[devilwearsprada]

Originally Posted by a.bhatt

The focus is more on the engine than on space so more on driver's enjoyment than the family's comfort.
If the idea behind this car and this new platform of Skoda/VW was to capture the mass market, then the car falls short or rather to put it in a more politically correct way, there is still room for improvement.

From safety perspective, let's wait for the NCAP rating before we say anything on the "Indianised" version of the platform. If safety indeed was the core of the offering, I would have at least expected disc brakes on the rear wheels.

There are two major flaws here, the vento TSI is an enthusiast car and has a wonderful rear bench. You can have a fairly decent drivers car and a comfort car in one and Skoda/VW excel at it because the components they use last much longer which suits the non-enthusiast market.

Even if the platform is Indianised, the cars will be much much safer owing to the standard safety features on the platform. You should read more about the material grade and thickness of the MQB A0-IN before commenting on the safety quality.

Drums over Discs anyday in this segment because drums are much cheaper to replace lowering maintenance costs.

[a.bhatt]

Amen brother! I do hope you are right.

As for the back seat, most of the initial reviews have said that the car is good for a 4 seater and not 5, but I would really be happy if they are proven wrong by our TBhp review post launch.

As for the rear disc brakes, if 4 discs are safer than 2, I would take 4 any day, even if it costs a few more bucks in maintenance. As I said earlier, if safety is supposed to be the USP of the car then Skoda should have given 4 discs. If they are competing against Creta/Seltos, then they should have given 4 discs. As you rightly said, we get 2 drums as the priority was to keep the price low.

Don't get me wrong, I have very high hopes from this car but as I said earlier, this is a little confused proposition. Trying to balance everything in terms of performance, safety, comfort and price has left the car with no clear differentiator. I guess the TSI engines are the only saving grace. Skoda should have put at least some segment first features to make this car stand out against the competition.

[sagwal]

Originally Posted by udaikalra01

These figures are brilliant for a turbo petrol automatic with 150hp! Are these MID indicated or self calculated?

New VW petrol engines are really fuel-efficient.

These are MID data. I use Drivvo app to calculate actual mileage. T Roc MID shows 3-4% higher mileage than tank to tank method.
I have uploaded few videos of T Roc Mileage

T Roc Mileage

Originally Posted by yesyeswe

The 1.5 TSI of Volkswagen present in Karoq and T-roc has active cylinder technology, where the engine shuts down 2 or maybe 1 cylinder(I don't know about the number of cylinders) while cruising and under light load on the engine, which really improves the fuel consumption of the engine.

If this technology is present in the Kushaq then it would be a segment first feature and really good for the fuel consumption when you have fuel crossing 100rs per litre in most of the places and specially Sri Ganganagar where it is 105rs/litre.

Yes, ACT helps a lot in achieving good mileage. ACT contribution in improving fuel mileage is more during city drive as it hardly activates above ~80 km/h.
Coasting also improves fuel efficiency.

1.5 TSI with DSG configuration is 20kg heavier than 1.5 TSI with a manual gearbox. So there will not be much difference in mileage.

[yesyeswe]

Originally Posted by a.bhatt

Amen brother! I do hope you are right.

As for the back seat, most of the initial reviews have said that the car is good for a 4 seater and not 5

Don't get me wrong, I have very high hopes from this car but as I said earlier, this is a little confused proposition. Trying to balance everything in terms of performance, safety, comfort and price has left the car with no clear differentiator. I guess the TSI engines are the only saving grace. Skoda should have put at least some segment first features to make this car stand out against the competition.

Well 3 people sitting comfortably at the back seat is a very subjective matter, depends a lot on the size of the individuals as well, if you have seen Autocar videos, 3 Renuka Kriplanis would sit comfortably in most of the cars whereas 3 Nikhil Bhatias(the tall bulky guy) would be a very tight fit in any car.

Moreover most manufacturers nowadays shape the rear bench in such a way that middle seat is good for a kid only(less under thigh support, big size arm rest on the back support) I think most of the cars 4+1 seater.

Even if you look at the new Citroën C5 Aircross which is a fairly wide car(wider than Harrier), they have designed the rear seat for 3 adults with very distinguishable recessed spaces, like you can see 3 individual bucket seats. But the width of the seats is very less and not at all comfortable for 3 adults.

Now coming to segment first features, you know building a safe car with good quality materials, having all the safety features like Traction control, ESP, 4 airbags standard (I know 4 discs are better but Harrier has drums at the rear and no reviewer has complaint about poor braking performance) costs a lot of money too.

How about a safe car which is competitive in pricing and having most of the segment standard features? You must also consider that the engines, both 1.0 TSI and 1.5 TSI are one of the best in the segment. The 1.5 TSI is from a segment above, cars like Octavia, Karoq and T-Roc has this engine and it's very good in performance and fuel efficiency too due to active cylinder technology. If Kushaq gets active cylinder technology, then it would be a segment first feature.

[highwaypatrol]

Hope they will retain the polo like rear wiper instead of the currently shown ones. I know its a small matter, however I always associate that beautiful & classy looking uni blade sleek type rear vipers with VW and skoda makes. It will be more classier to look from rear if they can retain those wipers.

[dipen]

Just quickly compiled key variant differences from the press release for easy reference.

[AnnaRocks]

Originally Posted by yesyeswe

Renuka Kriplanis would sit comfortably in most of the cars whereas 3 Nikhil Bhatias(the tall bulky guy) would be a very tight fit in any car.

