TESTED TO EXTREMES

Skoda has gone to new levels to perfect Kodiaq, from cold and hot lab tests to harsh development drives

THE average car buyer in the UK covers around 9,000 miles in a single year, and the most testing terrain they’re likely to encounter is a slippery side street dusted in snow. In reality, the Skoda Kodiaq is unlikely to face much worse.

But on the off chance that a customer’s commute is via Death Valley or Antarctica, the Kodiaq has to be prepared for it. And to ensure it can conquer the most extreme conditions Mother Nature can throw at it, Skoda puts prototypes through a meticulous and relentless development process.

The whole procedure starts in the digital world. Even before prototype vehicles (like the camouflaged model below) have been built, engineers can test the Kodiaq’s structural rigidity, acoustic comfort and behaviour during crash test simulations. Such is the complexity of the hardware and software Skoda uses to run these digital assessments, they would take a conventional PC 500 years to complete.

Once the Kodiaq has been put through a range of digital crash tests, engineers then move on to conduct hot and cold weather simulations. Specially built climate chambers at Skoda’s factory in Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic, are able to replicate conditions as cold as minus 40 degrees Celsius. Skoda also tests the car in conditions as warm as 80 deg C in the chamber.

Such tests allow engineers to analyse components in a controlled environment to see how they react if faced with such extreme situations for real. If there’s any sign of warping or expansion, the components or parts can then be amended for mass production to prevent it happening when the car goes on sale.

However, there are only so many situations that can be replicated in the lab; Skoda’s next step is to take a convoy of prototype vehicles to every continent in search of the most extreme conditions on the planet. The exact locations are often top secret, but in total Skoda engineers cover more than 1.2 million miles in Kodiaq prototypes to iron out any mechanical issues before mass production begins. A big focus during the development drives on the Kodiaq was the new assistance systems, ride and acoustic comfort and off-road ability.

Once those gruelling miles have been covered, the most difficult test for the Kodiaq lies ahead. Back in the lab, the car is then subjected to an endurance test on a hydropuls test stand. This hydraulic system is able to transfer extreme forces to the body and wheels, simulating the enormous distances and wear the car would face but in a fraction of the time it would take to cover them physically. The endurance test is a 130-hour marathon of rigorous activity; it’s the equivalent of around 5,000 miles of off-road or over 90,000 miles of everyday driving wear and tear.

With the final sign-off drives edging closer, one of the final assessments the Kodiaq is put through is an open and close function test. As the name suggests, every single part of the car that can be opened or closed – from the fuel filler cap to the doors – is rated for durability.

Robots undertake the task, often all at the same time, and it lasts for six weeks non-stop. If something is to break or malfunction during that time, engineers have to find a solution and then start the test again from scratch.

The same test is then conducted in the climate chamber, where everything has to work just as well at minus 40 deg C as it does at 80 deg C.

After all of that, the Kodiaq should be able to face the worst a family of seven can throw at it.