DOING IT FOR THE KIDS
What better way to rate the family-friendly credentials of the Kodiaq than by asking our children to run the rule over it?
HERE at Auto Express, we like to think we’re good judges of a car. The hours spent recording stratospheric mileages over the course of a year mean we’re well placed to deliver the expert verdicts you rely on.
We can be harsh, but we’re always fair. However, if you really want a brutally honest appraisal of a car, there’s one surefire way to get it – call in the kids.
There’s no sugarcoating allowed in the world of pre-teens, so what better way to assess the Kodiaq as family-friendly transport than by giving some of our children the opportunity to cast a critical eye over it?
So we hatched a simple plan. Park a new Kodiaq 1.4 TSI SE L on my driveway and let some of our offspring loose on it. Guest testers for the day were my daughters Isla and Erin, Harry Wilson – son of art director Darren – Isabella Gibson, the daughter of senior photographer Peter, and Carbuyer content editor Hugo Griffiths’ son Theo.
The first thing the kids noticed, and parents are bound to appreciate, too, is the space available. With seven seats on offer, you could quite feasibly transport a five-a-side football team in the Skoda.
The middle row is arranged in a 40:20:40 layout, with Isofix points on the two outer seats if you need to affix seats for younger children. If you’re only carrying two, the middle seat folds down to provide a table and cup-holders, to help prevent nasty spillages.
The middle row folds 60:40 and slides forward simply, too, to allow access to the rearmost seats (where two boosters will fit in). Our oldest – and tallest – tester, Harry, was able to sit there with no complaints.
Of course, children don’t travel light, so our next test was to assess just how much gear we could fit in; Harry had brought along his drum kit for this very purpose. And the good news is that the Kodiaq delivers on Skoda’s long-held reputation for spaciousness. With seven seats in use there’s a 142-litre capacity, while folding the rear two, by way of a release at the top of the seat, extends this to 605 litres. In went the drum kit. Restoring the seven-seat layout is easily done by pulling a strap on the seatbacks, while parents chasing maximum capacity will be pleased to learn the Kodiaq offers up to 1,622 litres in its most generous layout. With the car’s practicality addressed, the kids were beginning to get a bit restless – so it seemed an appropriate time for entertainment. And we had just the thing to keep them amused, as in SE L guise, the Kodiaq has a Columbus infotainment set-up, with a DVD drive in the glovebox.
Some episodes of Charlie and Lola, viewed through the eight-inch full colour screen, kept the girls quiet before the Wifi that also comes as standard with this trim was called into use to allow some gaming on an ipad in the back seats. Harry, meanwhile, was happy to mess about with his phone in the front seat, with a USB port available to keep it charged.
The verdict? Well, you can see what the kids had to say for themselves in our panel (right). But the big smiles on all of their faces seemed to suggest that Skoda is on to a winner.