Without doubt one of the best cars on the British roads in the last ten years has been the Skoda Yeti. Beloved by motoring journalists, pensioners, young blades and families, no-one had a harsh word to say about it.

It looked like the sort of a car a three-year-old child would draw; Jeremy Clarkson of TV’s Top Gear fame had a helicopter landed on top of one; it was both easy and fun to drive and a pleasure to get behind the wheel.

But sadly the Yeti has gone to the motoring heaven. But worry not. It has been replaced by another equally as good and probably better SUV with the curious name of Karoq.

However the Yeti name has disappeared.

But the Karoq is excellent and remember Skoda only make very good cars these days. Just look at the Octavia, Superb and Fabia for starters.

Skoda customers are the happiest car owners in Britain, according to the UK’s largest independent automotive customer satisfaction survey, Driver Power.

The brand secured a gold rush of awards in the Driver Power 2017 New Car Survey with the Superb and Yeti taking first and second place in the overall Car of the Year ranking The Karoq is actually a completely new compact SUV offering exceptional space, new driver-assistance systems, full LED headlights and – for the first time in a Skoda – a digital instrument panel.

It is slightly bigger than the Yeti and five engine variants are available from 85 kW (115 PS) to 140 kW (190 PS), of which four are new. And there will be a system with a virtual pedal for the hands-free opening of the boot.

Longer items can be easily transported in the interior of the compact SUV – thanks to the folding front passenger seat.

It measures 4,382 mm in length, is 1,841 mm wide, and 1,605 mm high and the luggage compartment has a capacity of 521 litres with the rear seats in place. With the rear seats folded down, the volume increases to 1,630 litres.

The three separate seats system can be individually adjusted and also be completely removed – and the Karoq is then converted into a van-like SUV with a maximum load capacity of 1,810 litres.

The engines are two petrol and three diesel engines and the displacement ranges are 1.0, 1.5, 1.6 and 2.0; the power range is from 85 kW (115 PS) to 140 kW (190 PS).

With the exception of the most powerful diesel, all drivetrains can be ordered with a six speed manual gearbox or 7-speed DSG.

The 2.0 TDI with 140 kW (190 PS) comes as standard with 4×4 drive and 7-speed DSG. The new 1.5 TSI has the special feature of cylinder deactivation.

From the Ambition trim level upwards, Driving Mode Select with the Normal, Sport, Eco, Individual and snow (4x4) modes is available on request. The Off-Road mode with all-wheel drive improves rough terrain driving considerably.

The new compact SUV is fitted with 16 or 17 inch wheels as standard which are available with three different designs. 17, 18 and 19-inch alloy wheels are optional extras.

Skoda reckon the entry-level 1.6-litre will account for around 10 per cent of the UK sales of sales in the UK but because of the Government stupidity on the diesel issue no-one knows where we are going with these sales. The diesel engines will give you more than 60 miles to the gallon compared to almost 50 with the petrol versions. The diesel will also give you 120g/km on the CO2 emissions.

Both diesel and petrol models are great to drive and easy to handle. It might not have the Yeti character but you know when you’re behind the wheel of a Skoda you are in good hands.

It is both comfortable with bags of poke and almost as good as the Yeti on the fun front.

A middle of the range model will cost you around £24,000 and the top speed is 116mph and 0-62mph gets you in just over 10 seconds.