[aadiaksh]

The car is good for what it offers but top variant pricing as people have already commented is a lac and a half too high now that Syros is in the play. I myself was looking at Kylaq before Syros took me by surprise. I would choose Syros over kylaq.

As for Škoda giving an its best effort or last ditch effort, I do agree that is it their last ditch effort.

It is not their best effort though. They need a good portfolio of cars with diesel, hybrid and Evs for customer to choose. Only petrol is and will be a death knell in the coming times.

It is not all skodas fault though. I blame govt. taxes on punishing car makers who want to bring good quality cars in the market as they are priced out even before they can plan an entry as BOM cost will invariably be higher from a Maruti or a Hyundai. Tata and Mahindra have 5 star rated cars but none will give you a good experience as there are many niggles which eat away at the joy of ownership. Toyota is in partnership with Maruti and now we do see the level of quality going down in even the Hycross compared to crysta.

The market is sensitive due to govt taxes. Not due to the buying power of the customer.

[Rhaegal]

Originally Posted by dipen

Skoda has priced and spec'ed the variants in such a bad way that only the Prestige feels complete.

Big Non prestige misses (especially on S+)
- super bland headlights (yeah they are led but bland) compared to prestige
- bland looking alloy design
- bland seat upholstery
- no rear wiper

Yeah the most misses I felt were the projector headlights,fog lights, photochromic day night mirror, paddle shifters, alloy design rather than size. Rest of the things I can live with. Doesn’t justify 2.5 L more just to get these.

Keeping the booking as of now let's see when they allocate, other option for me was the i20 N line DCT but the engine didn't feel as good, didn't feel much of an upgrade over my current i20 asta to give 14.5L when I got my i20 for 8L

[CafeRacer16]

Its really sad to see that Skoda even after 24 years in our market doesn't understand what works. First they are late to the most competitive segment, second they bring at best a mediocre offering, third they price it at a premium & finally they are pushing folks to purchase higher variants by inflating the waiting period.

If they have some common sense & ability to learn from what their peers are doing, the state of affairs at VAG could have been much better.

[hothatchaway]

^^^ why do you think it's a mediocre product? It offers a turbo petrol with the best power and torque in this segment even in the base variant. The car itself has that elegance which European models do and stands out among quirky and polarizing designs. The reviews say that ride and handling is mature, build is good. Also, the base variant undercuts it's rivals and you get all the performance and safety features in the base variant itself.

Of course, Skoda is an unknown quantity among the masses and a nightmare of a reputation on this forum. That is where the others will have an edge.

I haven't driven the car or even seen it in flesh but feel it's an exciting prospect at a great price.

[red_hot_punto]

PPS Skoda showroom @ Mysore Road, Bangalore is quoting OTR price of Prestige model for 18 Lakhs. Does this price same across other dealers in Bangalore? Please share if any other dealerships quoting at a competitive price tag.

[BSASLR]

Is it True that the only two Sub 4-meter cars offer EDL - Kylaq and Jimny?

Electronic Differential Lock (EDL):
Detects the spinning wheel and applies brake pressure to slow it down, simultaneously transferring more torque to the opposite wheel with better grip.
This process enhances traction on surfaces with varying grip levels, such as icy or uneven roads or imagine an oil spill or sand common on our roads

Extended Electronic Differential Lock (XDS+):
XDS+ enhances vehicle dynamics during cornering by applying brake pressure to the inside wheel, preventing wheel spin and directing more power to the outer wheel. This improves agility, reduces understeer, and ensures a more stable and engaging driving experience.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eA1ey8190g

Should we not prefer this over electronic screens and jazzy features.

[agambhandari]

Visited my Skoda dealer here in Ludhiana (Krishna Auto) to test drive the Kylaq AT. I was curious how it compares to Kushaq and to my current daily driver, Polo GT DSG.


In the dealer parking, Polo next to a TD Slavia. One can also see the BMW dealer(of the same group) right across the road.

Was able to check out the display car in the showroom while they got the TD car ready.


