How time flies! It has been almost five years since Fred reviewed the entry-level Kodiaq, and he liked it very much. There’s now a facelifted version. Have the last few years treated the Kodiaq well, or has it fallen behind its competition?

I road-tripped the 4WD Style model from Wellington to Taranaki to find out.

What We Like and Dislike About The 2022 Skoda Kodiaq Style

What we likeWhat we don’t like
So quiet
Comfortable
Handles well
Spacious
Canton stereo
Cruise control
Sometimes jerky at low speeds

What’s In The 2022 Skoda Kodiaq Range?

There’s a choice of five models in the Kodiaq range, starting with the $48,990 Ambition TSi, which has a 110kW/250Nm 1.4-litre turbo petrol engine, 2WD and a 6-speed DSG transmission. The other four models are all 4×4 and 7-speed DSG.

Our review car is the $63,990 Style TSi, followed by the $69,990 Sportline TSi, both with a 132kW/320Nm 2.0-litre turbo engine.

The 2.0-litre turbodiesel Sportline TDI is $74,990 and makes 147kW and 400Nm.

Finally there’s the $79,990 RS TSi with a more powerful version of the 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine making 180kW and 370Nm.

2022 Skoda Kodiaq Standard Equipment Highlights

  • Driver and Passenger Front Airbags, Driver knee airbag, Curtain and Front & Rear side airbags
  • ‘FRONT ASSIST’ Radar scan in front of car, city autonomous braking
  • ‘LANE ASSIST’
  • ‘SIDE ASSIST’
  • Front & Rear Parking Sensors and Rear-View Camera
  • Electrically opening/closing tailgate
  • LED headlights
  • Electric fold, heated and auto-dimming wing mirrors
  • Leather Heated Multifunction steering wheel
  • ‘CLIMATRONIC’ Automatic Dual Zone air conditioning
  • Fabric seats with lumbar support on front seats
  • ‘BOLERO’ 8” colour touch screen Infotainment system
  • SmartLink+ incl. Android Auto & Apple Carplay – wireless connect
  • Colour ‘MAXI DOT’ – Multi-function colour dash display
  • Wireless smartphone charging
  • 18” alloys

Style spec adds 

  • ‘TRAFFIC JAM ASSIST’
  • ‘PARK ASSIST’ Computer controlled parking assistance
  • Adaptive cruise control including Front Assistant emergency braking
  • ‘KESSY’ keyless central door locking
  • Area View – 4 cameras giving a 360° view of the vehicle
  • Virtual Pedal – automatic gesture opening of tailgate
  • Progressive Steering
  • Tyre Pressure monitoring – low pressure/flat tire alert
  • Alarm siren
  • DCC – Adaptive Chassis Control with Offroad button
  • “SUNSET” tint for side & rear windows from B pillar back
  • Front heated seats
  • Electrically adjustable front seats with memory function
  • Interior Ambient Lighting integrated into doors
  • ‘LED PACKAGE PLUS’ interior ambient door & dash lighting
  • Leather seats with lumbar support on front seats
  • ‘COLUMBUS’ 9.2” colour touch screen Infotainment system
  • Sound System ‘CANTON’ – 9 speakers, digital equalizer, subwoofer
  • 19” alloys

Sportline adds

  • Progressive steering
  • Matrix LED headlights
  • Rough Road package – additional front underbody & stone guards
  • Gloss black roof rails, wing mirrors and front grill surround
  • Sports Leather Heated Multifunction steering wheel with DSG Paddles
  • Front and Rear heated seats
  • Alcantara®, with carbon effect leather front Sports seats
  • Digital Dash – Digital Instrument Panel
  • 19” black alloys

RS adds

  • 20” alloys

Colours available are

  • Black Magic Pearlescent
  • Brilliant Silver Metallic
  • Graphite Grey Metallic
  • Lava Blue Metallic (seen on our review car)
  • Moon White Metallic
  • Race Blue Metallic
  • Velvet Red Metallic
  • Energy-Blue
  • Steel Grey

Good on Skoda for providing some actual colours!

For a full list of specs and options available for the Skoda Kodiaq Style jump on over to the Skoda New Zealand website

How Does The 2022 Skoda Kodiaq Style Compare To Its Competition?

Make/ ModelEnginePower/Torque kW/Nm  SeatsFuel L/100kmTowing CapacityBoot Space, litresPrice
Hyundai Santa Fe Petrol Elite AWD2.5-litre petrol132/23278.72,000571*$73,900
Mazda CX-9 Limited2.5-litre turbo petrol170/42079.02000810$68,490
Kia Sorento AWD EX1.6-litre turbo petrol hybrid169/35076.11650608$65,990
Seat Tarraco FR 4Drive2.0-litre turbo petrol140/32077.22250760$64,990
Skoda Kodiaq Style AWD2.0-litre turbo petrol132/32078.12000630$69,990
Toyota Highlander Limited3.5-Litre Petrol218/35078.82000865$63,990
Mitsubishi Outlander VRX 4WD2.5-Litre Petrol135 / 24578.11600651$54,990
Honda CR-V Sport 71.5-litre Turbo Petrol140 / 24077.31000936$49,000

First Impressions Of The 2022 Skoda Kodiaq Style

The Kodiaq has been with us in New Zealand for 5 years and is a familiar sight on our roads. It has always represented excellent value and has sold well. In fact in 2017 we named it our Best Value Car of the Year and it was named New Zealand Car of the Year 2017. High accolades!

