[akash_v12]

Originally Posted by Jaggu

This is an exhaust heat shield and not underbody protection. And what are those terrible brown marks? Hope it is not corrotion?

Originally Posted by Maky

Since you got a close up look, a question on the reddish-brown coloured marks, is that rust?.. already?

Doesn't seem like Corrosion to me, has extended all the way like something has leaked. Maybe transmission fluid?

[SBM3J]

Sorry if this is answered already, I searched the forum, couldn’t find it.

I believe myskoda connect work with an inbuilt SIM card like how BlueLink works in Creta, anyone knows the below:

1. What is the network operator for the sim?
2. How many years of free service is it? From the presentation it sounded like 3 years. Is it only for the apps or it applies to the connect car features too?
3. What’s the cost after the free period is over?
4. Is there a limit to data usage in the free period?

I asked all these to the sales guy at the showroom, he is not even aware of mySkoda connect unfortunately.

[Kwanza]

Originally Posted by ChiragM

Skoda Kushaq Interior Images

The Kushaq is equipped with a wireless charging pad along with Type-C USB ports. I feel that adding Type-C USB ports is not a good idea as most people still use regular USB cables today. At least, one of them should have been a regular USB. Skoda is clearly inspired by Apple!

I disagree.

Most respectable brand-name cars built post circa 2019 carry Type-C ports, particularly the Germans. For a fact, I know all Mercedes cars have fully transitioned to Type-C. I'm glad a built-for-India product is getting equal treatment at least here.

Someone has to kick start the transition, and Apple made a bold and essential move there. Tech gets better and the only way you can let go off legacy tech is by letting it go.

As a product manager, going Type-C is a no-brainer. Keeping even one Type-A port would give customers the opportunity to complain about having only "one" useable USB port in a modern 2 million rupee car. Besides, a car is a purchase I'm going to keep for atleast the next 5 years. It only makes sense to future-proof it as much as possible.

Brilliant review otherwise, love the attention to detail

[Axe77]

I finally saw the Kushaq in the flesh yesterday at Mody Skoda, Worli and took a short test drive of the automatic 1.0 TSI around worli seaface and back. For good measure, I also visited Hyundai today and took a short test drive of their 1.5 iVT (automatic).

My view on some key aspects, in some cases in isolation and in some as a comparative. I’m not going to dwell upon some of the obvious like DSG issues, DCT issues, merits of extended warranty, brake failures and definitely not price. Enough is known and has been written on these aspects.

1. Size:
Firstly, the Kushaq is definitely a pint smaller visually than the Creta. There is no escaping this. This is not only apparent from outside but also from inside. While driving the Creta I felt I was piloting a bigger car and sitting higher up than I felt in the Kushaq. The internal space offered by the Kushaq however feels as comfortable as the Creta on almost all metrics. There is no denying that this is an outright 4 seater and the 5th passenger space is very tight. I think a Creta definitely has a little more space for five. But lets not confuse “size” for “presence”. In terms of presence, it remains justifiably comparable to the Creta, albeit as a marginally smaller package. Personally, I don’t need a car to have visual / external presence. What matters to me is the internal space and comfort that a vehicle provides – if it can do so in a more compact looking external façade that’s a bonus.

2. Boot space:
Lets get this out of the way too. The design of the Kushaq boot space is pretty well packaged and its likely that they will both swallow comparable amounts of luggage. If you fold down the seats, the Creta provides a much cleaner flat surface so you have to see how you may need your car boot (upright / folded) to be. I’m a sucker for large boot capacity and honestly I find the space in the Kushaq perfectly acceptable.

3. External Design:
Where both the Creta and Seltos try too hard in different ways and different degrees, the Kushaq design reeks of textbook Skoda / VW class. Clean, timeless lines. The car is very well proportioned and visually its hard to find a viewing angle that does not flatter the design.

4. Internal build quality and finish:
I felt that the internal look and feel of the Kushaq and Creta are both lovely and both cabins are great places to be in. Both look well finished, with decent quality materials for most part and special in their own distinct way with a few things in either case that I don’t care for. There are a few places where the quality looked a bit underwhelming, like the way the seat covers are wrapped in the Kushaq and some surfaces which are not really contact points. But in my view both cars are completely comparable in the overall quality and fit / finish of internal material.

