[abhi_ank]

Drove the Slavia Style 1.0 litre and the City ZX back to back (quite literally, within five minutes of each other). My observations:

1) Though I liked the Slavia more(maybe cause of the novelty factor), the City looks very smart as well. The crystalline LED lights and the silver colour make more a very good looking sedan. Quite popular too in Kolkata going by the numbers I see on the road.
2) The City drives like a sedan, and also feels like a sedan on the inside. That you are sitting down is very evident in the city. This makes driving more relaxed and sedate. The Slavia on the other hand feels like an SUV on the inside. That you are sitting and somewhat looking down on the road is quite evident in the Slavia. That makes it a more confident drive in terms of ground clearance et al but it also gives it a weird floating feeling. It also slightly reduces the luxury quotient and the whole sedans are the epitome of comfort thing( if that makes sense).
3) The City is the better handler of the two within the city. It's easy to maneuver too, and the visibility inspires more confidence. Also the frontal visibility is the city is a lot better as well. Almost panoramic in the amount of light it lets in. This inspires more confidence. The Slavia's cabin feels a lot more hemmed in in that sense.
4) The build quality of the slavia is a lot better. Door thud, flex on the body panel, everything feels top notch in the Slavia. The City is alright, just that the doors feel very light.
5) The City feels very light to drive, almost Suzuki like. This gives you confidence to maneuver it in tight traffic. But this also reduces the finesse and premium quotient IMO.
6) The interiors of the City are better. No two ways about it. The Slavia 's interiors felt better than the Kushaq's to me, but nowhere near as good as the City's.
Hope this helps people to choose. While I am more inclined towards the Slavia right now, this was nowhere as clear cut as I thought it would be. The City makes a very strong claim to be a better city car. Let's see which one I go with.

Cheers.

[aamishdhingra]

Looking for a DSG car in the near future.. the Slavia looks great but priced at 20.30 On Road Delhi is a bomb. Waiting for VW to relaunch Polo wirh DSG!!! :(

[volkman10]

Škoda Slavia has a great second month. Dispatches/sales stand at 2,665 in a segment that is yet to pick up.

Incidentally Slavia becomes the best selling Škoda for March.

Source: Auto Punditz

[sid3091]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Škoda Slavia has a great second month. Dispatches/sales stand at 2,665 in a segment that is yet to pick up.

Incidentally Slavia becomes the best selling Škoda for March.

Source: Auto Punditz

If Skoda and VW manage to revive the sedan segment in India, I will forever be grateful to them. I'm sick of these crossovers being marketed as SUVs

[motonomad]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Škoda Slavia has a great second month. Dispatches/sales stand at 2,665 in a segment that is yet to pick up.

That is pretty good. Did not expect it to do over 2K. Hoping they can sustain a decent number because sedans are anyway a dying breed. And I seriously doubt we will see any new sedans when EVs dominate the scene.

[pavi]

I went to change the faulty ABS sensor in my Rapid TSI under warranty last day. Had a quick chat with my service advisor and enquired about the Skoda Slavia bookings and delivery. He told more bookings have come for 1.5 TSI variant, the DSG one. May be it's specific to Cochin (Kerala) location. I could see lot of Slavia's lined up there waiting to be delivered to their owners, and they look good.

[Venkatesh]

The Skoda Slavia completes first month with 10,000+ bookings.



Link

[joeva1706]

Skoda Slavia is a very capable product!! It will surely settle around 2800-3k units from May once 1.5L TSI will also start full fledge deliveries. It is still far to lead the pack which has been ruled by Honda City for a long long time.

However, everyone who has seen Slavia has loved its road presence, driving pleasure, features (a tad premium than Kushaq), simply clever Skoda features and overall that mini Octavia feel.

I personally will buy the 1.0L TSI Style Manual as I feel it is totally VFM for 16L OTR Pune.

Congratulations to Skoda group for 10k bookings!!

[Mustang111]

It's good to see a positive trend in the almost dormant C segment sedan market. Even better to see European manufacturer being able to do it. Am sure that once prices of VW Virtus are announced, there is going to be further flurry of activities in the segment. Hope both the products can sustain reasonable amount of sales even after the initial novelty factor wears out in a couple of months. It will be a welcome change to see the rise of European sedans in an otherwise Korean and Japanese dominated SUV market in our country.

[sbm]

Skoda Slavia: A comprehensive TD report

Background

I am currently looking for a replacement for my 2015 1.2 MT Baleno. Although the car is perfect for city use, it disappoints on the highway and after COVID, I feel that doing trips to my hometown is easier and more convenient by my own car. With this, started the search for a new car.

Cars Test Driven earlier

Honda city 5th gen MT Hyundai Creta diesel & petrol MT, Tata Harrier MT, Renault Duster MT, Skoda Kushaq 1.0MT.

First of all, a big thanks to Singhania Skoda Dhanbad for bringing the car to my home on the very next day I enquired. The SA was really courteous and polite. He also had very good knowledge about the car.

