Kodiaq rises to the challenge

EVEN before its market launch, the SKODA KODIAQ RS, the Czech car manufacturer’s first high performance SUV, proves that it can also hold its own on the most challenging race track in the world.

Racing driver Sabine Schmitz – you may be familiar with her from the old Top Gear - set a time of 9:29.84 in the SKODA KODIAQ RS, securing the lap record for a seven-seater SUV at the Nürburgring’s legendary Nordschleife (North Loop).

Fuchsröhre, Schwedenkreuz and Karussell – the sections of track on the Nürburgring’s legendary Nordschleife - are well-known to motorsport fans all over the world. No other race track is more challenging and nowhere else are drivers and vehicles pushed to their limits like they are on the 20.8km-long circuit in the Eifel region.

Schmitz regularly participates in the long-distance championship (VLN) and the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring and in 1996, she became the first woman to win the 24-hour race and won again the following year.

Having long been a ‘Ring Taxi’ driver and as a presenter on various car shows such as Top Gear, she has become well-known to a wide audience. Schmitz estimates she has driven more than 30,000 laps on the Nordschleife to date.

‘The SKODA KODIAQ RS is great fun on the track,’ said Schmitz

‘SKODA has made full use of its large SUV’s potential with the KODIAQ RS. I can certainly imagine that I’ ll be encountering the KODIAQ RS regularly during my laps around the Nordschleife in future,’ Schmitz adds with a wink.

The new 2.0 BiTDI engine produces 240HP. This allows for dynamic power delivery and excellent responsive qualities, even at low engine speed. In the KODIAQ model range, the 2.0-litre BiTDI diesel engine is exclusively reserved for the RS, and thanks to Dynamic Sound Boost, the high-torque diesel engine’s power is immediately apparent.

With adaptive Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC) including Driving Mode Select and progressive steering, the all-wheel-drive vehicle – which was still in its camouflage wrap during its appearance in the Eifel region – was perfectly equipped for its record-breaking lap at the Nordschleife.

The SKODA KODIAQ RS will celebrate its world premiere in October of this year where it will be presented to the public for the first time at the 2018 Paris Motor Show.

Raymond Leddy, Head of Marketing at SKODA Ireland said: ‘The RS model line-up has always proved very popular in Ireland. We are delighted to see this range extended beyond the OCTAVIA and now into the KODIAQ . And what better way to introduce the model than with a World record lap of one of the World’s most famous tracks. The KODIAQ RS equally embodies the versatility and spaciousness of a family SUV as well as emotiveness and dynamism. We cannot wait to see this amazing vehicle on Irish roads in 2019.’

Irish pricing for this model will be released towards the end of this year.