My first impression of this new one is that, well, it looked basically the same. The grille has been re-styled and it looks fresher and a little more in-keeping with the latest cars from Skoda, but otherwise it’s very familiar. This is no bad thing as it’s a great-looking SUV. It has presence without being too in-your-face.

Overall it’s a smart design that I think has, and will continue to age well. There’s enough chrome detailing to lift the look, without being too bling. Similarly with the grey plastic around the bottom – enough to give an impression of chunkiness but not so much that it’s trying too hard to look like a serious off-roader. I guess “restrained but handsome” sums it up well.

What’s The Interior Like In The  2022 Skoda Kodiaq Style?

The Kodiaq’s interior is a similar story – small improvements on the previous model to bring it up to date.

The dash has a simple and smart design with an integrated 9.2” touch screen for the infotainment system. The physical volume and track knobs are gone, replaced with touch buttons and it will all look very familiar to anyone who has been in a recent VW or Cupra. The screen is clear and crisp and responds well. The reversing camera is clear with good resolution, and can give a 360-degree top-down view, which is always appreciated in a big SUV. Like the Cupra Formentor I found the lines a bit too bold, sometimes obscuring parts of the image I would have liked to have seen. 

Fortunately the dual-zone front aircon retains its simple and easy-to-use knobs, with individual temperature displays above each, and physical buttons to operate airflow. Skoda includes a system they call Air Care air quality system, which they say has “highly efficient filters [which] will then continuously purify the air inside the cabin, absorbing particles and pollen along with unpleasant odours.”

The steering wheel is new, giving a much-needed upgrade in looks, as well as new controls. These include buttons for various phone, infotainment and menu settings as well as two thumb wheels. These work beautifully and it would be a shame if Skoda followed other manufacturers in going to haptic touch panels in the future. Cruise control is operated with the usual VW/Audi third stalk on the left of the steering column. This is fiddly at first but soon becomes effortless as you learn the controls.

In the Style you get an analogue dash, with the traditional twin-dial look – rev counter and speedo, with a colour central digital display. It’s all nice and clear and has a digital speed which I prefer to the analogue dials, especially as the silver background on the numbers was hard to see in bright sunlight.

There’s a dual glovebox on the passenger side, opening both up and down and giving a good amount of space. The lid of the upper glovebox has a patterned finish which I’m not too keen on, but it’s much better and more fingerprint-resistant than the piano black around the gear shifter.

The pop-out door protectors from the previous model have gone – they were really cool so it’s a bit sad to lose them. They’re in the brochure so I wonder if they became a victim of the global chip and supply shortages. The umbrellas in the doors are still there though, and that’s a great thing to have.

Wireless phone charging is included as standard, and the Kodiaq will remind you if you open the driver’s door and your phone is still on the charge pad.

There are twin cup holders in the centre console and a good-sized storage bin. Various USB ports are dotted about for your device charging needs. Rear passengers get their own climate vent and temperature controls.

The seats are all-leather and heated in the front. The front row also gets electrical adjustment with memory. They look great, with contrasting stitching on the edges and a diamond-ish pattern stitched into the centres. It took me a while to get a driving position I was comfortable with, but eventually I nailed it and for the next 1,000km of driving, I hardly noticed the seats, which is definitely a big compliment. Second-row seating is comfortable with plenty of leg room. The second row can slide back and forth depending on how much boot and leg room you need. The two seats in row three are more of a short trip accommodation for adults because of the higher floor, but smaller children would be comfortable. It’s easy enough to get in and out of the third row for an adult. There’s a power socket in the side of the boot, too.

The boot has a respectable 270-litre capacity with all seven seats in use, a very respectable 630-765 litres with five seats in use (depending on what position you have the middle row), and a cavernous 2,005 litres with both back rows folded. Row 3 is 50/50 split, row 2 is 60/40 split. Lots of options for cargo and passenger storage!

There are also sliding hooks and tie-down loops in the boot, and a handy storage space under the boot floor for the load cover and dog guard. A feature that’s often overlooked, leaving you to find room in the boot for the cover, or leave it at home.

The boot is electrically operated for opening and closing, and has the kick-to-open (or close) feature that’s so useful when you have arms full of shopping. For some reason it makes an unnecessary loud beep when it hits the fully-open position.

What’s The 2022 Skoda Kodiaq Style Like To Drive?