Road presence and looks

The TD car was 1.0AT White color, Style variant. Let me say this first, it looked huge and to complement, it had 205/55/R16 Ceat Securadrive tyres. They filled the wheel well and gave a muscular looks to the car. For reference, the tyres on 5th gen City look thin and low profile, those and Slavia look fat and add to the heft of the car. The car has massive road presence and IMO it can challenge Harrier in this aspect (of course except the height). People looking for a car that stands apart in the sea of CSUVs, this car will meet this particular need.

Interior

I want to remind that my daily driver is a Maruti Baleno. Now, the dasboard steering and centre console felt premium to me. The touch of glossy black here and there added to the feelgood factor. Seats were dual tone with biege/black leather upholstery and looked somewhat dull imo. Not that it was of poor quality but had the black been darker and white instead of biege, it would have looked better. Front seats were comfortable and ventilation function was working well. The rear seats had a semi bucket shape and strictly for 2 adults and a child. 3 adults would be a tight fit. Headroom was adequate for all of us (max height around 5'8" among us). Other parts and plastics quality was better than my Maruti, at par with Creta and inferior to Seltos but the lead in this department is MG Astor. Although I take the word of my fellow bhpians and accept that interior quality has been detoriated compared to earlier Skodas but IMO, for those who have not owned a Skoda earlier, there is not much to complaint about and the interiors are NOT a deal breaker.

Engine performance

Pls note that there were 4 persons in the car. Myself and another one had a slim build and other two of heavier build.
On startup, there were dull vibrations in the cabin, barely noticeable, but those used to Maruti/Hyundai 4cyl NA petrols would certainly register. On a slight push to the accelerator, the vibrations increased initially (say upto 1000rpm) and then settled down.These vibrations are of low frequency and amplitude and are not uninspiring. Minimal engine noise was there inside the cabin at idle but from outside it was noticeably noisier than my Baleno and any other 4cyl petrols for that matter. Not bothering or uninspiring but noticeable. I feel that the sound complemented the bulky look of the car.
Shifted to D mode and car started moving ahead at 9-10kmph without accelerator input. Push the pedal and there is an instant pickup. I read in the reviews that this auto gearbox mask the turbo lag in 1.0Tsi well and then I experienced it first hand in the Slavia. When I drove the Kushaq 1.0 MT, turbolag was prominent. In comparison to that, very minimal lag was present in Slavia AT.
I felt that the gearbox was upshifting a little bit early but the gearshifts were very smooth and quicker than I shift in manual cars during sedate driving. On an open stretch of road it picked up speed quickly to 90kmph. Even at this speed there was no engine noise or anyother noise for that matter. Only sport engine grunt when pushed hard. No complaints on engine gearbox front for this particular combo

Ergonomics and AC

Please bear with me while I describe my benchmark for evaluating ergonomics of cars.It is none other than my Baleno. You can find a million defects in this car but IMO it is very good (if not perfect) in ergonomics. Massive deal pedal, easy to find driving postion, a lots of places to keep your stuff etc. If I drive a new car and don't feel anything odd, I rate it good at ergonomics. For reference let me brief my Harrier TD experience. The moment I sat in the drivers seat of MT model, the utterly bad ergonomics of footwell struck me. I thought what is this? No space at all here? I had to adjust the seat to avoid hitting the knee and being able to press the clutch pedal fully. Also, there was virtually no dead pedal. Same thing happened in MT Duster.
But with the Slavia, I felt right at home. The footwell was wide and even in MT model I feel there would be ample space for dead pedal. There was proper space to keep my phone and wallet, the glove box was big and cooled and door pockets were well shaped and sized. There was a small thing though, the front of the centre console protruded towards the right side and that felt slightly uncomfortable. Later in the ride I was able to easliy adjust my left foot to avoid hitting it. No issues here to report.
Air-conditioning worked as expected in scorching summer heat. The touch controls were not to mt taste but they added to the premium factor. Can't comment about rear passenger though.

Ride and Handling

Let's take the bad thing first. I felt that the suspension was stiff. Uneven patches of road with small potholes were felt in the cabin each time. If you compare it with Creta or City, it was considerably more bumpy. If you continuosly drive over a bad patch of road for 1-2 km you'll certainly feel the fatigue. May be they made it so to improve the offroad performance of the car. That being said, the composure of the car was not disturbed due to bad roads and while going over speed breakers there was not much vertical movement. So it was kind of a mixed experience. In my Baleno, I drop down to 5kmph over sharp breakers because it throws me up in my seat even at 15kmph but in Slavia it was not so. It absorbed the speed breakers well. At high speeds there was no floaty feeling and the car felt very stable. People looking for a plush ride over bumpy roads, be ready to be a little adjusting here.

Steering was good. Light at parking, heavy at higher speeds but somehow I felt that it had lesser heft and feedback as compared to Kushaq. It was like a Creta steering but with more feedback. Overall no complaints with steering.

