Team-BHP - 2022 Skoda Kodiaq Facelift Review

When the Valet parking guy turns matchmaker!

Pleasant surprise at Artisanal Brewing Village, Hoody, Bangalore today while picking my car after lunch - the valet guy decided to find a match for my Kodiaq. Hope the owner of the other Kodiaq is also a BHPian - pretty well maintained though not as crazy OCD as mine - though he could use the magic wand (make up brush) for all the honeycomb black cladding on the bumper.

Update post 1000 KMs of air filter change:

Car feels light as ever, even though it's approaching its service interval of 15K KMs, accelerations are pretty much instant & at times overwhelming especially in traffic. If changing air intake filter midway matters this much, will do it strictly further on from now & recommend the same to all BHPians.

Drive Modes of Kodiaq:

Most of my drive is in Bangalore city (Read as bad roads, often bumper to bumper traffic and rare but present stretches of road where I can have the Kodiaq stretcher legs albeit for couple of minutes).

In past 2.3 years of ownership, I’ve been struggling to find the best drive mode for my daily drive:

Sport Mode: I like it for the instant throttle response off the line - especially in heavy traffic - without having couple of bikes squeezing into the gap between me and the car in front. However, I don’t like the fact that the gear upshifts hold on till reaching higher revs disturbing the tranquility of the cabin, and the suspension DCC setting not suitable for Bangalore city roads making for a bumpy ride.

Comfort mode: Too slow off the line in stop and go traffic. DCC setting is best for the Bangalore roads.

Normal Mode: middle ground between Sport and comfort - gears upshift early enough to be silent, but wish I can have comfort setting on DCC for the city roads.

Individual mode (Drive - Normal, Steering - Normal, DCC - Comfort) - In theory this should work best for me. However, It feels more sluggish of the line than when the Drive mode is Normal. Not sure if the engine performance changes or is it because of the DCC is comfort makes the rear suspension “sit” while the vehicle starts accelerating from rest. Overall the car definitely feels heavier than Normal or sport mode.

Curious to know fellow BHPian’s experience and views.

PS: It is purely coincedential if this post seems like a show off to potential customers of 2nd gen Kodiaq who will miss the DCC featurelol:

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Dude (Post 5964125)

Most of my drive is in Bangalore city (Read as bad roads, often bumper to bumper traffic and rare but present stretches of road where I can have the Kodiaq stretcher legs albeit for couple of minutes).

In past 2.3 years of ownership, I’ve been struggling to find the best drive mode for my daily drive:

All these cars are made for fast speeds and at low speeds getting into turbo rpm band is a challenge and that might be playing here. Try to be in sports mode only as it will hold gear in place for longer time.

I generally also struggle with turbo cars and find NA ones at low speeds to be more easy to drive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by gauthampait (Post 5964285)

Is it hydraulic steering with power assist or is it a electric power steering?

It's progressive power assisted steering.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Dude (Post 5964125)

Individual mode (Drive - Normal, Steering - Normal, DCC - Comfort) - In theory this should work best for me.

I too drive mostly in that setting. I avoid sports mode for regular use, as higher RPMs put uninvited stress on the engine. Whenever I feel the need, I flick the gear lever in individual mode / normal mode to S mode, don't use sports mode from screen or mode button - that don't give me the very stiff suspension.

Looking for recommendations for a front+rear dash cam.

I had purchased the Qubo dual dash cam 3K in January and powered it though he front USB port. It worked well for a few days and then started giving lots of issue like restart and factory reset etc. Similar issues are being reported by other users as well.

Now i plan to return it and go for a more reliable dual cam from 70mai or redtiger.

Would appreciate if you can provide any suggestions on the model and the power source for same.(USB/lighter) As i understand lighter socket is powered even after switching off the car, and it may lead to battery drain issues. I am not looking to hardwire through the fuse box/OBD due to warranty concerns.

