The night before the test drive of the new Kodiak, I thought a lot about the current situation of the Skoda brand, for this "national brand" from the Czech Republic, the years of entering China actually have their own highlight moments, I vaguely remember the days when Skoda endorsed the running man, so that many young users realized: Oh! It turns out that this is Skoda, a European car brand that has always had its own unique tone in terms of design, through Skoda let people remember a rich small country from Europe - Czechoslovakia, and the new Kodiak I test drove this time is an SUV with its own unique taste, although it comes from the same platform as the Volkswagen Tiguan L, it still has its own label! Therefore, this issue may wish to talk about what changes this new model has brought.
Appearance: Synchronized with overseas version, RS sports kit is added
This test drive I got is not a high-end model, but even so, at the first sight of the new Kodiak, I was still engraved by this blue into my heart, yes, this color called "deep sea blue" is the main color of Kodiak after this mid-term redesign, after the refraction and reflection of light, you can see the new Kodiak body paint crystal clear, like a crystal cup filled with red wine, unforgettable.
Before the test drive, let's follow the process to look at the design first. In the past, the design language of the Skoda family, or the most impressive thing for me, was the straight waterfall grille and crystal-cut headlights, but the new Kodiak has evolved on this basis, and its iconic radiating three-dimensional straight waterfall grille is more three-dimensional and straight, creating a relief-like texture; in addition, this new model is also synchronized with overseas, using a new RS sports kit, the sense of sport has been significantly improved.
Honestly, the new detail design allows the new Kodiak to have the strength to compete with other joint venture models of the same level, at least at first glance, I will say that I like this Kodiak, RS style grille with high-gloss black design L-shaped flying wing air intake, more dynamic atmosphere, plus the new car reduces the visual center of gravity, with the deep sea blue color matching, there is a petty bourgeois tone on the Seine River.
In the headlights part, the new car is still equipped with LED headlights as standard, and the "streamer" design is slightly uplifted, with the skirt line on the side of the body, making the side vision of the new Kodiak more prominent.
On the side of the body, the new Kodiak is designed with a straight waistline, from the front fender to the taillights, in addition, the new model still retains the "KODIAQ" nameplate logo. In terms of size, the new Kodiak has a length, width and height of 4701/1883/1676mm, and a wheelbase of 2791mm.
The real-time model uses double five-spoke wheels, the tire brand comes from the Pirelli Scorpion scorpion tire, which is a high-performance, comfortable and environmentally friendly SUV tire, in the later test drive, I have a high evaluation of this tire, of course, its price is also more moderate, will be one of my highly recommended tires.
The taillights of the new Kodiak have been redesigned, and the C-shaped crystal LED rhythm taillights have a running water dynamic effect after lighting, which is excellent visual effect.
It can be seen that this mid-term redesign, the new Kodiak in the appearance of the changes or a lot, first of all, the addition of a new color called "deep sea blue", while consistent with the overseas version, bringing a new RS sports kit, and this is also the reason why I "fell in love at first sight" of the real-time model!
Interior: The car and machine system have been completely upgraded
The upgrade of the new Kodiak for the interior is also very large, the most eye-catching area is to replace a 12-inch suspension central control screen, with a 10.25-inch full LCD instrument, the previous old model was criticized by users for lack of sense of technology, this new model has done targeted supplements. In terms of details, the interior of the new car adopts a horizontal layout of the dashboard, combined with a layered design, and the middle is run by a metallic flying wing-style wrap-around decorative strip, highlighting the simple and stylish atmosphere. In addition, the real-life model also added the RS three-spoke flat-bottomed sports steering wheel, the steering wheel suspension rotating metal button, the air conditioning outlet suspension paddle and the exclusive logo of KODIAQ, all of which reveal refinement and taste.
It can be seen that the materials for the interior of the new car are not only very exquisite and avant-garde, but also the layout of the center console is also very layered, although this layered way is not the kind of design that will amaze you at first glance, but the degree of endurance is still very good.
The 10.25-inch full LCD digital instrument UI interface is very clear and easy to understand, of course, in today's terms, the full LCD meter is not a tall configuration.
It is worth mentioning that in addition to the larger size of the central control screen, the new Kodiak also built-in smart car MOS 3.X system, the function includes intelligent voice, smart navigation, smart entertainment, smart travel, smart connected control car 5 core functions, and expanded the AVATAR artificial intelligence partner, self-driving road book, life scene intelligent service, driving video recording and photography and other new functions, so that emotional empowerment technology, users can experience the wisdom of human touch.