It looks great in the metal, even better than it does on photos. Exterior build, fit and finish seems top notch and typical skoda/VW. Interiors are well appointed and the top end Prestige feels high quality with ventilated and electric seats, twin screens and dash of color across the dashboard. Front seats are comfortable and one gets great visibility out of the driver seat. I liked that the range of movement of both the steering and seat height is quite large and you can get the driving position just right, as you want. The space up front seems the same as kushaq but I think the dashboard is shorter and you sit a tiny bit closer to the windscreen, you may not notice it unless you compare them back to back.



The backseat is decent overall, the legroom is adequate and seat height is perfect to give a relaxed seating position. The leatherette seats feel high quality. I felt the space behind my driving position was about the same as other cars in the segment like Sonet/Venue. Kushaq has noticeably better legroom at the back (as expected)


Test drive unit was a Signature+ AT variant in Carbon steel. The first thing I noticed was that the DRLs look different with lights off(compared to prestige), but once the DRLs are lit up, its hard to differentiate them.

Setting off, I noticed the stupidly strong creep of Polo 1.0 AT and Slavia/Kushaq AT is now fixed and it moves much smoother from a standstill. The steering is light and easy to use at city speeds (My wife would love this). The power is more than adequate to get up to 80kmph in no time and the gearbox is buttery smooth, you will almost never notice the gearshifts unless you are flat out. Out on the highway, its almost hard to keep the car below 90 kmph(was the speed limit), so tried out cruise control (similar arrangement as my polo, with the controls on the left stalk).

The NVH at cruising at 100 kmph is impressive and you can not tell its a 3 cylinder, no vibrations, no unsettling noise and quite silent overall. But when you revv it out, say past 3500 rpm, you can hear the engine and its a typical 3 cylinder thrum, which personally I dont find that sporty( the 1.2 TSI in my polo sounds lovely at these same revvs)

The Ride quality is great over bad patches, on highway and on potholes in the city too. This is where a crossover beat a hatch hands down thanks to the better wheel articulation. Handling is pretty good and never once did i feel there was any excessive body roll(something that i felt in a kushaq I had driven previously). Skoda has indeed tuned the car to drive very much like a European car should, appreciate them for it.

TL;DR, I'm very impressed with the car overall, the looks, powertrain, interiors, Ride and handling are all spot on. The only 2 cons I felt are the 3 cylinder noise when revved out and the high price for the top end variant.

I understand that the 1.0 3 cylinder is the limitation due to the tax bracket (and is honestly the most refined option in the segment). But given that it misses some features vs its competitors (360 cam +ADAS), I had expected the top Prestige to undercut its rivals, but it is priced squarely same as the Top end Sonet and Mahindra 3XO.



Seeing the price list, I feel the Signature AT is a true VFM option and gets all the essentials at a decent price.

[wheelspinner]

Saw it in person, and my experience is not what you would expect. I decided not to sit inside the car, because the road presence is extremely underwhelming. It feels like a raised hatchback, and the rear design is god awful.

[Guna]

I happened to do a short test drive yesterday. Test drive route included a bit of Outer ring road and crowded narrow lanes with fair amount of broken surfaces and speed bumps.

Overall I found it to be an ideal car for city use. Good driving position, light controls, responsive engine, narrow width of the car, great all around visibility, ground clearance meant that I was driving the car as if I have been driving it for long time. There was zero 'adjustment' time needed.

This is a car for those who had missed the Polo GT (like me). If I am looking for a car in this segment I would be torn between Kylaq (heart) and Syros (mind).

Probably the EPB and the dynamic guidelines on the reversing camera are the only features I will miss.

I was surprised to see an FE figure of 3 kmpl during my drive (my Tiguan Allspace would have displayed 8 kmpl on the same stretch).

[TheHelix0202]

My 2 cents as an owner of a 1.0 MT Slavia who hasn’t driven the Kylaq yet - the 3-cylinder thrum is quite fun (subjective) and the lack of ADAS or 360-degree cameras is irrelevant to me.

But I understand that similarly priced competitors are offering it, so it might feel like a let down.

Overall, the Kylaq seems to be a solid package, can’t wait to test drive one soon.

