2018 Skoda Kodiaq review, road test

The Czech brand’s first middle-of-the-road SUV promises much, but does it deliver enough luxury SUV to justify the price? We put it under the microscope.

Published on Feb 02, 2018 06:00:00 AM

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150hp version of Volkswagen’s 2.0 litre diesel is smooth and very refined.

Alloys look a bit small, but 235/55 R18 tyres are good for our roads.

'C'-shaped LEDs are a Skoda signature; note crystal like detailing.

Under the hood of the Kodiaq is the VW Group’s 2.0 TDi engine. Power is limited to 150hp in this state of tune, but there’s still a very healthy 340Nm of torque from 1,750rpm. The driver gets paddleshifters, and, you guessed it, a seven-speed twin-clutch gearbox takes over the job of multiplying the power and dishing it out appropriately.

Start up the diesel and it’s surprisingly refined. It’s quiet, at low engine speeds, and smooth, and it even responds instantly. Yes, there is a hint of turbo lag at low speeds, but tap the throttle once the engine has crossed 1,400rpm and the Kodiaq belies its size and shoots forward almost instantly. What impresses deeply is that it all feels so effortless, like the Kodiaq weighs 1,200kg instead of its considerable 1,799kg. And what helps keep the momentum up is the lightning-quick twin-clutch gearbox; still, the best in the business, if you exclude Porsche and Ferrari.

Performance in the mid-range is more than sufficient. The engine’s brawny slug of mid-range torque not only makes it feel punchy, the motor’s willingness to rev and its responsive nature also make it perform in almost sporty manner. In fact, choose ‘Sport’ on the drive menu, and the Kodiaq does manage to convey an impression of sport, the gears being held onto longer and responses to the throttle improved.

What the Kodiaq doesn’t quite manage well is flat-out performance. There are two reasons for this. To begin with, 150hp isn’t all that much, especially when asked to push a heavy vehicle like this. And then there’s the quite irritating slope off in power at 4,000rpm. Go past this engine speed and it’s as if you’ve hit a wall. Acceleration is killed, the motor drones a fair bit, and the engine only climbs up to 4,500rpm after plenty of labour. The only way to get around this is to short-shift manually just before 4,000rpm. Luckily, there are paddles and the shifts are very quick.

Flat-out acceleration to 100kph takes a not-too-impressive 10.62sec, but the Kodiaq does pull hard after that as well, with 140kph coming up in 22.1sec. Still, for a luxury SUV at this price, owners will miss having that extra performance on hand. Having to work hard for something you should have in the first place is no luxury.