In addition to the conventional Apple CarPlay and Baidu CarLife, this car system also shows certain advantages in scalability, such as scenario-based maps, smart refueling, smart car washes, smart insurance and other functions, for users like me living in Shanghai, these functions have a strong practicality; of course, these are not the focus of the new Kodiak car machine upgrade, the upgrade of the new car and machine system focuses on human-computer interaction, which is also the current major OEMs In the "inner volume" place, the new Kodiak is equipped with AVATAR artificial intelligence partners to use speech recognition technology derived from Celence, in addition to querying destinations, weather, food, playing music and adjusting the temperature of the air conditioner, it also supports Mandarin, Cantonese and English, and is also compatible with Mandarin recognition with local accents, including Northeast China, Sichuan, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shanghai, Hebei, Henan, etc. For consumers like me, whose Mandarin is not standard, it is a big boon.
As a mid-term revamp, the new Kodiak, whether it is the appearance or the interior, the changes are relatively large, and these changes in my opinion give the new Kodiak the strength to compete with the mainstream competitors, especially the AVATAR artificial intelligence partner of this experience, I even use a variety of Guangpu, Cantonese "take turns to attack", it can be methodically "picked up"!
Space: High practicality is still a good helper in life
Then let's talk about space, based on my height and weight (height: 179cm, weight 77kg), the front row can get a punch or so of head space, the performance is acceptable; in addition, the real-time model also uses a sporty seat, the headrest is slightly tilted downwards, the fit and support are very good, and the shoulders, back and cushions of the seat have a large extension, which can be described as both ergonomics and dynamic modeling.
It is worth mentioning that the new Kodiak is divided into 5-seat and 7-seat two versions, this time I got the model for the 5-seat version, you can see that the entire rear space is very good, keep the front seat unchanged, can get about 3 punches or so of legroom, and the head space is about four fingers, even compared with the Honda CR-V with space magician, I think the new Kodiak will not fall into the downwind.
At the same time, the conventional storage space of the whole vehicle has also reached the level that this level should be, and there is almost no problem in practicality.
It is worth mentioning that the trunk space of the new Kodiak has also been upgraded, from the 506L of the old Kodiak to the 544L of the new Kodiak, and the second row of seats can be extended to the amazing 2065L. So in terms of the storage space, the new Kodiak really stands in the first echelon of the same level.
Dynamic test drive: There is still no way to pick at MQB
Before the test drive, we first had a brief understanding of the powertrain of the new Kodiak, which was based on a 2.0T engine codenamed the third-generation EA888 and with low-power tuning, and the gearbox matched the 7DCT. In terms of power, the new Kodiak is still maintaining the powertrain on the old model, of course, for this golden powertrain, I believe many users are already very familiar with it.
Chassis part, the new car also uses the front McPherson + rear multi-link adjustment, but the actual model is not a four-wheel drive version, slightly regrettable, of course, then again, I believe that the new Kodiak volume version will still be a two-wheel drive model, which also makes this test drive more referenced.
There may be some users who will worry about the dual-clutch transmission, but in this test drive, I want to express that the new Kodiak does not need to worry about such a problem at all, even if the "floor oil" starts, this 7-speed wet dual-clutch transmission has made significant progress in smoothness, and the gear shift is also very positive, even if it is a low-power model, but the actual power performance will not make me "dislike" in the slightest.
After switching to sport mode, I began to try frequent acceleration and deceleration, at this time the response speed of the engine and transmission will go up to a higher level, the speed exceeding 3000rpm will become very frequent, but even if you can clearly feel the "irritability" of the vehicle, but the entire chassis performance still reflects the adjustment power of the MQB platform, the uneven road surface can be basically isolated, the comfort is excellent, the attitude of the vehicle when braking sharply is also very good, as a home SUV, I was able to give the new Kodiak a high score for his performance in the driving part.
The steering wheel of the new Kodiak still has a strong electronic flavor, there is a certain amount of virtuality, the impact is that the front follow is often not very timely, of course, this may be related to my test drive too many models, as a bias towards a domestic SUV, this may not be a disadvantage.
After a simple test drive, the new Kodiak gives me a very comprehensive feeling, on the acceleration performance, chassis texture or smoothness, you can hardly fault anything, although the control is not its situation, but as an SUV, I do not want to take this to nitpick.
Editor's comments: The price range of the old Kodiak is 177,900 yuan - 247,900 yuan, and the Toyota RAV4 Rongfang and Honda CR-V at this price are extremely strong players, and the new Kodiak after experiencing the mid-term revamp, can be described as a comprehensive complement to its own shortcomings, whether it is the appearance design is not sporty enough, or the car system is not smart enough, now, it is difficult to pick out the faults of the new Kodiak, plus excellent driving texture, large space and 7 seats optional, So if you want to consider a cost-effective joint venture large 5-seat SUV, or even a 7-seat SUV at this price point, then the new Kodiak I will recommend to you!