Shortlisted

https://in.redtigercam.com/collectio...-mini-dash-cam

https://www.amazon.in/70mai-Recorder...06&sr=1-3&th=1

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Dude (Post 5964125)

Comfort mode: Too slow off the line in stop and go traffic. DCC setting is best for the Bangalore roads.

Normal Mode: middle ground between Sport and comfort - gears upshift early enough to be silent, but wish I can have comfort setting on DCC for the city roads.

After reading your post, I noticed comfort mode vs normal mode and I noticed changes in the steering, AC profile and suspension clearly. I drive in Mumbai. As you mentioned, comfort mode suspension is the best but the AC and engine profile is not. Still the engine profile is livable but AC slows down a bit.

For me, I drive most of the time in the normal mode when I am alone or if with family and if the car will be on the in-city highway roads.

I move to comfort when there is the family with me in the car and the roads are small and have pot holes. It helps them with the suspension softening.

On major interstate highways, I move to Individual modes with everything as normal and DCC as sports. It reduces the vertical movement and the body roll for all passengers.

My friend, in my opinion, DCC indeed is the game changer. People have to use it to understand its impact. One can live without DCC till the time you have not used it properly. Once you use it and find your right settings, you just love it. Its sad that the new Kodiaq misses it and it is indeed a show off reason compared to the new Kodiaq. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Figopian (Post 5966924)

Folks, need you all’s opinion. A 2023 kodiaq under 4 yr warranty in good condition both internally and externally is being offered at ₹35 Lakhs with full service history. Will it be a good buy? Should I show it to a local mechanic once? What should be next steps if I want to buy and what should be a good cost?

There are hardly any 2022 facelift Kodiaqs available in the used car market to have a good baseline used car price. Assuming this one has a clean history, and a reasonable mileage (<30K Km in 2 years) I would suggest taking it to the Skoda service Center itself and get it checked. Given the onroad price for Kodiaq L&K in 2023 is in the 47L+ ( in Bangalore, it came to 50L including the 5th and 6th year extended warranty), 35L seems to be a decent price - especially considering the new gen Kodiaqs announced will be closer to 58L on road while missing on the DCC.

Wear and tear items you need to look for are the Tyres, any suspension noise and DSG gearbox jerk / noise - don’t expect any such issues on a normally used vehicle of this age.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Dude (Post 5966959)

No jerks or noise I experienced when I test drove this vehicle, not a long test drive, just a short one though, tyres in good condition, in 2 years they are run 24k, which is not bad. I drive a 2016 vento so I am experienced with this gearbox anyways. The car is being serviced in skoda service center itself for the last 2 years.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ms001 (Post 5964592)

Bought DDPAI N5 dual during the amazon sale and installed it myself with help from an auto enthusiast friend of mine. Powered it though the USB C socket in the front

https://www.amazon.in/Dashcam-Contro...s%2C230&sr=8-3

Pros

Super Capacitor instead of battery, seems ideal for India climate
Intuitive & user friendly app
32GB internal storage with option to add external microSD card
Compact form factor
Good Image quality
Solid and premium build
Option to add radar based parking monitor
Option to power the device through the OBD port using cable available from DDPAI
Voice control to easily take photos while driving
Fast Video download with 5GHz WIFI connection

Cons

No display/screen on the camera
The position of the USB socket on the camera could have been better

Quote:

Originally Posted by ms001 (Post 5967604)

Bought DDPAI N5 dual during the amazon sale and installed it myself with help from an auto enthusiast friend of mine. Powered it though the USB C socket in the front

Congrats on your new Dashcam installation. With ever increasing number of senseless drivers on road as well as instances of road rage, it is high time all car manufacturers provide dashcams as standard, and that too all around like Teslacam.

Curious to know the following.
1) How good is the number plate readability at speeds above 20km/h in daytime and night time?
2) How good are night time videos?
3) The rear dashcam quality was pathetic when I was evaluating options 2 years back - how is the N5 Dual in this aspect?
4) How did you run the wire from the rear camera to the front - through the roof or the floor?