Mokka Chocalata Ya Ya

What we like:

Cheerful and pleasant to drive

practical space in a compact footprint

good torque

What we dislike:

Quirky rocker switch for manual gearshifts

ride can get choppy

Under normal acceleration, the 1.6 “Whisper” turbo diesel works under the hood silently, there is, though a narrow torque band, with maximum torque of an impressive 320Nm cutting in from between 2,000-2,250rpm. Fortunately, the torque does not come in a fat lump, only to leave the rest of the engine flat. Accelerating past 2,250rpm brings a gradual reduction in the amount of torque delivered, but revving past 3,000rpm and the engine becomes vocal, with noticeable diesel chatter.

The Mokka X does a respectable combined 20km/l, while carbon emissions is are listed as 132 g/km. Okay, that’s information for those who need to know their numbers.

Under hard acceleration, you will find that the car will pull slightly to the right, which is easily adjustable. Braking hard gets the front end dipping and you can feel the rear of the car lifting a little, while it also wants to veer to the left, with a need for you to correct the car a little. Cornering on the Mokka X reveals some front end plough. Fortunately, there is not too much frontal overhang to make things worse.

The electric power steering is light, and does lack some feel, but does not leave you guessing as you take the car around the bends. The fat A pillars do get in your way visually as you take the car around corners where you’d need to gaze past them.

Road noise is acceptable, but going through a few bumps does tend to give a hint that the car will skip a little. The MacPherson Strut front end and Compound Crank rear is rather firm. Good if you do like a little less roll around the bends, but it can give a slightly jarring ride, considering that the car is built on a short 2,555mm wheelbase.

Thankfully, there is a reverse camera, as the small rear windshield would make tough guesswork when you are parking the car.

Nice try from Opel, the Mokka X can deliver on fun, while the torque from the 1.6 litre diesel unit is impressive, the “Whisper” engine does get vocal above 3,000rpm.

The manual selection on the gear shift lever is certainly a put-off and could have done better with a set of paddle shifters.

While the drive is not sporty, it is a generally pleasant car to drive, albeit too firm a suspension for comfort… then again, for a car this tall, and with a short wheelbase, it would be hard to pinpoint a sweet spot for this.

From $108,888 (20 December 2016), it is still quite a nice buy if you are looking for a compact sized SUV. The Mokka X also comes with a LED Matrix Lighting system (Intellilux), which will set you back $113,888

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