Is the Skoda Kylaq AT a right upgrade for me from a VW Polo diesel?

All in all, I think we are going to keep our booking of the Signature+ AT Kylaq. The dealership says we can expect delivery towards the end of March.

BHPian dalmeow recently shared this with other enthusiasts:

I got to take a test drive of the Kylaq AT yesterday from Trinity Skoda in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. The drive was 80% (mostly) crowded highways and 20% service roads. For context, my family is thinking of upgrading our ageing Polo 1.2 Diesel of 13 years with a car that feels familiar while being better. Here are my observations:

Ride and handling:

• Ride Quality: It might feel like I am just repeating what the others have said, but the car drives just as maturely as you would expect out of a Skoda-VW. It feels really great being behind the wheel, you are always in control and the car can go fast if you decide to push it. The power delivery is very smooth, and I couldn't feel any kind of jerks when the shifts happened or even a very sudden surge in power when flooring the gas pedal which leads to a downshift. It is all very predictable and super nice.
• Creep: I have driven my friend's Slavia 1.0 AT around quite a bit, and his was one of the first few Slavias sold in the city. That one has a very obvious problem with creep, which causes the car to suddenly lunge as soon as you leave the brakes when on a standstill. The Kylaq meanwhile, doesn't seem to have this issue at all, which is great!
• Steering: I found the steering to be very light and easy at slower speeds, and it gains weight as you go faster. It is precise throughout and is quite easily maneuverable, giving you a lot of confidence. Some people pointed that they would have liked more heft at higher speeds, but I didn't particularly dislike the amount of heft it gained while driving at speeds of 80-100. For context, I have driven the 2 generations older Creta extensively, and I absolutely hate how light and lacking its steering feels. In comparison to the Kylaq, our Polo's steering is very heavy, the Sonet's is soulless but does the job and the 3XO's is not as confidence inspiring.
• Suspension: The suspension tuning is brilliant. The broken sections on the highway (of which there were plenty) were quite effortlessly managed by the Kylaq and the ride was very comfortable. At speeds of even around 100 km/hr, the car felt extremely well planted. No body roll on long-ish curves at these speeds either. On service roads which were basically not even tarmac, you can feel the bumps. The car absorbs quite a bit, but when you are on the rear seat, you can feel the undulations. I drove the Prestige with 17" wheels, and expect this to be a little lesser with the 16".
• AT Gearbox: There is a very noticeable 1-1.5 second lag that the automatic gearbox has. Even when in sports mode, if you suddenly try to push the car and press the gas pedal hard, it takes a solid second to realize and downshift and then gives you the power. Manual shifting does make this slightly better, but there is still a lag. Once it does give you the power though, it absolutely gets going. It is something that can be lived with for sure, and is not noticeable at all in regular driving. This lag when pushing is probably more noticeable also because the turbo doesn't kick in until ~2000 RPM, but the gearbox itself is not a fast one by any stretch of imagination.
• Overall: If I were to ignore the gearbox lag, the car is really great to drive, and I absolutely loved it! I have test driven the 3XO, Sonet, Brezza, Nexon and the Kushaq previously and only the Kushaq comes close which is no surprise. Coming from our Polo, the Kylaq does not quite push you back in your seat as much, but it comes the closest. I guess it has to do with the fact that the Polo has the same amount of torque owing to it's diesel engine. The ride comes together very well overall, is very mature, and thus really enjoyable, which I can't appreciate enough given the competition. It is easy, reasonably fast and very confident.