BHPian suhaas307 recently shared this with other enthusiasts: A bit late to the thread with my 2-p, but better late than never I suppose: Design and Styling: Not much to say, except that it’s not offensive. It looks decent and thankfully not like a truncated Kushaq. I like the fact that its wheels are at extreme corners of the car and the overhangs at both ends are short, making it well proportioned. Build quality and fit/finish: Well built on the outside. Doors close with a solid clunk. The car does have heft that Skoda / VW customers will be familiar with. It’s the same story with the interior – barring a few offending bits like the exposed screws in the sunroof cavity, wafer-thin headliner and plasticky AC vent knobs, it’s par for the course. Interior and accommodation: Strictly a 4 seater. 5th passenger is unwelcome. Reasonably spacious headroom at the back even for 6’1″ moi as long as you adjust your seat correctly and not recline it like it’s a lazy-boy. Reasonably spacious boot as well! Good car for short weekend trips. Drivetrain and performance: The 1.0 TSI is a familiar powertrain. Fairly refined for a 3-cylinder engine, and sounds surprisingly fruity provided you don’t rev the nuts off of it. Punchy as well, and helps the car keep up with more expensive and more powerful machinery. The manual gearbox is surprisingly fun to use, but the torque converter AT is the default choice in my opinion. Ride and handling: The biggest surprise for me was the ride quality of the Kylaq. There is this underlying firmness in the suspension without it feeling too stiff or harsh, even on rough roads. Sure, the steering is absolutely dead, but it’s sharp and direct enough to give you the confidence you need on city streets and on the highways as well. Handling is neutral. It’s no sports car or sports sedan, but it’s good enough for its use-case. Verdict: Well, apart from some rough edges, and the absence of tech – like a 360 degree camera – it’s a well rounded product. Skoda would have done well to undercut the competition’s pricing by shaving off about 50k from the price tag. The top end variant for instance is a bit too pricey in some cities like BLR, making it almost unjustifiably expensive given the stiff competition. I also get the feeling that this could be koda’s last roll of the dice for the domestic market. Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
