SKODA KODIAQ
With seven bums on seats plus room for the shopping, our SUV is a veritable Narnia
MILEAGE 2456 WHY WE’RE RUNNING IT To ascertain how appealing Skoda’s first large SUV is to big families
Leaving the hospital with a newborn marks a pivotal moment in life, I reckon. Off you drive, happy, content, a touch nervous but sure that you will, like every generation before, find a way through what lies ahead. And then, as sure as night follows day, there’s a gurgle, a cry or full-blown yell that snaps you out of your reverie, locks your eyes onto the rear-view mirror and lets the reality of what’s unfolding come crashing in.
I’ve experienced it twice, lucky fellow that I am, and yet, when I look in the mirror now, almost 10 years after the first, there always seems to be three, four or even five sets of eyes staring back. Friends, family, cricket team, Cubs, Brownies – you name it, they need a lift. Hurrah, then, for the option of buying your Kodiaq in either five-seat or seven-seat form. While I doubt there’s any hesitation over which way to go if you have kids, it’s also worth knowing that higher-trim cars like ours get the seven seats as standard.
Making use of those seats is a pretty simple affair. There’s a lever on the seats to pull to haul them up or down again (or a more convenient lever in the boot, if you pay more), headrests that need extending or tucking away and, well, that’s it. If you need more leg room for the rear row, then the middle row slides fore and aft to make more space and, even with seven bums on seats, there’s room for a couple of suitcases or a week’s worth of shopping bags, so long as you’re prepared to stack them on top of each other (remember to put the eggs on top… or is it the bottom?).
The rearmost seats are best reserved for pre-teens over anything longer than a brief trip, although it’s worth noting that they don’t have Isofix fittings for child seats. While it’s true that the impressive Kia Sorento is probably more commodious in the back than anything else packing seating for seven, the Kodiaq is right up there among the best for space and ease of access. It’s certainly more than good enough to meet our needs – and that in itself is a point worth bearing in mind if, like me, you can sometimes get caught up in a spreadsheet battle trying to work out which car is better. Enough is enough, and more than enough is more than you need. So far, the Kodiaq has proven just fine.
With the rearmost seats lowered, there’s also enough room for a spare friend and a couple of (small) bikes or whatever other gadget or game they want to bring. It’s a big boot – again, a little down on the Sorento in terms of stats, but, actually, its equal in reality thanks to its nicely squared-off shape. With the stepped floor fitted – standard on our SE L trim and above – the boot space is also nicely flat, with the stowed seats flush to the surface. There’s also a handy sliding tonneau cover (which itself resides under the false floor of the boot when not in use) to hide what lies within, although – public service announcement warning – I’m a great believer in leaving anything of no value uncovered, so the wouldbe burglar can move on without smashing a window.
Finally, if like me you are prone to prioritising a quick kip over idle chat while cheering from the sidelines after dropping the kids off, then it’s worth knowing that the middle-row seatbacks can be angled back for added comfort. In fact, just about the only convenience setback I can level at the Kodiaq is that the middle seats split 60/40 when lowered, rather than the 40/20/40 of some rivals. For some, that could be a major issue but, for us, it has never been anything more than a minor inconvenience.
And there you have it – a whole page dedicated to the rear seat and boot packaging of a Skoda SUV. Time was I wrote about an Aston Martin Vantage and Lotus Evora on these very pages. The sacrifices you make for kids, hey?