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.