On that note, some specific points:

- I don’t care for this two spoke steering but I don’t like the new Creta steering either. I like the 3 spoke design (like on the pre facelift Superb) the most and in general I like the 3 spoke designs. Both steerings look weird to (the Creta’s looks like its trying too hard) and both would be a compromise aesthetically in my eyes.

- For the price, I would really have liked electronic seat adjustment and not manual.

- Sunroof: To me that ½ sunroof is as good as no sunroof. I’m getting to be quite a sucker for this pano sunroof thing and love the one the Creta provides.

- Paddle shifts: I love it that VAG / Koreans are giving this across the board right down to Venue / Polo level. @Jeep / @Tata: For heaven’s sake please take a cue from this and give these on your automatics.

- Seat fabric seems comparable in both cars. But I love the way the seats of the Kushaq are contoured. This is what accentuates its unsuitability as a five seater but this is also what makes it brilliantly comfortable as a four seater. I would happily use the Kushaq as a part time chauffeur driven car with no qualms and actually prefer the back seat of the Kushaq over the Creta.

- I didn’t like the old school analog look of the Kushaq cockpit at all, that too in plain black and white in a really dull font. The Creta’s digital looking one is much more in keeping with 2021 and personally I feel the Kushaq would look really dated very soon if not from the word go. I would really have liked a more modern looking cockpit – I suspect they may reserve this for a higher variant they’ll launch later.

- I don’t care so much for 360 cameras etc but I’m really annoyed at the skimping of 6 airbags (not a first I realise now after some more reading – this was done in the Rapid Monte Carlo too). Skoda is not providing a cut price product and it should know that its customers are consciously paying a premium for their offering. To skimp on a safety features that its well healed customers expect – not cool!

5. The drive:
The 1.0 of the Kushaq simply owns the Creta on the driving experience. But this is not a Korean vs Euro thing. I suspect its more likely the torque converter stamping its superiority over a CVT, which is predictable. It’s also important to remember that my drive was short and in city / traffic conditions. I don’t have the benefit of a longer drive. But in the short city drive I did, the Kushaq does felt more special. It feels compact the way I would want my second car to feel without feeling small inside per se. I would definitely revisit this from a fresh perspective whenever I can get a chance to drive the DCT as well as the 1.5 DSG. But my sense is that the 1.5 DSG will be an absolute cracker to drive. This is one of the acid test’s to determine which of the two top variants automatics is the pick of the lot.

6. Ride quality and comfort:
Dynamically the Kushaq felt really sorted to drive and the ride quality felt better tuned than the Creta. Having said that, the Creta feels nothing like the Hyundais of yore (including my 2018 Grand i10). It feels really mature and well put together. I think people should stop pre – judging certain brands and judge each car on its individual merits. Honestly, the Creta I drove today doesn’t feel like the typical floaty Hyundais of ten years ago and the internal fit and finish also is lovely. Equally, I was surprised to find that the Skoda’s steering was not as taut as I expected and had a “slightly” disconnected feel to it and had some play.

End Notes:
Overall, I think the Kushaq is definitely a super package and as said in the original review, brings a breath of European freshness into a segment very capably commandeered by the Koreans with support from the Indians and Chinese. You have to decide whether a package like this works for you. If bigger is better and visual street cred is important, there are MGs and Tatas which have reasonably competent offerings. The Koreans offer a superb all round package with good driving dynamics and feature laden too. My first blush reaction to the Koreans is that they do almost everything reasonably to very well and you definitely can’t go wrong picking either of them.

But the Kushaq is its own unique take on this segment in typical VAG style. And whatever little time I spent with it, I liked it!

[theguardian]

So, went to the Skoda showroom yesterday to check out the new Kushaq. I will keep it short with my observations.

Size-wise, it's okay, not a very commanding one when compared to my Stallion (Kicks). The interior is neatly laid out, overall everything seems to be pretty sorted. Was fortunate enough to test drive both 1.0 Litre manual & automatic. A quick summary of both:

1.0 Litre manual

The engine was good, seems to be a refined one. The clutch was not too hard or too soft, a balanced one, liked it. Input to throttle was well-received, steering was good to hold, inspired confidence in me while driving, not heavy, not too light, and balanced. Overall liked it!!

