Observations after driving the Skoda Slavia 1.0 TSI AT & MT

While the steering itself feels really nice to hold, it is very light which is nice when pulling out of a parking space but while driving, I personally would prefer a bit more weight.

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Been actively following the updates in this thread as i am looking at the Slavia as my first car. Thanks to fellow BHPians for the updates.

I test drove the 1.0 AT last Saturday. Had tried the 1.0 MT couple of weeks earlier. Here are some observations from both.

Likes:

• Space, LOT. I am 6'3 and could sit in the rear seat when I adjusted the driver seat for myself. The headroom was a bit low for my height but I don't plan on sitting in the rear seat.
• Engine - the numbers might suggest that small turbocharged engines from other brands pack more punch, reality feels different.
• Gearbox on AT - smooth, reasonably quick override when downshifting under braking or declines. Also when letting go of brakes while starting, it doesn't creep forward as aggressively as Rapid.
• Infotainment screen UX is well thought out and is very intuitive. Doesn't need a manual to understand what is what.
• Steering - I thought I would hate the two spoke steering but it is nice to hold and actually looks decent.
• Stability - The car felt planted till the speeds I saw, also tested hard braking in empty stretches. Came back impressed.
• Seats and ergonomics. Seats are supportive and I quite liked the support on the sides. Also it didn't take much effort to find a comfortable driving position.
• Dealership experience - Would be unfair if I don't mention this. The folks at both Jai Skoda and Ring Road Skoda in Gurgaon were excessively nice. Prompt to answer queries, respectful of boundaries when I asked not to give me any follow up calls, eager to offer test drives and very communicative. Was a stark contrast from when I briefly considered i20 n line DCT. The salesperson at Himgiri Hyundai, which is literally next door to where I live, basically tried to size me up with absolutely irrelevant questions and decided I was too poor to even send a test ride unit to.

Dislikes:

• No physical knobs- how can I adjust blower speed while driving if needed? How can the passenger quickly lower volume to answer a call? Nobody knows, nobody considered.
• Console - the screen on Style seems to have good resolution and contrast ratio but has only 3 options. None offers a layout where both speedometer and tachometer are highlighted. Have to choose one to prioritise. I have booked Ambition AT which comes with analogue tach and speedo so this goes out of equation for me.
• Steering feel - While the steering itself feels really nice to hold, it is very light which is nice when pulling out of a parking space but while driving, I personally would prefer a bit more weight. This is too light for my preference.
• Visible cost cutting - The insides of doors around the door handles doesn't feel particularly nice. No liners present in boot or hood. Seemingly lighter panels in general. Also the placement of start/stop button on steering column instead of dashboard feels like an odd choice.
• Suspension - Yes it is planted at high speeds, and yes it goes reasonably well around corners as long as you are not forcing quick direction changes. But somehow, the suspension didn't feel very well damped when riding at rough patches of road or crossing small speed bumps and felt a bit, dare I say, cheap.
• Engine - Yup, found a spot in both likes and dislikes. While it pulls nicely once past 1800-2000 rpm, there is a noticeable lag felt with manual gearbox. It didn't help that two of my friends joined me when I test drove the MT so it was basically under full load. The AT masks the lag a bit but it is still there and you either have to manually downshift or wait for a moment if you are looking to move quickly. Also the sound can be heard inside the cabin at high RPMs and it isn't a particularly special soundtrack.

The 1.5 variants don't seem to available here, not sure what the reason is. Even though the 1.5 DSG was out of my budget, I was looking forward to trying it out.

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