Skoda Kodiaq vRS Review: The 'Hot' SUV That's Barely Lukewarm

Skoda’s warmed-up Kodiaq looks the part, but it’s left wanting in the performance department, and it’s not exactly cheap
Skoda Kodiaq vRS Review: The 'Hot' SUV That's Barely Lukewarm

Software. That’s the only thing that separates the chassis of the Skoda Kodiaq vRS from a Sportline-trimmed version of the big, Czech family bus. The springs are no lower, and the active damper internals are the same - it’s just that the electronics that control them have been fiddled with in the name of sportiness.

And so it goes with the rest of the car. Yes, it has some rather lovely fixed headrest sports seats with Alcantara quilting, but you can have pretty much the same chairs in a Sportline. The 2.0-litre, 237bhp twin-turbo diesel engine under the bonnet may be unique to the vRS in Skoda-land, but over at VW, that unit’s already been in available in the Tiguan for ages.

The Kodiaq vRS will do 0-62mph in seven seconds - slower than a VW Tiguan Allspace with the same engine
The Kodiaq vRS will do 0-62mph in seven seconds - slower than a VW Tiguan…

It should come as no surprise that there’s, erm, nothing surprising about the Kodiaq vRS. There’s just about enough mid-range thrust (you get a handy 369lb ft of torque to play with) to make the car feel reasonably brisk rather than fast, it perhaps feels slightly more agile than the average Kodiaq, and with larger brakes, it stops a little more effectively.

Skoda Kodiaq vRS Review: The 'Hot' SUV That's Barely Lukewarm

It’s a car that’s been tweaked rather than transformed, but you do at least get a variable ratio steering rack - which sees the steering ratio tighten the more you turn the wheel - which does a good job of making the porky Kodiaq feel lighter than it actually is. But not much - it doesn’t take much to get the body rolling around, and you’ll often find the front end washing wide. Skoda has apparently adjusted the four-wheel drive system, but it still feels like any other Haldex clutch-based setup.

Skoda Kodiaq vRS Review: The 'Hot' SUV That's Barely Lukewarm

The final piece of the puzzle is a little actuator that sits near the end of the exhaust, giving the inline-four a kinda/sorta fake V8 burble. Which initially sounded weird, but I did grow to like it after spending a day with a the car.

This all adds up to a car that is just… fine. It’s not bad to drive, but it’s not massively exciting either. A performance SUV it is not, and all of the things it does well - comfort, carrying vast quantities of humans and human accessories - the Kodiaq Sportline 190 does too. For about £6000 less. Yep, you’ll be expected to stump up £42,870 for the vRS. That seems like rather a lot when the (admittedly smaller) Cupra Ateca we drove the other week is £35,900, We weren’t especially enamoured with that either, but unlike the Kodiaq vRS, it’s considerably faster and more capable than the next derivative down the ladder.

Skoda Kodiaq vRS Review: The 'Hot' SUV That's Barely Lukewarm

It’s not like you’re getting masses of extra equipment for the money, either - over the equivalent Sportline, the significant changes are mostly based around the fiddled dynamics, the pokier engine and all the sportified trim pieces.

The silver lining is all of those bits and pieces make for a very handsome Kodiaq. It might even be the most attractive SUV in the VW Group stable, and that, for a lot of people, is going to be more important than the warmed-up performance on offer. Skoda is only bringing 350 to the UK next year, and we can’t see it having any trouble shifting the lot. It’s just a shame those few hundred buyers won’t have something a little more exciting and worthy of that vRS badge.

Comments

Chewbacca_buddy (McLaren squad)(VW GTI Clubsport)(McLaren 60

They shouldn’t have used a diesel in this. I would have loved to see the 2.5L inline five or a crazy boosted variant of the EA888

12/13/2018 - 10:49 |
30 | 2

But that would sacrifice daily drivability and make it the same as any other quick SUV

12/13/2018 - 12:55 |
2 | 2

Sporty diesels with VRS badge is kind of a characteristics for Skoda. It should have been more powerful but I appreciate it for being a diesel.

12/14/2018 - 04:45 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

For me all thw problems center around the engine it should have a properly fast engine and if it has to be a diesel than at least make it a 3.0l

12/13/2018 - 11:53 |
4 | 2
Lauge

It’s an SUV. Instant trash

12/13/2018 - 12:17 |
4 | 14
FLixy Madfox

In reply to by Lauge

iNsTaNt tRaSh

Get your mind out of the gutter. There are good SUVs, for instance, Volvo’s very contemporary ones, or jeeps very big, bulky, and comfortable ones (with an optional 707 horse power engine by the way). SUVs have come a long way from the slow, big, and bulky ones of the past. They’re actually pretty good now!

12/13/2018 - 12:22 |
8 | 2
CannedRex24

Whaaaaa? A Skoda that CT doesn’t like!?

Whaaaaaaa

12/13/2018 - 17:02 |
10 | 0
White Comet

just an SUV review. Nothing relevant here. Exactly the same SUV as a million other SUVs on the market….

12/13/2018 - 17:24 |
0 | 0

You can also say the same to sedans/trucks/minivans…etc
Not getting the logic here

12/13/2018 - 22:51 |
0 | 0
Basith Penna-Hakkim

For some reason, I really like this Skoda

12/15/2018 - 15:17 |
0 | 0

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