Skoda Kodiaq vRS: more details revealed before Paris

Performance SUV will cement Skoda’s vRS arm, sitting alongside existing Octavia vRS; it's been put to the test at the 'Ring
Jimi Beckwith
13 September 2018

The upcoming Skoda Kodiaq vRS hot SUV has been confirmed to be powered by a 2.0-litre diesel biturbo engine delivering 237bhp and 369lb ft of torque, already used in the Volkswagen Tiguan.

Development of the upcoming hot Skoda Kodiaq vRS is well under way, ahead of its launch later this year at the Paris motor show. Autocar confirmed the model last year, and spy photographers previously caught the first glimpse of the car testing at the Nürburgring, ahead of its record-breaking run. 

It's the first Skoda to get the brand's Dynamic Sound Boost system, which amplifies the engine note inside the cabin depending on drive mode. Skoda has also confirmed that the car will get full LED headlights and Volkswagen Group's Virtual Cockpit digital dashboard as standard. Skoda's Race Blue shade will also be available on the Kodiaq vRS - a first for any Skoda SUV.

The VW Tiguan 2.0 BiTDi BMT 240 4Motion, with which the Kodiaq vRS shares its engine, produces 240bhp and identical torque. These help the Tiguan accelerate to 62mph in 6.5sec — or the same as a current-generation Ford Focus ST or Lotus Elise Sport. Top speed is 142mph — the same as a Ford Fiesta ST200. It's not yet confirmed if the engine will make it into the next Octavia vRS, due in 2020, but that car will likely still get a diesel offering, as the majority of its sales are diesels. 

The Kodiaq vRS is likely to come close to these figures but, given its extra heft, probably won't match them. By comparison, the Octavia vRS TDI 4x4, which has 181bhp and 280lb ft of torque, reaches 62mph in 7.6sec and also tops out at 142mph. 

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Skoda has also confirmed that the Kodiaq will usher in a new vRS logo, with a red V and stripe ahead of the RS, in place of the green currently used. This logo will replace the current style logo on all vRS models in the future.

The performance SUV is likely to get the four-wheel drive system from the Octavia vRS as standard, rather than being offered in front-wheel drive form with 4WD as an option.

The hot Kodiaq set the lap record for fastest seven-seat SUV around the infamous circuit, completing the 12.94-mile Nordschleife in 9:29.84 minutes - 2:43.96 minutes slower than the four-wheel drive lap record set by the Nio EP9 last year, and 1:38.14 minutes slower than the current SUV lap record holder, the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio. Famed 'Ring driver Sabine Schmitz was behind the wheel.

It will be the second model in Skoda’s vRS line-up, which currently only consists of the Octavia vRS. The UK and Germany will be sales hot spots for the hot Kodiaq given that, in Britain, 20% of Octavia sales are of the vRS version.

Skoda has confirmed that the Kodiaq vRS will also get Dynamic Chassis Control - the VW Group's adaptive suspension system used across high-end cars in the VW, Seat and Skoda brands. It'll offer different drive modes, similar to the Octavia vRS, so Eco, Comfort, Normal and Sport will all feature. It's not yet clear if off-road focused drive modes will also feature. 

Skoda CEO Bernhard Maier confirmed to Autocar earlier this year that there will be a Skoda Kodiaq vRS later this year, but remained coy about its performance arm beyond that. He said: “VRS has been successful for a number of years in some markets. That is why we are thinking about it for other models as well. We have our biggest campaign yet ahead of us by 2020. We have to filter out which ideas customers want most and which help the brand best.”

The brand previously sold a Fabia vRS, before ending production in 2013 due to poor sales. However, Skoda is understood to be planning a return to the hot hatchback market with a Fabia vRS hybrid in 2020.

Read more: 

Skoda to launch hot Kodiaq vRS SUV next year

Volkswagen Group hybrid hot hatches due from 2020

Skoda Fabia vRS axed

Skoda Octavia vRS 2.0 TDI DSG 4x4 review

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Comments
21

Carz99

7 June 2018

Nice, always though it needed a bigger engine

#Dieselsforlife

typos1

12 June 2018
Carz99 wrote:

Nice, always though it needed a bigger engine

It hasnt got a bigger engoine, its got an extra turbo.

XXXX just went POP.

Carz99

14 June 2018

true...what i sort of meant was..in needed MORE POWER

#Dieselsforlife

tuga

7 June 2018

Must be good ones these, how ever can they know what car they are taking photos of? Brilliant, all of 'em.

 

 

TS7

7 June 2018

...to put what it is on the front numberplate space.

TS7

7 June 2018

...that is

Peter Cavellini

7 June 2018

Seems nearly every week there’s a new must have SUV appears, why?, why do we need an SUV in our lives?, we managed before, maybe we’re getting bigger as a species need more room?

Peter Cavellini.

artill

12 June 2018

Lovely - Another diesel SUV. Seen one seen them all, and none of the others interest me one bit.

nicebiscuit

14 June 2018

Rather puts this 'achievement' into perspective.

Stupid car pandering to daft British tastes to hamper even the least sporting cars with stuff springing and low profile rubber.   The fact that Skoda believe this to be marketable but no plan to replace the much lamented old diesel Fabia vRS says it all.  Now THAT was a brilliant concept - reinvent for 2020s as a hybrid?

A34

15 June 2018

But I agree, vRS makes much more sense on a boy racer Fabia. Even 40 year olds driving Octavias like the idea. Mums SUVs without Range Rover budgets? I suspect they’d prefer an L&K. Not that any of them want a diesel today regardless of the number of turbos hanging off it.

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