Skoda’s engineers break the diesel Kode

THE Skoda Kodiaq VRS sounds like a boat. Not like a channel ferry, but like the sort of sleek vessel drug smugglers use in the Caribbean.

Smoothly cutting through the water in the moonlight.

Those smugglers would probably like this Skoda’s engine too. How the firm’s engineers have managed to make a 2.0 litre diesel sound so good is a bit of a mystery.

Big diesels like the V8 that used to be fitted to the Porsche Cayenne, and a similar unit used by Range Rover, sounded good – but they were large capacity engines with a lot of cylinders. Some artificial tricks have been used to enhance the sound here.

I wasn’t so sure about the idea of a hot Kodiaq. But I like this car a lot more than I thought I would. It’s a decent SUV and you get a lot for your money.

The diesel engine produces 240bhp which – although it doesn’t put the VRS into the super SUV bracket alongside Alfa Romeo’s Stelvio Q4 or a Porsche Macan Turbo – does turn the humble Kodiaq into a Skoda Kodiaq VRS five door SUV

2.0-litre four-cylinder diesel, 240bhp 7sec 35.3mpg

pleasingly brisk machine. It has a top speed of 136mph and does 0-62mph in 7.0sec.

The only drivetrain spec is fourwheel drive and VW Group’s 7-speed DSG double-clutch auto gearbox. This combination gives impressive acceleration out of the blocks, even on slippery surfaces. Not that you drive the Kodiaq VRS like a sports car as it’s still a fairly large SUV and therefore not light.