[fundagenie]

Great writeup SDP. Some of the landscapes brought back memories of the TORC Leh Ladakh trip last year. Did you miss your Duma. Any plans to redo the same trip with the beast.

FundaG

[SDP]

Originally Posted by fundagenie

Great writeup SDP. Some of the landscapes brought back memories of the TORC Leh Ladakh trip last year. Did you miss your Duma. Any plans to redo the same trip with the beast.

FundaG

Thanks !
Would love to visit the region again. In my own car. With family/friends. In winter. Covering more places.

[Abbas]

A great Report Indeed.

Is that screw jack standard with the car ? If yes, then its pretty cheap on part of the manufacturer to give away that with such an expensive machine. And if its not, why can`t a convoy of service backup innovas carry a hydraulic jack. Screw jack is so old school and will keep sinking in sand.

[Uthappa]

Hi SDP, October is end of summer in Himachal therefore the most pleasant time of the year. Only snowfall we encountered was in Mudh village, Pin valley. My Scorp is 2WD, with AT tyres. Sailed through everything without batting an eyelid over 2300 KM. I guess rain and snow would've been a different story altogether.

If you are planning a winter trip, 4WD and probably snowchains will be mandatory. Here is a great narration by one of our forum friends on his experience in winter. I share your dream of a winter trip and read this account repeatedly to slake that thirst.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/travel...uner-thar.html

[embee]

Originally Posted by SDP

Day 2 - 2nd Jun 2018 - Continued

Couple of Innovas from the support team return to the spot. The entire boot of our Kodiaq had to be emptied out to access the space-saver spare:
Attachment 1771981

Great Travelogue!!
Please let me know what Tyre Inflator did you use on Skoda Kodiaq and from where can I buy the same. Thanks.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by Abbas

A great Report Indeed.

Is that screw jack standard with the car ? If yes, then its pretty cheap on part of the manufacturer to give away that with such an expensive machine. And if its not, why can`t a convoy of service backup innovas carry a hydraulic jack. Screw jack is so old school and will keep sinking in sand.

The back up Innovas were carrying oxygen cylinders and basic tools. They were not service vehicles per se.

Originally Posted by embee

Great Travelogue!!
Please let me know what Tyre Inflator did you use on Skoda Kodiaq and from where can I buy the same. Thanks.

This was some imported one which the Skoda team were carrying

[Vid6639]

Originally Posted by ajmat

This was some imported one which the Skoda team were carrying

From the pic it looks like a regular chinese branded one. Found it on amazon as well:

https://www.amazon.in/unplug-Digital.../dp/B01N4G7UE9

[Desmosedici]

Awesome thread SDP. Brilliant. Great narration and superb pics. Thanks for sharing.

[joybhowmik]

Originally Posted by ajmat

My guess was that it was a temperature sensor issue, we later found that our outside temperature read -10 degrees less than other cars. I have asked Skoda to let us know root cause. The team there were big on scanning and not on diagnosis

Thanks for the detailed write up SDP and ajmat.

And reading about this trip just doubled the reading on my guilt-o-meter because I still haven't quite gotten around to describing my own experience of the circuit.

As SDP wrote, it can get quite stifling without the AC which will cause greater discomfort and uneasiness, especially on twisty tracks. And lowering the window is just not an option due to the dust kicked up by the car in front.

Did Skoda finally come back on the cause of the malfunction?

[Behemoth]

Great thread SDP and amazing pics ! Rated 5 stars
The Kodiaq has been on my radar too for some time and taking it to Spiti Valley would be an amazing experience. For my next car (hopefully soon!) I am considering either the new Honda CR-V Diesel (To be launched in Oct 2018 ?) or the Kodiaq. I am also hoping that the Honda CRV would undercut the Kodiaq and be launched at a much more realistic price of 30 Lacs on road instead of the 40 Lacs on road that the Kodiaq costs in Gurgaon! I for one am fine with the Honda making 120 bhp and delivering better mileage than a higher powered version.
How would you compare the Kodiaq experience with the new Honda CR-V (which I think you have seen at the Auto Expo)? Out of these two cars, which one would you recommend? Looking forward to your advice!