1.0 Litre automatic

The real reason behind visiting the showroom was to test this engine & gearbox combination, One word; a rocket with a booster-jet!! You gotta trust me. Was very happy and came back home and started discussing with my family. The RM was kind enough to allow me to test drive the car back to my home so that my family members can also glance at it. Okay, the afternoon ended peacefully.

In the evening, was talking to my Father and casually asked for his feedback; 2 observations:

• he felt the cabin to bit cozy as compared to Kicks, Kicks felt roomier
• he felt that he's sitting low when he occupied the co-driver seat for a few minutes.

Point taken. Now the battle started between heart & head and when I am in such kind of situation, I resort to the ladies of the house, my Mother & Wife.

So today morning, we all went to the showroom again to have a look at Kushaq. We all 3 sat in the rear seat and the decision was made instantaneously. a big NO.

Well, I stand 5'10" (78 Kg), and my mother and wife again are 5'4" with normal weight, and considering our height & health, we sit quite comfortably in the Kicks but were not at all comfortable in Kushaq. I am fine with the rejection, thank you, ladies!!!

We also sat in the Tata Altroz, the showroom was just adjacent to the Skoda one and the rear space in the Altroz surprised all of us, literally!!

It's shortlisted but waiting for an automatic in it.

One last note; was going through the brochure of Kushaq and realized that the active variant does not have a seat height adjustment for the driver, so folks who are considering the active variant please choose wisely.

[NoLurkerForLong]

Originally Posted by Kwanza

...

Besides, a car is a purchase I'm going to keep for atleast the next 5 years. It only makes sense to future-proof it as much as possible.

Brilliant review otherwise, love the attention to detail

I dont know how this does future-proof if we have to live with dongles for a foreseeable future. Almost 99% percent of devices in use need USB-A port at the charging point. Even in that 1% which includes macbook pro, I dont know if these ports provide 87W that mac chargers provide. Even if so, its a miniscule of use case.

Give us a USB-A charging port and free us from a life with dongles please.

[Kwanza]

Originally Posted by NoLurkerForLong

I dont know how this does future-proof if we have to live with dongles for a foreseeable future. Almost 99% percent of devices in use need USB-A port at the charging point. Even in that 1% which includes macbook pro, I dont know if these ports provide 87W that mac chargers provide. Even if so, its a miniscule of use case.

Give us a USB-A charging port and free us from a life with dongles please.

A quick Google gives me this: https://www.91mobiles.com/list-of-ph...ith-usb-type-c. -- long list of modern smartphones starting right from 10K, all with Type-C!

Futureproof because, the probability that you will upgrade your smartphone (main device that will connect to these ports in 99% of the use cases) in the next 5 years is higher than upgrading your car. The smartphone industry has already made a decent inroad into adapting Type-C. 3 years later, the number will only grow. At the time, you want to be able to charge your new phone without a dongle; Skoda got you covered.

For now, dongles is the least destructive bridge solution. If you have to use it, you have to use it. Remember the days when cars had only an OBD port and it was unthinkable to plug in a USB for your music? If these radical changes didn't happen, that would still be the case today and we would still be connecting keyboards into computer using PS/2 ports.

[NoLurkerForLong]

Originally Posted by Kwanza

A quick Google gives me this: https://www.91mobiles.com/list-of-ph...ith-usb-type-c. -- long list of modern smartphones starting right from 10K, all with Type-C!

...

Its true many of these phones and other devices use USB-C but they are on the device end but they still use USB-A for the charger port. Like I mentioned earlier, few devices like Macbook and OnePlus use USB-C for charger port for high wattage, but I doubht Kushaq provides 60+W for OnePlus warp charging or 80+W for MacBook.

For almost all the phones you mentioned above the included USB cables would require a USB-A charging port. Its going a long marriage with dongles for sure.

[nitkel]

To members who have booked their cars, when are you expecting your cars to be delivered? Would be good to have some owner reviews here!

[SBM3J]

Originally Posted by NoLurkerForLong

I dont know how this does future-proof if we have to live with dongles for a foreseeable future. Almost 99% percent of devices in use need USB-A port at the charging point. Even in that 1% which includes macbook pro, I dont know if these ports provide 87W that mac chargers provide. Even if so, its a miniscule of use case.

