It’s difficult to overstate the importance of Skoda’s new Kodiaq SUV. It’s the Czech brand’s long overdue response to three big new market factors: the rise in interest from China, increasing sales of high-price, high-end products on finance, and the explosive boom of the SUV segment in Europe. It could also spearhead the brand’s eventual launch in SUV-obsessed North America, too.
It’s a big deal, then. And as such we’ve sampled an early – but mostly finished - prototype of the Kodiaq for the first time before it arrives early next year.
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The Kodiaq – named after a species of Alaskan Bear – will become Skoda’s range flagship, sitting above the Octavia and Superb. It’ll be the brand’s first seven-seater too, although buyers will also get the choice of five seats and a bigger boot if the rear chairs are surplus to requirement.
It’s got plenty to contend with, though: Kia, Hyundai and Nissan all offer large seven-seat SUVs, while cars like the Ford Edge and the forthcoming Renault Koleos offer a similar footprint with two less seats. Skoda won’t be the first by any means, then.
The Czech brand is adamant, however, that the Kodiaq follows the Superb as a car that doesn’t sit rigidly in a single segment. Bosses hint that it will be priced just above the new VW Tiguan, despite being significantly larger. It’s 4.7m long and 1.82m wide, with a substantial 720-litre boot in five-seat models.
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Seven-seaters see that reduced to 630-litres with the rearmost chairs folded flat, but with all three rows in place there’s still 270-litres available. With all the seats down there’s a massive 2,065 litres. Passenger space is impressive, too, as even six-footers can just about squeeze into the very back, while sliding the middle row back will produce legroom that’s not far off the limo-like Superb.
The prototypes were wrapped in disguise on the outside and liberally gaffer-taped inside, but we also got a sneak preview of the finished model in full. The design is toned down a touch from the original Vision S concept – particularly the crystal-LED front lights – with a more conventional shape demanded by stringent global legislation. Yet it still features the same clamshell bonnet, pronounced shoulderline and angular rear-end shape.
Inside, engineers admit that our pre-production prototypes aren’t quite up to the standard of the final car. Sure enough there are some rough edges, but we expect it will match the Superb for quality and ergonomics when it arrives in 2017. The dash design itself is totally different to that of the Vision S, and more like the Superb’s. It’s more upright, though, with a long square trim panel stretching the length of the dash, but the solid-feeling switchgear is instantly familiar.
Skoda is debuting a brand-new infotainment system in the Kodiaq. It’s a slick high-res, glass-covered touchscreen that makes the Superb’s setup look a bit dated. It gets a lot of the smartphone app suite from Audi’s latest unit, as well as a WiFi hotspot, it’s own LTE module sim card and even wireless phone charging. It also ditches the physical buttons along the side for touch-sensitive ones, which didn’t fill us with hope but proved surprisingly responsive.
Of course, the Kodiaq gets plenty of the brand’s familiar detail touches like umbrellas in the doors and an ice scraper, but there are also now things like pop-out door protectors and even a ‘sleep package’ with fold-out rests for the side of your head. Sunblinds, tray tables, a tablet display for rear-seat passengers and ambient lighting add a classy touch. There’s no fancy ‘Virtual Cockpit’ digital instrument display yet, but bosses say they are working on it.
The Kodiaq will launch initially with three trim levels, two 2.0 TDI diesels and three TSI petrols, with a choice of either front of four-wheel drive depending on spec. A plug-in hybrid isn’t expected until late 2018.
We were able to sample both diesels (a 148bhp manual and a 187bhp DSG auto) and a 177bhp 2.0-litre TSI petrol, all with Skoda’s multi-plate clutch four-wheel drive system. The base diesel is likely to be the biggest seller: it offers perfectly adequate but not sparkling performance, while the 187bhp unit offers a useful chunk more pulling power that’s shown in its impressive 2.5-tonne towing capacity. Both are as refined and, for the most part, smooth as we’ve come to expect from Skodas of late.
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Buyers will get the choice of normal suspension or adaptive dampers at launch, although we were only able to try the latter here. Over our mixed test route involving on and off-road driving, comfort levels impressed. It builds on the already strong dynamic ability of the Superb but with extra suppleness over rutted roads, particularly in comfort mode. It’s difficult to make judgement on handling at this stage: the steering feels overly light for an SUV (when not in Sport mode), which is something bosses say they will rectify for the finished product.
It feels much like a taller, slightly heavier Superb on the road: not the last word in driving fun, but typically accomplished blend of comfort and agility found across the VW Group. Despite some wind and road noise (again, likely to be dialled out before it hits the market), refinement levels are strong, too. Off-road ability wasn’t put to the test despite a new dedicated off-road mode, but the figures all suggest it could match rivals in the rough stuff.
- Model: Skoda Kodiaq 2.0 TDI
- Price: From £23,000 (est)
- Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl diesel
- Transmission: Six-speed manual, four-wheel drive
- Power: 148bhp
- 0-62mph: 10 seconds (est)
- Top speed: 120mph (est)
- Economy/CO2: 55mpg/130g/km (est)
- On sale: Early 2017
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