The international presentation of the Skoda Kodiaq, the first SUV in the brand's history, took place almost exactly two years ago in Berlin. The presence of master Karel Gott proved how important this model is to Mladoboleslavská automobile company. Only the warned live bear didn't happen in the end, but that, I suppose, didn't matter much to anyone present. With such a Yeti model, this form of presentation would certainly cause a bigger uproar, and the subsequent absence of a live image would certainly freeze a lot more…
Oh well, back to the Kodiaq. I admit that I was not very impressed by the car at the time, which was partly due to the fact that I was never a fan of this class, and partly due to the fact that the Skoda design, devoid of all unnecessary frills and frills, does not stand out much in the photos. You will only appreciate his thoughtfulness live, which is also confirmed here. In front of me is the Sportline series in full fire with the most powerful diesel engine with a power of 190 hp and a massive torque of 400 Nm, seven-speed automatic dual-clutch transmission DSG, 4×4 drive and an abundance of both standard and additional equipment. At first glance, the car looks really majestic and confident, with additional 20-inch wheels, not even any American rapper would be ashamed to own it. The external proportions are balanced, the design with mostly sharply cut edges has a dynamic and fresh impression, and there is not much to complain about in this respect. The only thing that can be the subject of certain discussions are the front fog lamps of an irregular trapezoidal shape, which, in my opinion, does not match the shape of the main headlights. But you can get used to it and after a while you won't even notice it anymore, moreover, it should be noted that they stand out the most in white, with other color variants it is no longer so obvious.
Of course, the sporty design was also reflected in the interior, which, although nothing really impresses, but as a whole it looks and works very well. The seats in a combination of Alcantara and leather with pronounced sidewalls, the ergonomically shaped leather steering wheel and the interior trim in imitation carbon harmonize perfectly. As I pick up the car in the darkness of the underground garage, the impression is enhanced by the light lines in the doors. Maybe stupid, but very nice. The combination of softer and harder plastics fits nicely everywhere, doesn't throw anything anywhere and evokes a feeling of strength and solidity, as we know from other concern cars. The dashboard is dominated by a large touch screen, other mechanical controls are logically arranged to facilitate the control of all possible systems that are blessed here. And as a bonus, the pleasant smell of a new car. So I'm gearing up to one (understand D/S) and off I go…
I weave my way through the mined-out Prague and at the exit, when the road opens up, I can finally put my feet on the pedals. I am surprised that even in the basic normal mode, the chassis acts quite hard and, in combination with the large wheels, sends information to the cabin about every bump and pothole that appears on the road. I would certainly expect better filtering of unevenness from this type of car, but here it is a price for beauty. Nevertheless, I also try the sports mode and I immediately feel how the car becomes even stronger overall, the steering stiffens and the gearbox allows the engine to rev a little higher. However, this setting is really only suitable for roads with a high-quality surface, where with a narrowed eye you can talk about a kind of enjoyment from a sporty drive, although no one will probably buy this car because of the rampage in the alpine switchbacks. Comfort mode then offers the softest chassis settings, the car seems to float on the road, but the body leans more when cornering, which may not always be pleasant. Next is the individual mode, where you can change the settings of individual elements separately. In addition to the adaptive DCC chassis, steering and drivetrain, there are perhaps a little surprisingly also adaptive cruise control ACC, adaptive headlights and air conditioning. Everything is changed and adjusted on the large touch screen, the menu is clear and the control is intuitive, it can be conveniently operated even while driving. It is only necessary to polish the surface of the display from time to time, because it quickly "grows", but this should probably not be mentioned in the age of touch phones and tablets. Lastly, there are the eco and snow modes, which I haven't tried at all, but I would love to drive the Kodiaq in the snow. In winter, the driver's car is also pampered with remote-controlled cabin heating. Maybe next time… I finally chose the golden mean and returned to the normal setting, when the car copes best with most situations.
The engine can also get a good workout with this gallop, but due to the presence of a turbo and an automatic transmission, it is necessary to get used to certain specifics. For example, the car is always pulling, so you have to stand on the brake all the time in the queue. On the other hand, there is no need for the hill start assistant, which is of course available here. In a corner, the gearbox can sometimes downshift quite indiscriminately, on the other hand, it sometimes takes a little longer when overtaking on a hill and you need to wait a while for a proper pull. I downshifted manually a couple of times as a precaution, which is enabled here by both the levers under the steering wheel and the sequential movement of the shift lever. In most cases, however, the car automatically recognized what action was about to take place based on the force of pressing the gas pedal, and adjusted the gear selection accordingly. The last thing is again connected with a delayed haul, this time when starting from a place. I mean, for example, the situation when you are standing at a stop sign and need to quickly merge onto a busy main road. The turbo simply needs a few seconds and revs to breathe in, and proper acceleration starts with a slight delay. Such a typical "shooting" from a place where you have the speed, clutch and gas ready with the manual, of course, does not work here and you should rather wait until there is a bigger gap on the main one.