Most car dealerships in Wellington are in the city, so the first drive of any car tends to be in traffic, and it was no different for the Kodiaq. The steering at low speeds is very light, the 2.0-litre turbo engine giving plenty of power off the line, so despite its size, the Kodiaq feels easy to pilot around the city. The blind-spot monitoring and auto-parking features being particularly useful, though with the top-down camera view the Kodiaq is pretty easy to park. The only thing I noticed in town driving was that it had the trait of many DSG transmissions of sometimes being a bit jerky at low speeds.

The next morning we set off on a road trip from Wellington to Taranaki, and ended up covering around 800km during the weekend. The Kodiaq was the perfect vehicle for our trip as we had some big items to take with us, as well as three people. The boot swallowed our luggage with ease and the two huge lamp shades nestled in the middle row.

Once we were en-route, the radar cruise engaged, it became apparent just how quiet the Kodiaq was, even on the chip seal that New Zealand insists on using on state highways. Some would have been down to the Pirelli Scorpion Verde tyres, but a lot must be great sound insulation. At one point my daughter asked if it was an EV as she hadn‘t noticed any engine noise. Early in the trip is flashed up a message saying “Lane Assist disabled”. I’m not sure what happened but I was fine with that. The lane assist is okay in the Kodiaq, but as in most cars, the inconsistencies in our road markings make it work intermittently, and it becomes more of an irritation than an assistant.

The radar cruise worked flawlessly, coming to a complete stop in traffic, working well with the engine stop/start system, and generally not irritating me at all. It’s also very good at maintaining the set speed down hills – something a lot of systems struggle with.

Ride quality was excellent, soaking up bumps and undulations well, but still allowing cornering without too much body roll. There’s a point on SH45 where most cars start to show their true handling characteristics, and you can’t leave the cruise set to 100 without passenger complaints. The Kodiaq fared better than most, and was happily cruising around corners.

Performance-wise the Kodiaq is, well, fine. It’s not slow, it’s not fast, but it has enough power to do the job. Adequate, as Rolls-Royce used to say. In Normal drive mode it can feel a bit sluggish out of tight corners, but stick it in Sport and that goes away. It’s not exactly sporty but shifts later, giving you that extra little push you want to make the driving more fun.

There’s something about the way European cars drive that I really like, and the Kodiaq doesn’t disappoint. The Kodiaq’s steering feels sharp and accurate, and gives a feeling of connection to what the tyres are doing, a bit of a fun-factor despite its size and family target market. I got out of the Kodiaq and into a Japanese mid-sized SUV and compared to the Kodiaq it just felt numb and dull. It shows that even if you’ve grown up and need room for 4 kids and a dog, you don’t have to accept a boring drive.

How was fuel consumption? My driving in the Kodiaq was about 80% long trip, and we used 7.1l/100km of 95-RON, which is impressive for a big petrol SUV. Skoda’s combined figure is 9.3l/100km. The brochure only quotes combined figures but a search online suggests 7.0l/100km for highway driving, making 7.1 on New Zealand’s terrain doubly impressive.

2022 Skoda Kodiaq Style Specifications

Vehicle Type7-seat SUV
Starting Price$63,990
Price as Tested$63,990
Engine1,985cc inline 4-cylinder turbo-petrol
Power, Torque
kW/Nm
132/320
Transmission7-speed DSG
Spare WheelSpace saver
Kerb Weight, Kg1,815
Length x Width x Height
mm
4699 x 2087 x 1685
Cargo Capacity,
Litres
(seats up/seats down)
270/765/2005
Fuel tank capacity,
litres
58
Fuel Economy,
L/100km
Advertised Spec – Combined – 9.3
Real-World Test – Combined – 7.1
Low Usage: 0-6 / Medium Usage 6-12 / High Usage 12+
Towing Capacity
Kg, unbraked/braked
750/2000
Turning circle
metres
11.6
Small: 6-10m / Medium 10-12m / Large 12m+
Warranty5 years mechanical warranty or up to 150,000km
Safety informationANCAP Rating (2017 model) – 5 stars – Link
Rightcar.govt.nz – 5 Stars – NUQ933

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REVIEW OVERVIEW
Driver Technology
8
Economy
8
Handling
8
Infotainment
8
Interior
8
Performance
7
Ride
8
Safety
9
Styling
7
Value
7
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I love everything about cars! Driving, looking at them, modifying. It's great to see what people do with cars, the different car cultures. If I was rich, my garage would be bigger than my house!
2022-skoda-kodiaq-style-car-review<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The Kodiaq has been around for a while now but this facelifted version still impresses with plenty of space, a great interior, combined with excellent levels of comfort, interior noise control, ride quality and handling.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Prices have gone up with this version, but so have features, safety and efficiency meaning the Kodiaq is still a great value package. If you need room for the family but still enjoy the drive, test a Kodiaq alongside its rivals and I think you’ll be impressed.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->

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