Skoda’s success
Skoda’s new 4x4 model is a welcome addition to the family
IN my annual awards at the end of 2017, there there really was only one choice for my personal Car of the Year. The Skoda Kodiaq arrived fully formed, a terrific, ultra-spacious five- or seven-seater SUV with wonderful driving dynamics, looks to make you swoon, and a high level of interior comfort that make it more of a Superb SUV than a Fabia one.
At the Irish Car of the Year Awards, in association with Continental tyres, it also took the Large Crossover of the Year award, further validation of its genuine standout qualities in a crowded segment.
Now, Skoda has done what it did before with the Superb and Octavia and introduced a Kodiaq Scout model available in 4x4 only, and that adds extra off-road capability and a few other bells and whistles besides.
It comes with an extra 6mm of ground clearance, which isn’t exactly going to make a massive difference, but the selectable drive modes likely will, making it easy to toggle between eco, comfort, normal, individual, off-road and snow.
We often scoff here at those who buy cars for snow that never arrives; this year, if you’d had a Kodiaq Scout, you effectively would have been nominated as the neighbourhood bread man.
It looks more rugged too, with 19-inch Crater alloy wheels, sunset tinted glass, exterior mirrors in matt silver that are heated, auto-dimming and power-folding, silver detailing on the front and rear bumpers, stainless steel pedals, an off-road package that includes engine cover and stone protection, full LED headlamps with adaptive function to dim automatically in the face of oncoming cars, black Alcantara seats with Scout stitching, interior ambient lighting with ten colour settings, rearview camera, front and rear parking sensors and front-heated seats.
What makes it feel really different, though, is the way it brings the outdoors inside. I’m tired of plastic and piano black fascias, and the dark wood here gives the Kodiaq Scout a rufty-tufty feel, releasing your inner lumberjack and appealing to something a lot more primal than you ever knew existed.
If it reminded me of anything, it was the first Subaru Forester, one of the cars that paved the way for the entire SUV craze, and I mean that as high praise. I loved that car, and got the same emotional buzz here.
Sometimes, a car can feel like that flash guy you meet in the golf club who throws money around and is great company, but ultimately just a little shallow. The Kodiaq Scout feels a lot more like your best friend – solid, reliable, there to help you out in a pickle. If you need a rock, look no further.
None of these qualities would count for much, though, if the Scout wasn’t also such an easy drive.
Everything about it is responsive, from the smooth steering to the even smoother shifting of the direct-shift automatic transmission (DSG), where two clutches seek out alternative gears, meaning the next has been engaged before you need it. It makes for seamless acceleration with none of the sudden lurches you often get with automatics, especially continuous variable transmission set-ups, of which I seldom am a fan.
Despite its bulk – and the Scout is a very substantial car – it handles like something a great deal lighter, with especially good cornering chops and a very planted feel on the open road. The danger with large SUVs is flabbiness, but there’s none of that here, just a quiet assurance that everything is absolutely fine.
For practicality, my car had a few optional extras. There was a towbar and trailer assist that allows you control the movement of trailer, caravan or horsebox via the wing mirror adjuster when making tight manouevres. Park assist can automatically get you into spaces, parallel or perpendicular. Area view offers a bird’s eye view of your surroundings – you effectively see everything as if you were a few metres above the car, and it proved ideal in my driveway, which is only just long enough to accommodate this almost 4.7-metre car. It also came with blind spot detection and metallic paint, for a total price, including the options, of €50,095.
At 5.7 litres per 100km, fuel economy is good, though emissions of 149g/km place it in the €390pa motor tax band.
As I’ve said here many times before, cars often are an emotional purchase – so much so that many of us treat them like family and remain brand loyal all our lives. If you haven’t test-driven a Kodiaq, though, you might find that loyalty shifting. Like every good Scout, bí ullamh.