[RahulRV]

I feel like the whole “post launch” hype / experience of kylaq is wearing off the people. I visited a dealer here in Bangalore today as my dad hadn’t seen kylaq in flesh & I had booked during launch itself. The staff’s are lethargic & they themselves are clueless regarding booking & they had no clue about accessories either. The staff should be proactive when they have a newly launched car in the market. And they have no clue regarding delivery timeline either, what’s the point of creating hype & not delivering it on time when there are so many other cars in the segment. This whole post launch experience along with least bothered dealers is going to cost dear to the brand. Only loyalists / enthusiasts will tolerate this & will stick to the brand because of the car. Didn’t want to rant but it’s really sad to see this.

[kedar3223]

How does one manage slopes on an TC AT with no hill hold? Does tc prevent rollbacks on its own or is there no rolling back between coming off the brake and on to the accelerator or does it require use of the handbrake?

[Guna]

Originally Posted by kedar3223

How does one manage slopes on an TC AT with no hill hold? Does tc prevent rollbacks on its own or is there no rolling back between coming off the brake and on to the accelerator or does it require use of the handbrake?

All automatics (Torque Converter, CVT...) have sufficient creep functionality built in which prevents the car from rolling back. My i20 Ellite CVT doesn't have hill-hold but I don't face any issues even on fairly steep inclines.

[TheStRyder]

Originally Posted by RahulRV

I feel like the whole “post launch” hype / experience of kylaq is wearing off the people.

Completely agree with this. I went for a test drive just 2 days after they displayed the car in the showroom. We were at the showroom for quite some time and did not encounter any other customer checking out the car.

For a vehicle which was launched 2 months back there is no clarity on any kind of delivery schedule. In fact dealers still do not have a manual for test drive. No lower variants are available yet. I feel that the product is amazing but is being let down by marketing and planning. Also I see a lot of potential customers gravitating towards Kia Syros even though I feel that both are poles apart.

[sukrit7]

After days of waiting, we finally got a chance to do not one but two test drives of the Kylaq, and it feels nice to say that we've made up our mind to get the Signature plus MT in Carbon Grey. Because we have a booking from early December, we've been told that we can expect the car in the next week or two! I must admit to being a wee bit anxious and I hope I don't turn out to be a guinea pig for Skoda

Anyway, here's what helped us make up our mind. The Signature plus has all the features one would require. It would have been nice to get an auto-dimming IRVM mirror, and a rear wiper. It would be nicer to get a 360 degree camera, but none of these are non-negotiables.

In a darker shade (such as carbon grey), the Kylaq Signature plus looks gorgeous - classy and subtle is what we concluded. The engine is lovely; unlike most people, i found it quite tractable and very convenient in stop and go traffic. I wasn't bothered by the turbo lag and quite enjoyed the change in characteristics when the turbo spooled. It reminded me a little bit of our EcoSport diesel. I kind of fell for its gruff nature as well around the 3-4k rpm mark. The steering is light and easy in traffic and builds weight as speed progresses. Perhaps a little more would have been nice but it didn't feel like a dealbreaker. My partner really liked it and found it very easy to use.

Because I also had a chance to sit in the passenger seat when she was driving, I was struck by how composed the car was and how well it took undulations on the road. Very grown up character and rather similar to our Hyryder - perhaps a shade stiffer but very comfortable. I also found that the LEDs did a great job, and although I haven't had a chance to see what the projectors in the higher models are capable of, this felt like a good level of illumination.

The virtual display is extremely high quality, and it was fun to play around with the wealth of information available on it!

Another factor that made my decision easier was the pricing of the Syros. The signature plus pricing lines up with the HTK + and while there is absolutely no doubt that the Syros is more premium and upmarket, funnily enough, the Kylaq actually has an edge on features in my opinion, and is another segment on safety.

Here's a list I made in the morning:
Syros HTK+ features that are missing in the Kylaq:
- Front parking sensors
- Panoramic sunroof
- Rear reclining seats
- A good quality rear view camera with dynamic guidelines


Kylaq Signature plus features missing in the Syros HTK +
- LED headlamps
- Climate control air conditioning
- Air Care purification
- Tilt and Telescopic steering adjustment
- EDL

From this list then, I was most keen on the LED headlamps and the climate control. From the Syros, I would have liked all the features i've listed except the sunroof, but I felt that for our use case, the odds were in favour of the Kylaq.

So. The wait begins! a shout out as well to our very lovely salesperson Arjun at Aryaveer Skoda, EOK, Delhi. Very accommodative, prompt, and responsive.