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by joybhowmik

Did Skoda finally come back on the cause of the malfunction?

Skoda PR spoke to me today. The reason was that the system lost the gas. There was no damage to the condensor or anything else so it points to a leaky valve or similar.

Skoda were at pains to tell me that this particular car was a pre-production model - it was indeed the same one that Samurai and Vid6339 used for a test drive. That car threw an engine check engine light during their drive.

Since all the problems seem to be confined to this particular car, I would like to assume that this is not typical. Every other Kodiaq on this trip came out fault free.

[SDP]

Originally Posted by Behemoth

...For my next car (hopefully soon!) I am considering either the new Honda CR-V Diesel (To be launched in Oct 2018 ?) or the Kodiaq. I am also hoping that the Honda CRV would undercut the Kodiaq and be launched at a much more realistic price of 30 Lacs on road instead of the 40 Lacs on road that the Kodiaq costs in Gurgaon! I for one am fine with the Honda making 120 bhp and delivering better mileage than a higher powered version.
How would you compare the Kodiaq experience with the new Honda CR-V (which I think you have seen at the Auto Expo)? Out of these two cars, which one would you recommend? Looking forward to your advice!

It would be unfair to compare the Kodiaq to a car which is not even launched as of today.

Historically, CR-V has competed (or rather tried to compete) with the likes of Fortuner and Endeavour. So I would be surprised if it gets priced way far from the other two. CR-V comes out more as a crossover (just like the Kodiaq) as compared to the other two, but I doubt it would be able to match the Kodiaq in terms of technology, feature set and luxury.

If the unreasonable premium on the Kodiaq is a concern, may be you can wait for lower variants to be launched or the baby-Kodiaq - the Karoq.

[Behemoth]

Originally Posted by SDP

It would be unfair to compare the Kodiaq to a car which is not even launched as of today.

Historically, CR-V has competed (or rather tried to compete) with the likes of Fortuner and Endeavour. So I would be surprised if it gets priced way far from the other two. CR-V comes out more as a crossover (just like the Kodiaq) as compared to the other two, but I doubt it would be able to match the Kodiaq in terms of technology, feature set and luxury.

If the unreasonable premium on the Kodiaq is a concern, may be you can wait for lower variants to be launched or the baby-Kodiaq - the Karoq.

Thanks for your feedback SDP. I guess it would be prudent for the CRV launch, which should possibly happen in Aug-Sep and then compare the two. The Honda certainly would be lower in tech features but reliability and service experience should be better. I have owned two Skodas (Yeti and Laura) and I still have the Laura. While their cars are built well and designed well, the service experience is absolutely in the pits and no way befitting a 40 Lac car (at least in Gurgaon). My only wish is that they fix this aspect and then their cars will be far more desirable.
The Kodiaq is overpriced in India and had it not been Tiguan's poor positioning and pricing strategy which had influenced the Kodiaq's price, Skoda should have priced it 5 lacs lower at 35 lacs on road. Internationally too the Kodiaq is priced at par with Tiguan and that is a logical position for it. At its current price point it is 3 lacs more than the equivalent Fortuner!

[ARAY]

Amazing pictures Good Sir.
Always had a soft corner for skoda cars specially the YETI but when time arrived due to uncertainty of continuity and ASS I had to settle for an awd from different manufacturer.
I have got the good opportunity of covering few parts of Himalaya on a Skoda superb and the experience stays for a long long time.
Just hope they get the pricing right for this vehicle.
Thanks for sharing your experience.

[AnandB]

Wow i didn't realize Team-bhp had this perfect thread for me. Been planning Spiti and Ladakh for Sep and was wondering if it would be a good idea to take the Kodiaq there. After reading this am satisfied that Kodiaq can handle well.

Issue like the tyre puncture is possible on any car so will have to be prepared for it.