The Skoda Kodiaq has been one of the most successful 7-seat crossovers since its launch in Europe. But now it has an RS version, or vRS, as the British are forced to call it because of Ford.
What does that stand for, very Rapid Skoda? And is it very rapid? Mat Watson's review for Carwow can only answer one of those questions, the latter, by subjecting the diesel performance crossover to an acceleration test.
Under these controlled conditions, the model does 0 to 60mph in 6.7 seconds, which is good, but not mind-blowing. Responsible for this performance is one of the most powerful 2-liter diesel engines around, packing two turbochargers for a total output of 240 HP and 500 Nm of torque.
The torque figure is about twice that of a 2009 Octavia RS, which was slower by the way. So progress is being made, even though Skoda tried to be as sensible as possible while offering some performance.
This review also talks about the exhaust setup. Like most 2-liter diesel engines, this one only needs one muffler, so the tip on the right of the car is completely fake. In addition, when you're in Sports mode, the active sound system pumps fake sound out, though it's not coming from the speakers like Mat says.
The base price of this RS model is £43,000 in the UK or about €50,000 in Germany. Now, we don't think that's the end of the world, especially since Skoda offers a lot of standard kit. But most reviews say you should just buy a normal Kodiaq because this one won't light a fire under you.
We're not 100% onboard with that verdict. By the time you've added the Sportsline package, LED lights, Alcantara seats and adaptive suspension, a normal Kodiaq is about the same cost. The only offputting thing is the fuel consumption and potential unreliability of the bi-turbo diesel engine.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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