LOL
So true. The first time I saw Renuka was during the Celerio launch video some years ago and I said the car looks huge for an Estilo replacement.
A deja vu moment occurred during the camouflage review in Jan when she stood next to Kushaq in the video and the next video I watched was of the Overdrive guy Bertand which gave a better perspective of the car size.

[Deadpool]

Originally Posted by yesyeswe

If Kushaq gets active cylinder technology, then it would be a segment first feature.

Yes, Kushaq’s 1.5 TSI motor will get the brilliant ACT as confirmed by Zac in an old tweet. This will make this engine the most fuel efficient in its segment.

[RPM1706]

Originally Posted by Deadpool

Yes, Kushaq’s 1.5 TSI motor will get the brilliant ACT as confirmed by Zac in an old tweet. This will make this engine the most fuel efficient in its segment.

Attachment 2164646

Really looking forward to the 1.5 TSI here in the Kushaq.

Just hope the issues that had cropped up earlier with this engine - problems while pulling away from a cold start, stuttering during low revs, "kangarooing" etc. - stand resolved. Last I checked, a software update seems to have fixed the problem.

Anyone can throw some light on this?

[yesyeswe]

Originally Posted by RPM1706

Really looking forward to the 1.5 TSI here in the Kushaq.

Anyone can throw some light on this?

I think for performance review you should read and watch Karoq and T-roc reviews. The engine is gonna be the same, the power figures are same, the weight is going to be less, more so in case of the manual variant.

Performance wise both the Karoq and T-roc are good so we can expect the same thing from Kushaq and Taigun as well.

[Arnav612]

I find the Kushaq to be a looker except for from the side. It's got an abrupt end to supposedly dodge the 4m+ length. This might just compromise the entire proportionate value Skoda designs have and might even take away the reputation of more regal looking cars.

The XUV300 having the same issue in design about how the side profile abruptly ends into the rear, as well as a small boot issue, left me with no surprise in seeing a poor 385 litres in the Kushaq.

(I know the segments are different, but I tried to draw some correspondence)

I'm not sure how it'll take on its rivals, but it's good to see Skoda in this segment.

On the inside, I find the dials looking really obsolete- Laura like. Being in a segment, driven by bling for the most part (Not the best quality to have, but it is what it is.), they couldn't have messed up in offering that consistency coupled with Skoda's German build reputation.

The rest seems pretty okay to me, I personally like the vibe the 2 Spoke steering emits.

[RPM1706]

Originally Posted by yesyeswe

I think for performance review you should read and watch Karoq and T-roc reviews. The engine is gonna be the same, the power figures are same, the weight is going to be less, more so in case of the manual variant.

Performance wise both the Karoq and T-roc are good so we can expect the same thing from Kushaq and Taigun as well.

Thanks, yes, I have been following this engine's performance and know just how good it has been in the Karoq and T-roc. I was actually checking specifically on the concerns that were reported by some users of the 1.5 TSI Evo engine's hesitancy and cold start related issues.

https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/news/ne...tation-issues/

Anyway, it seems to have got fixed with a software update as reported in this link here. Like you said, it's a stonker of a mill and I can't wait to try it out on the Kushaq.

[84.monsoon]

Originally Posted by Deadpool

Yes, Kushaq’s 1.5 TSI motor will get the brilliant ACT as confirmed by Zac in an old tweet. This will make this engine the most fuel efficient in its segment.

This will be definitely a segment-first feature for the Kushaq and the Taigun in this crowded market if retained. I am not sure why they are not emphasizing this aspect in the advertisements and brochures, if the 1.5 engine is indeed coming with ACT. Urban Indian upper-middle-class customer loves to acquire and show off such features that are technologically sophisticated and differentiated from the Johnny next door. IMO, Skoda should pitch this louder than they have been doing so far, there is not even a mention of ACT in the Kushaq brochure under the "engines"" section (see picture attached). I hope they have not deleted this feature, post the tweet from Zac in April.

It is true that ACT has been around a long time - Honda used to have it in their cars in 2000s in the US, though in my experience, it did not seem to result in a huge increase in fuel efficiency on highway runs at 65-75 MPH (~110- 120 KPH) common in the US. Unless cruising very sedately (say 70-80 KPH), the engine does need all four cylinders in highway runs. It also needs all four cylinders during accelerating away from red lights and while moving in start-stop traffic. If you have long stretched with medium-paced, free flowing traffic as part of your daily commute (like some of the ring roads in our cities), then you may save quite a bit of fuel as the ACT kicks in under such circumstances. BHP-ian sagwal's earlier post shows that T-ROC with ACT is able to deliver excellent mileage in some circumstances and this should be the case with the 1.5 Kushaq as well, if ACT does make it into the final car.

[yesyeswe]

Originally Posted by Arnav612

I find the Karoq to be a looker except for from the side. It's got an abrupt end to supposedly dodge the 4m+ length. This might just compromise the entire proportionate value Skoda designs have and might even take away the reputation of more regal looking cars.

First of all this thread is about Skoda Kushaq and not Karoq, then the length of skoda Karoq is 4382 mm and the length of Kushaq is 4225 mm. There's no dodging of any kind.

[Marauder]

Originally Posted by Arnav612

I find the Karoq to be a looker except for from the side. It's got an abrupt end to supposedly dodge the 4m+ length.

I think you mean the Kushaq? You’re not the only one having difficulties due to VW and Skoda’s naming strategy.

This is not a sub 4m SUV, though. This is over 4.2m and will compete with the Creta. You’re right that the rear of the car ends abruptly like the XUV300. Personally, I like it as I prefer boxier rear ends as compared to the coupe-ish rear ends of some of the new Crossovers.