Give us a USB-A charging port and free us from a life with dongles please.

I don’t think 99% is anywhere near reality. Almost all of flagship phones today are usb c or will be in the next iteration.

Skoda did the perfectly right thing here. Some of us might have to live with dongles for a couple of years max, but that’s better than living in a future where it’s next to impossible to find a usb a to usb c dongle.

Technically is always moves forward, the transition is sometimes painful but it’s necessary and that’s the only way to move forward.

OT: I think in couple of years almost all the flagship phones will start moving port less so wireless charging and wireless android auto/ apple CarPlay is all we would need in car. But wherever there are ports it would all be type c.

[maverickNerd]

Originally Posted by Kwanza

A quick Google gives me this: [url]
Futureproof because, the probability that you will upgrade your smartphone (main device that will connect to these ports in 99% of the use cases) in the next 5 years is higher than upgrading your car. The smartphone industry has already made a decent inroad into adapting Type-C. 3 years later, the number will only grow. At the time, you want to be able to charge your new phone without a dongle; Skoda got you covered.
.

Exactly I was about to reply the same, being associated to the telecom industry I can say for sure that in next 2-3 years, all phones will come with type C only, and with 5G coming, I suppose everyone will change their mobile so in that sense I think it is a good decision by Skoda.

Also, I am very happy that Skoda is not providing remote lock/unlock facility + engine start from app, it needs lot of heads to make it secure and even then it is not, look at Tesla (https://bugcrowd.com/tesla), researchers have found 555 security bugs in a company like Tesla, which is very focused in security. It is very hard to make devices secure unless company really focuses on it, Right now we are in a stage where competitors(Bluelink/UVO) app functionality itself is buggy, and as a security researcher when I look at app which looks weird, my eyes goes lit, and I can say from my experience till now, that the apps which has bugs in one direction must be vulnerable at others as well.

[varun_ro]

Originally Posted by nitkel

To members who have booked their cars, when are you expecting your cars to be delivered? Would be good to have some owner reviews here!

Expecting to get the delivery by the second week of August. Had booked the car on the 1st of July. I have booked the 1.0 TSI manual in Ambition trim and as booked it in Tornado Red, the delivery will be in the second week. I heard other Colors waiting period had already crossed over to September.

About the USB type C discussion, almost 90% devices north of 15,000 rs have a Type C USB cable, and a good quality Type C USB to Type C USB cable hardly costs 300 bucks at Croma. The only USB 2.0 device at my home is almost 3 years old and at its end of life. Every other device apart from Apple has a Type C port and the cable provided with the New iPad is type C to apple (not sure what the port on apple devices is called, maybe lightening, but the port that goes in the charger is type C)

So I do agree that these ports are future proof as more and more new devices are switching over to Type C now.

[NoLurkerForLong]

Originally Posted by SBM3J

I don’t think 99% is anywhere near reality. Almost all of flagship phones today are usb c or will be in the next iteration.

Skoda did the perfectly right thing here. Some of us might have to live with dongles for a couple of years max, but that’s better than living in a future where it’s next to impossible to find a usb a to usb c dongle.

Technically is always moves forward, the transition is sometimes painful but it’s necessary and that’s the only way to move forward.

OT: I think in couple of years almost all the flagship phones will start moving port less so wireless charging and wireless android auto/ apple CarPlay is all we would need in car. But wherever there are ports it would all be type c.

Since you and others here are all for this usb-c port, I am just wondering what devices do you own that needs usb-c on the charging end.

[Latheesh]

4 out of 5 colours in one short video.

https://youtu.be/W-bCMHzNgmo

[heysac]

I feel Hyundai-Kia and VAG are charging a huge premium for these cross-overs due a lack of contemporary offering from Maruti-Toyota & Honda. Once the new Brezza and S-Cross (and maybe HRV) are launched next year, I am sure the prices will soften up!

The price difference between Rapid and Kushaq for 1.0 L Ambition AT and Style AT is 3.25-3.5 lacs. Is Kushaq worth 3.5 extra for a not so different engine and safety?

On another note, no one in the US would ever pay in the same range for comparable cars from Hyundai and Honda/VW!