Time moves fast in the car world. Today’s champion is tomorrow’s chump, usurped by newer, faster better technology, performance or economy. Skoda’s Kodiaq was the New Zealand Car of the Year. Not last year, of the year before, or even before that. Try way back in 2017, when the new seven-seat set the motor noters on fire with its clever thinking and all-around goodness.
Ne year later, in 2018, the RS model launched with a bang, setting a record we didn’t even know existed, as the fastest seven-seat SUV around the Nurgurgring Nordeschleife, driven by the late Sabine Schmitz.
Fast forward five years, and Skodas are now our police cars, Sabine sadly passed away in 2021, and the Kodiaq RS is still popular, but a slightly different beast. But is it still a beauty? Has the game moved on, around or past the Kodiaq?
The key aspect that has potential to alter this is the RS’s change of engine. Still using a 2.0-litre four-cylinder, instead of the previous RS using its 176kW 500Nm twin-turbo diesel, this new model offers more power, less torque from a single-turbo petrol: now 180kW and 370Nm.
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The good news: it’s faster, by a fraction: four of them. 6.6 seconds to 100km/h is four-tenths faster to 100km/h, but it’s also 65kg lighter, thanks to the engine/gearbox combination.
View Skoda Kodiaq listings on Driven
The slight revisions to stylish make it a little more muscly, but ts the new 20-inch alloy wheels that identify the model, designed to be more aero efficient, with removable plastic covers.
Cabin-wise, it’s always been very good, with some minor updates to trim, stitching and ambient lighting. Sports seats are huggy, but also bring heating, ventilation and massage.
The new digital dashboard is a leap ahead in tech, a big 10.25-inch screen that offers different modes and gauges depending on the driving mode chosen.
An enhanced Crew Protect System uses radars to mitigate collisions from almost every angle, and all the daily tech expectations like CarPlay/Android, wireless charging and radar cruise control.
The continuation of clever continues with the funnel for fluids, ice scraper/magnifier on the fuel filler flap, unbrellas in the door pockets, compartments in the boot, but sadly there are a few omissions including the portable boot torch and the flip-out door protectors.
Needing a diet of 95 octane does hurt a little more than diesel, but the reward is a faster, more spirited drive in the petrol RS, its lighter nose more eager to turn and parry when the time and road is right.
The RS was always at the top of the Kodiaq tree, and while the dual clutch gearbox can be a little indecisive from standstill, and other new models have moved from nipping at its heels, to rubbing shulders, the RS is still a performance-packed piece of petrol-powered fun that seats five in comfort, and +2 in the third row, provided they’re child-sized. Adults can fit, at a squeeze, but it’s a matter of juggling the two front rows’ sliding seats to accommodate; Auckland to Wellington not recommended.
Is the petrol version a better RS? Yes, and while others may have caught up making the Kodiaq arguably a little less special and unique than it once was, the RS keeps it in the ring, eager and able to take on any fight. That it’s just $5k more than the turbo-diesel seven seat Sportline brings the two models even closer together, and offer the choice, if you must. Go for the RS, you know you want to.
