Guide
In the brand synergy planning of the Volkswagen Group, Volkswagen passenger cars are the absolute main force in the mainstream market, and Skoda is an important differentiated supplement. However, in 2021, the unsatisfactory performance of the Chinese market makes Skoda need to inject vitality into the product side, and the appearance and interior are fully renovated, and the 2022 Kodiak, which is more youthful and more personalized, comes at the right time.
SAIC Skoda 2022 Kodiak 380TSI7-seat 4WD version
Test drive location: Shanghai
Weather: Sunny, 11-22 degrees
Roads: city roads, village roads, non-paved roads
Basic parameters:
Body: Length 4701mm, width 1883mm, height 1676mm, wheelbase 2791mm, luggage compartment volume 190-2065L
Engine: 2.0T turbocharged engine, maximum dynamic rate 220PS, maximum torque 350N·m
Drivetrain: Seven-stop wet type dual clutch
Chassis: Front McPherson, rear multi-link, 5th generation Haldex Henderson differential intelligent four-wheel drive system
The focus of the kodiak's redesign is that the entire series adopts the RS design style. In fact, as Skoda's first SUV model, the Czech brand was quite attentive to Kodiak, and deeply integrated bohemian cultural elements at the beginning of the design.
For example, the delicate carvings in the interior details of the front and rear headlights of Kodiak fully reflect the bohemian crystal cutting concept proposed by former BMW design director Jozef Kaban, and the bumpy side waist also adds layering to the car. However, the overall low-key and introverted style makes the intention of these details not easy for the public to perceive, which is an era of wine aroma and fear of deep alleys.
Nowadays, on the basis of retaining the original design concept, Kodiak has completely reseated the RS design style, using a more three-dimensional front grille and a split lower grille, although the whole is still not a personality temperament, but also for Kodiak to add a youthful atmosphere and sports style, the redesigned front grille chrome packaging also strengthens the three-dimensional sense and layering of the front. I wonder if the more atmospheric appearance can bring a little more attention to Kodiak and attract the public to appreciate the detailed beauty of this mid-size SUV.
Also upgraded is Kodiak's interior design. Abandoning the European version of the embedded center console, the new Kodiak chose SAIC Volkswagen's new generation of interior design language, that is, the floating central control large screen. Compared with the previous embedded central control screen, the advantage of the floating type is to provide users with a better viewing angle and a more convenient control distance. The design of the three-layer horizontal panel with 10-color mood light also provides a stronger sense of technology.
Along with the interior innovation is a major upgrade of the vehicle-machine system, Kodiak is equipped with SAIC Volkswagen's new smart car-connected MOS 3.X system. The intuitive feeling of the simple experience is that the fluency of this car-machine system is not bad. In addition, MOS 3.X also supports CarPlay/CarLife mobile phone mapping, which is a big boon for users who don't like to pay for car-to-machine switching costs. It is also equipped with practical configurations such as ACC adaptive cruise, tire pressure monitoring, ramp assistance, and 360° panoramic impact.
The new Kodiak will still be available in both 5-seat and 7-seat versions, but given the 4701mm length and 2791mm wheelbase, the third row of the 7-seat version is more of an emergency choice, but the 7-seat version of the third row is used as a large five-seat SUV, and the trunk space is considerable.
The essence of the practicality of the Kodiak space lies in the detailed design of the storage space, and the new model fully retains this advantage, with 22 flexible storage spaces such as glasses cases, card slots, B-pillar coat hooks, central storage lattice cup holders, and a driver's side door umbrella slot with water guide slots, and the convenience is further upgraded. And the one-piece sports seats provided in the front row, the feeling of envelopment and support has indeed been upgraded. In terms of powertrain, the new Cordia series still uses the EA888 2.0TSI engine, with two versions, the 380TSI with a maximum power of 220 hp and the 330 TSI with a maximum power of 186 hp. The drivetrain still matches a seven-speed wet dual-clutch transmission, although the smoothness of shifting in the new model at idle/low speed conditions has been significantly improved.
The tuning of the new model is still the classic Ashkenazi flavor, although it is a more comfortable tuning orientation in the Volkswagen system, but you can still feel the precise control of the Ashkenazi characteristics. The less steering wheel openness provides the driver with a more direct sense of control, and the steering damping is also at a moderate level, although it is not as heavy as the krypton 001 used in recent transportation, but it can also ensure a certain handling texture.
When the new car faces obvious road surface abruptness such as speed bumps, the vibration filter is crisp, and the longitudinal swing is well suppressed, but the filtration ability under continuous pothole road conditions is poor, and the bumpy feeling will be more obviously transmitted to the car. In terms of roll suppression, limited by the captain, Kodiak will be inferior to the mid-size SUV of the same Volkswagen, but closer to the European version of the Tangaku.
The 380TSI top-mounted version of Kodiak also provides intelligent four-wheel drive functions. Although it is not the latest sixth-generation Haldex Differential, the intelligent four-wheel drive system based on the fifth-generation Haldex Hender Differential can still achieve 96%-10% power distribution of the front wheels and 4%-90% of the rear wheels, and can adjust the power ratio according to the road conditions, and the ability and configuration are basically on the same level as the Tanyue/Tiguan L. During the test drive, I also happened to encounter a section of gravel road with slope, and you can feel the improvement of the stability of the intelligent four-wheel drive on the handling.
Because it is equipped with a front windshield silent glass film, a double-layer seal of the door, and the use of sound insulation technology such as body cavity partition technology and power vibration absorption technology, the performance of the vehicle NVH in this test drive is more satisfactory, and the wind noise and tire noise suppression effect in the vehicle driving are obvious. As the first SUV of the Skoda brand, Kodiak has also sold 2-3,000 vehicles per month in the Chinese market with its practicality and price ratio, bringing considerable business growth to the Skoda brand and SAIC Volkswagen. In J.D. Power's recently released 2021 China Vehicle Reliability Study, Kodiak still ranks first in the market segment, but with the impact of competitors and the lack of freshness of its own products, Kodiak's recent market performance has been unsatisfactory.
After thirty years of hard work, under the strength of the north and south Volkswagen, China has become the largest single market of the Volkswagen Group, and its position is stable. However, in the healthy competition between the north and south Volkswagen in the past three years, FAW-Volkswagen has always come out on top, among which the Audi brand in the luxury market and the Jetta brand in the sinking market are important boosts. In 2022, in the luxury brand market, SAIC Audi and FAW Audi will face each other. Although it is not as fully targeted at the sinking market as the independent Jetta brand, Kodiak, which is both cost-effective, differentiated and practical, and has completed the dynamic transformation of design style, has also effectively broadened the range of choices for consumers, and if it can be matched to the right marketing strategy, it may also be the beginning of the rebound of the Skoda brand, and then contribute to the much-needed increment for SAIC Volkswagen.
That's all there is to it.
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The author of this article is kicking car gang Li Bingxue