Now, the high GC really worked wonders on recenty constructed skyhigh, steep, suspension wrecking speed breakers in my locality. Though I was cautious, I took the car at a good speed over these breakers with 4 onboard and as expected, there was no contact. Most people move towards CSUVs for their high GC but I am sure if such high GC sedans are launched by all major manufacturers, it could be a turnaround for this segment. People looking towards Creta/Seltos just for some more GC, pls do a TD of this car. And No, the high GC doesn't spoil it's looks. This car is a looker.

Build quality

I know it doesn't matter in actual crash tests but noone can deny that the solid thud from the door is very confidence inspiring. Panels were not easily flexible and gaps were acceptable and consistent. Forgot to try the AC vents. The roof liner was not loose like in Kushaq and all button controls and touch points felt sturdy. No squeaks noises from anywhere. Non- Maruti owners might not be able to appreciate this as much as I do.

A small defect(?) in the TD car

After after completing the test drive I parked the car and opened the bonet to have a casual look at the engine and my (and more to SAs) surprise I saw a few spots of oil leak (?). It was coal dust mixed with oil at one spot and water at another but I was unable to find the source at that. I have attached the pictures current slavia owners or kushak owners please comment do you see have you seen anything like this in your cars. There is a chance it was something totally harmless because there was condensation from a nearby AC coolant pipe but again it was present on the right side too where there was no such pipe. I remember it certainly had some oil in it but could double check as I was in a hurry. I am not sure that the car had some problem and don't want to discourage a potential buyer. I am just posting this here to know what this is.

Conclusion

People looking for a car in 15-17 lac bracket with good versatility, road presence and performance can certainly consider the Slavia 1.0Tsi AT. I am not saying MT because I have not taken a test drive of it and in the Kushaq this engine gearbox combo had prominent turbolag and I don't like turbolags. Do keep in mind that this car does not have a very cushy suspension setup and also factor in the quality/availability of Skoda ASS in your area.
Thanks for reading. Feel free to ask any questions you have.

[elroydsilva]

Test drove the Slavia 1.0L TSI yesterday at TAFE Access Udupi where we actually went in to enquire about Octavia. It was a Sunday afternoon and as expected the showroom was deserted as this is a small city. The sales advisor Vrushabh was very welcoming and explained about Slavia as they didn't have Octavia for TD. We were not interested in spending time TDing the Slavia, but the way the SA asked us repeatedly to go for a test drive made us change our mind and I thought why not.

The drive was absolutely brilliant. I have driven the new City and this one just felt one level above it. The 1L engine pulls brilliantly and there's so much power available even after crossing 100. Thoroughly enjoyed the drive and it clocking 1000s of bookings comes as no surprise. The noise from the engine on the outside though is a little louder than I expected.

People will take some time to understand the product and come to terms with the fact that Skoda is gradually coming back with great products and service. Especially small cities like where I live will indeed take more time than others.

[VinsWagen]

Originally Posted by Piyush Kanthak

Will the Slavia be a great choice for an ex Rapid owner? His Rapid was a TDI and broke down the 5th time on the highway and this is where he gave up. Sold the car to the scrap yard immediately and wants a new one before May.

Now enters Slavia, the 1.0 ltr Style, he does like it, will go and check out next week, so is it good car is the question.

Send this man to the war! is what comes to my mind. This level of courage is rare to find.
Well, it does make sense (only) if Rapid breakdowns were entirely due to the DSG and he's exclusively looking for TC or Manual gearbox in the Slavia.

[joeva1706]

Excellent TD review. I myself own a 2016 Baleno Zeta 1.2 Petrol MT and have started my journey for my next car with a budget of 15-18 Lakhs OTR in Pimpri Chinchwad. I had an excellent experience with the Sales folks and especially the person who accompanied us for the TD. I drove the 1.0 AT Style variant and totally agree that this one seems to be a notch higher when compared to the Honda City ZX.

I have driven the Harrier AT XZ plus, MG Astor CVT Sharp, Hyundai Creta SX IVT and Kia Seltos GTX+ DCT all which fall out of budget except the Astor but that AI bot inside is all gimmicky and less practical. I would love to own a Jeep Compass one day but that one will need some time for now. Slavia seems to be my pick and will be soon getting one later this year after the initial niggles are sorted if any in the first 4-5 months.

Any idea if they are going to increase the price of the Slavia 1.0 as I feel 1.5 is already at the threshold of pricing and will not see revisions. I am quite glued to the Slavia especially the Tornado Red Style 1.0 variant and deciding on MT or AT for now.

[volkman10]

Skoda Slavia real world fuel economy tested and reported by ACI:

1.0 TSI MT is the most efficient
1.5 TSI’s active cylinder tech aids efficiency on the highway
Slavia, Kushaq’s final gear ratios are different

Source:

[audioholic]

Originally Posted by volkman10

Skoda Slavia real world fuel economy tested and reported by ACI:

1.5 DSGs City FE looks pathetic I expected it to be more efficient in the city considering there is hardly any loss in the transmission and we arent pushing the engine to its limits.