The size of the brake discs gives a slightly more modest impression under the huge wheels, and especially the rear ones look almost ridiculously small. Even the first contact with the brake pedal doesn't indicate any kind of bite, but at least it doesn't scare you at first, they can be dosed well and the power is there when needed, it's just necessary to depress the pedal a little more. No need to complain here. But again, they are not built for frantic brake/throttle driving. The car is more suited to brisk and comfortable swallowing of kilometers. The seats have a harder impression at first touch, but they are very comfortable, have excellent lateral guidance and do not hurt even after a long journey. It's like a balm for my back, which is scarred by sitting incorrectly in an office chair every day. Probably the best I've had the honor of doing so far. The steering wheel is pleasant to hold in the hand, of course it can be adjusted in all directions, but don't expect too much feeling from the front wheels, only the stiffness of the steering changes depending on the selected driving mode, as I already wrote above… Even your passengers won't have reasons to complaints, even the back seats are comfortable and there is plenty of space everywhere. This applies if a maximum of 5 passengers will travel in the car. We had a 7-seater variant available, and the car thus had two spare seats in the trunk. Here, however, you cannot avoid compromises if necessary, there is not so much space for three rows, even though the second row can be moved to a limited extent.
Although compared to most other cars, you sit a little higher and thus have a better overview of the situation around you, the other dimensions of the car are quite successfully disguised while driving. Again, you only realize them when parking. When you look over your shoulder into the alley while backing up, the first word that comes to mind is perspective. The entire interior converges and shrinks down to the rear window, which looks much smaller from the driver's position than it does from the outside when, for example, you open the trunk. But it doesn't matter, there are all kinds of (and all-powerful?) assistants. Can't estimate the external dimensions of the car? You will be helped by parking sensors, a bird's-eye view, where you can see all potential obstacles around the car on the display, and a rear parking camera that shows exactly where you are headed when you turn the steering wheel. Backing out of a row of parked cars and having a poor view through the slightly wider B-pillar and passenger seatback? There is a parking assistant that alerts you to passing cars and stops itself if necessary. In addition, if you plan to drive a trailer and are afraid of knocking down Pražák's pillar when backing up, there is even the option of a trailer maneuvering assistant.
I had the Kodiaq at my disposal just as my wife and I were about to go to show our first-born daughter to relatives in the highlands for the first time. Unfortunately, this also meant, among other things, driving on one of the most feared roads I know, the D1. As I was already uncomfortable when transporting the little one home from the hospital, I was not particularly looking forward to the trip. I naturally accepted the opportunity to use a car that received a full number of stars in the Euro NCAP safety test. But since I didn't dare to park the Kodiaq in front of the shack, preferring to leave it at work overnight in a guarded parking lot, I had to first load all the things into our private car (a 12-year-old mid-size hatchback), a feat worthy of a professional Tetris player. When we then parked next to the Kodiaq, I haphazardly threw everything into the trunk, and there was still enough space left for my mother-in-law and dog to squeeze in if necessary. And we had the mentioned 7-seater version, where the basic volume of the luggage compartment is "only" 560l, compared to 720l for the 5-seater version. The three of us successfully complete the first longer journey, the truck accident on the D1 and the need to go around the districts probably doesn't even make sense to mention. Upon arrival, the female part of the family admires the daughter and the male part admires the car On-board computer they report an average consumption of 7.3l, which I didn't think was a bad value, although it is 1.6l more than the brochures say. In the end, real consumption was even slightly higher. When I picked up the car, the on-board computer showed a decent 880 km range and the trip was reset. So some 6.8 l/100. Gradually, however, the sum of the trip and range decreased, even though we drove most of the time as two without luggage and within the limits of the regulations, until it finally stopped at 740 (I drove 540 km with the car, 200 was reported by the computer), we are already slightly over 8… Which, in my opinion, is still an adequate value considering the performance and weight of the car, which with all our additional equipment is over 1,800 kg in standby mode, making it probably the heaviest car specification ever.
After a week of using it, I have to say that I got used to the car and it was really hard for me to say goodbye to it. It's not perfect, but the pros overwhelmingly outweigh the cons and you eventually get used to the cons. What annoyed me the most was that I couldn't find a permanent shutdown of the start-stop system, so I turned it off for a while after each start, then resignedly resigned myself to its presence. It's not that it bothers me in any way, but I'm just not very convinced about the contribution of this system to the environment, i.e. consumption, and on the contrary, I'm not completely sure of its harmlessness for the engine, because the number of starting cycles increases so dramatically. And just like that, there are all kinds of ECO whores to my taste. I also couldn't find a setting to automatically mute the radio when entering a tunnel, so I had to manually mute the noise each time. But that's about all from my side, moreover, I don't deny that the car allows both settings, I'm just a gut and I haven't figured out how. There are incomparably more things that please. Practical are the extending protective strips over the edges of the door, which prevent scratching another car when opened in the parking lot. The buttons for the electric windows and the sunshade of the panoramic roof have two positions, in the first position, movement occurs only for the duration of pressing, in the second position, the windows will move all the way to the stop. There are umbrellas in the armrests, the luggage compartment lighting can be removed and used separately as a flashlight if necessary, and a retractable towing device is hidden in the rear bumper. Simply clever… But the most important thing is, of course, how the car is driven. The fact that I really enjoyed it is evidenced, for example, by an otherwise completely unnecessary trip of 7 km to the city for one can of Birel, just so that I would have something to wash down my grandmother's tenderloin. There is always a reason…
If I ever found myself in the unenviable situation of having an unnecessary few hundred thousand to buy a more luxurious family car, before this test I would probably choose a car of the same brand, but a different type, engine and transmission. However, after a week's experience with Kodiaq, I would probably reconsider at least one other aspect. In addition, my wife would be clear, she literally fell in love with the car and you can certainly imagine how the possible choice would turn out in the end and I wouldn't actually be angry at all…
