much under-thigh support. Upgrading to top-spec Ultimate trim will grant you some adjustability here.
With an easy-to-use automatic gearbox, the Mokka is equipped to suit a good proportion of its general target audience. Thus configured, it performs adequately, although a more interested driver might still look for a little more power or driver engagement.
For the latter, we would point you in the direction of a car fitted with the six-speed manual, which is a pretty natural-feeling 'box to use although the gearchange has a rather long and vague throw.
The pure-petrol provides a decent blend of performance, refinement and efficiency. At 1220kg, the Mokka is relatively light, so with 134bhp and 169lb ft, it feels punchy enough for most situations. We do have a couple of gripes, though. Below 1500rpm, the engine emits a subdued but noticeable droning noise and you need to keep it over 2000rpm to make any real progress, despite it developing a fulsome-sounding 169lb ft of torque.
It's an engine that you'll need to work hard when getting up to motorway speed and overtaking on A-roads. It feels strong enough when doing so, but not particularly assured or potent.
The rest of the time, particularly around town, there's more than enough urge on tap, but with rivals offering more power and torque, we can probably mark down out-of-town authoritativeness as one of the Mokka's slight vulnerabilities.
Being a bit slow to downshift and then reluctant to grab the next gear under acceleration, the automatic gearbox has the effect of sapping the car's responsiveness and overall performance level just a little.
You can initially select gears for yourself using the manual mode and shift paddles but, with no kickdown switch on the accelerator pedal, you never feel as though you're in total control of the transmission, which often downshifts of its own accord even in manual mode when you get to the bottom of the throttle pedal's travel.
The fine-tuning of the car's drivability is broadly inoffensive, but it lacks a little attention to detail. Vauxhall has chosen to position the brake pedal a bit higher and prouder than the accelerator so that when you're holding the car stationary on the brake, you can simply slide your foot directly off to the right and immediately onto the throttle to move off.
That's fine, but it encourages you to hold the car on the brake pedal at traffic lights and junctions (which, some would say, is a bad habit) and it also means you have to lift your foot up to get it back onto the brake, which is a bit awkward.
Compounding that awkwardness somewhat is a transmission that's very keen to creep forward in heavy traffic and a brake pedal with a mushy-feeling, poorly defined bite point. Conniving together, they make this car harder to drive at manoeuvring speeds than it need be – but it's only mildly irksome at worst.
Vauxhall saw fit to treat the Mokka to a damping and steering recalibration for this generation, aiming to make the car more comfortable and responsive.
There was an intention then, quite plainly, to make it at least a little bit more fun to drive than before. It stands out from its competitors by way of looks, after all, so why not?
The slightly firmer-than-class-average suspension rates are still present and correct, presumably attempting to conjure just the merest hint of tenacity and roll resistance in its handling, for your driving pleasure.
Unfortunately, and for a few reasons, it hasn't quite delivered the fully resolved, gently amusing and engaging drive that it might have been aiming for. Neither has the damping tune given the Mokka what you might consider a Vauxhall-typical sense of pliancy or everyday dynamic versatility.
That the Mokka's steering is particularly light and anodyne at low speeds may make it easy to park and well suited to the typical compact crossover customer, but it's no great invitation to enjoyment.
It actually weights up quite a lot as your speed increases, and so the car generally follows the path you've chosen for it obediently enough around town, and has reasonable stability on A-roads and motorways, being more easy to place precisely than you'd first believed it might be.
But the car never quite feels even moderately agile or keen underneath you. Handling response and cornering balance are respectable if underwhelming, with the always-on electronics activating early (although progressively) to counteract understeer before it can build if you go at a bend with any vigour. This may be fair enough, because Mokka owners probably won't do that.
But instead of giving the car good close body control and the pleasing sense of energy and poise at speed of something like a Ford Puma, the Vauxhall's particular suspension tuning often just makes it feel reactive and tetchy when roused.
Firmer than average springs and dampers cause the ride to feel a little wooden and under-isolated over sharper inputs, while the lack of rebound control sometimes makes the car threaten to leap out of dips and off the top of fairly gentle crests and transverse ridges. Head toss, although not severe, is a regular factor on uneven surfaces as well.
All of this combines to make the Mokka far from the most settled-riding car in its class. It isn't drastically uncomfortable, and you might not take much notice around town if the roads are smooth, but on imperfect roads you don't need to take an interest in the driving experience to be aware of the repetitive disturbance to the general calm of the cabin.
You'll also notice that there's a fair amount of road surface noise admitted over coarser Tarmac and some wind flutter from around the top of the door seals.
Overall, you still might not consider this an unrefined car in the strictest sense, but with sportier versions on larger alloy wheels only likely to penalise ride isolation, the Mokka could certainly do more on this score in order to justify its modest price premium.
Every Mokka gets a crash mitigation and avoidance system operating at low speeds and a lane-keeping system as standard.
Plump for a mid-spec model and those are upgraded, the former system operating throughout the whole speed range, and the latter including a switchable Lane Positioning Assistant (albeit only for cars with auto gearboxes).
There's also a speed limit recognition system, which rarely misses a posted limit. The lane keeping system defaults to 'on', but there's a button to disable it simply and easily. It's a pretty discreet one, and unless you're on a winding road, you may not notice it even when it's operating.
The more interventionist Lane Positioning Assistant is activated separately. It requires only a dead hand on the steering wheel to automatically maintain the car's position within its motorway lane.
The Mokka starts from just under £26,000 for an entry-level car with a manual gearbox, making it a little more expensive than the Jeep Avenger and Citroën C4, but less than the Ford Puma.
Drivers have three specification levels to choose from: Design, GS and Ultimate. The price difference between the entry-level car and the top-spec model is around £3000.
While entry-level cars offer decent value, the costs can quickly rise above similarly specified rivals as you move up through the higher trim levels.
Each car provide an acceptable level of economy on the road. The 136bhp petrol returns claimed economy of 49.6mpg, with the less powerful 128bhp unit achieving a claimed 46.3mpg, and the hybrid can hit 57.6mpg.
We found these economy figures to be largely achievable with some careful driving, but a long-term test of the 136bhp petrol with a six-speed manual returned an average of 46.2mpg.
The Vauxhall Mokka is a car that does many things credibly, but nothing exceptionally.
It looks a little bit smarter, its interior technology is now in line with the rest of its maker's range and it has gained the added benefit of some sustainable materials inside and out. What's more, its engines are just about potent enough and it feels sufficiently competent to drive.
Nevertheless, it is a little lacking in the more measurable on-paper strengths that might have elevated it into the compact SUV top five. It isn't the most practical car in its class. It doesn't threaten the plusher operators for upmarket ambience or material quality, either.
Neither is it sufficiently refined, polished, energetic or engaging to drive to really distinguish itself dynamically.
But we suspect none of that will prevent it from selling. In fact, if the looks are what you came for, the Mokka's drive should be good enough not to sour the ownership experience.
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