Damien O’Carroll.

Let’s be honest here – we all love the idea of a top-of-therange car. The one with all the bells and whistles always gets the most attention.

And Kiwis are particularly fond of the range-toppers; we are among the largest per-head-of-population and percentage of overall sales markets for Mercedes-AMG, Audi RS and BMW M cars, embarrassing quite a lot of larger and far, far richer markets.

But while the flashy models are interesting, it is quite often at the other end of the range where you find the models that reveal far more about whether the car in question is actually a good car or not. Y’know, the ones that can’t hide behind all the trinkets and shiny stuff, the ones that can’t rely on sheer horsepower to impress. The entry-level cars.

And then sometimes – on rare occasions – the entry level is where the true gold lies. And that is the case with the Skoda Kodiaq.

While the top of the range AWD Kodiaqs are very good cars, it is the entry level FWD 1.4-litre Ambition that shone the brightest during the launch event a few weeks back, so we were always going to be keen to get our sweaty hands on one for a longer test.

So here it is: a dark blue Kodiaq Ambition TSI 110kW, absolutely standard apart from a set of larger 19-inch alloy wheels (the Ambition comes standard on 18s), 1.4-litre engine driving the front wheels and all.

Yes, it may only have a tiny engine for a vehicle the size of a Hyundai Santa Fe, but keep in mind that it pumps out 250Nm of torque from just 1500rpm, while an entry level 2.4-litre petrol Santa Fe can only manage 241Nm from a way higher 5300rpm.

It’s like they say: it’s not the size