Skoda Slavia first impressions: Likes & dislikes

The cabin looks better than that of the Skoda Kushaq. Also, it isn't as tight as that of the Hyundai Verna but the Honda City's cabin feels airier & more spacious.

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Had a chance to check out the Skoda Slavia at the dealership service centre today. Test drives won't be made available soon, but the car will be on display at the dealership from tomorrow 4 pm onwards.

Style and Ambition variants were available.

Short first impressions

• No major deal breakers IMHO - unlike my first impression of the Kushaq.
• Roof liner material quality is now better and although it doesn't feel premium, is not cheap like the Kushaq either. The cheap-looking (subjective) dull grey plastics of the Kushaq has been fixed with beige plastics. IMHO - the cabin looks like a much better place to be, than Kushaq.
• Plastics feel of better quality and better put together than the Kushaq.
• Digital console looks good with the interior scheme. Looks modern. Analog dials have their charm, but Skoda's implementation was a bit too plain on the Kushaq. Good, because the cabin is otherwise plain and executive looking.
• Good supportive seats with excellent side bolstering for four.
• Similar to the Kushaq, the rear seats feel nice for two and have a bucket like effect. The rear armrest is soft and felt nice to rest the hand there.
• Huge boot, no second thoughts!
• Nice low seating. Felt lower to the ground than the City, IIRC. However, you might want to check this factor if the car is intended to be used for aged parents.
• I don't have a problem with the raised stance or the thicker sidewalls. Good Skoda has stuck to realistic sizes for Indian conditions.

What I didn't like

• Blue looks dull compared to pictures. Same when I took the picture and compared it to the car in front. Somehow, the camera does tend to saturate this blue more.
• Personally, I didn't like the white at all.
• Cabin feels less spacious than the City and (what I remember of the Ciaz). Not sure where the wheelbase went, but the City surely feels more airy and spacious at the front as well as the rear. Don't get me wrong, it isn't a tight cabin like a Verna, but just doesn't feel like best in class dimensions.
• Rear seat is definitely best for two adults using the armrest.
• Plastics still creak upon pressing. (Those who don't know the context, please check the Kushaq review thread for details). Less than the Kushaq, but maybe another rattlebox for the long run. Better to wait and watch.
• The central character line on the dashboard looked good in pics. Not sure of it in person, because the finish somehow looks a bit like a board.
• Overall, the build quality feels at par with the Kushaq and not the Rapid. (Exterior build quality has more heft to it compared to the Asians and Koreans though!)

Sharp looking from the front thanks to the cuts and creases. However, I'm not able to appreciate the cuts on the side profile, in this white coloured car. Rear 3/4th looks a bit bulky too. Would prefer a shade like red or carbon steel.

The interior is functional and doesn't have a wow factor. Digital console is good here IMHO, because the plain dials from the Kushaq could have further made it 'all business and no fun'. However, there is also a clear disconnect between the orange on the cluster and the cardboard colour of the dashboard strip.

Not a fan of this strip in person and it looks like a cardboard type finish up close. Also a closer look at the ac vents:

The boot is humongous without a doubt and the spare mounted subwoofer also helps free up space!

The roof liner is much improved from the cheap ones on the Kushaq, but still not very premium feeling. For example - the quality of material on the MG Astor is a class above.

Legroom is good for two 6 footers, one behind the other. But when you put it into perspective with the class-leading wheelbase, I wonder where it all went. Although not as tight as a Verna, this is no Honda City either. It is a similar story with the width of the rear bench.

The ambition version gets grey fabric seats. Although under plastics, I felt the quality to be much better than the horrible quality seats on the Kushaq low-end and mid variants, when introduced.

Ambition gets plain silver alloys. Looks modern compared to the ageing Rapid, IMHO. Blue looks dull compared to pictures. Same when I took this picture and compared it to the car in front which looked noticeably dull. Somehow, the camera does tend to saturate this blue more.

Overall, looks like a better attempt from Skoda than Kushaq for sure. An excellent C-sedan to choose from - with the 1.5 TSi MT having the potential to be the best driver's car for the money.

But if you are looking for a mini-Octavia or an upgrade from a Rapid, this may not be it. The build (interior) is only near similar to City/Verna levels. Consider it as a modern-day Rapid replacement and it could be worth buying just for those fantastic engines. Even the 1.0 (based on my Kushaq experience) allows a good amount of fun compared to competition cars like the Verna and City.

Either way, looking forward to a TD of that 1.5 TSi MT.

Deal breaker of sorts

We went to the service centre in a TD Kushaq. Boy that car has aged badly and how!

It was so bad that the better half asked the SA if it was involved in a bad accident and repaired recently - suspension wasn't Euro settled (as if the rear was set at 1.5x the PSI of the car I had originally driven), cabin sounds made a lot of creaks, rattles and thuds - resulting in a cacophony over a set of white painted (not tall) rumble strips. So bad that the SA justified that the spare tyre must be moving around in the boot!

On the plus side - that 1.0 TSi AT can move, despite the small displacement and a power-sapping TC! Left me wondering if the 1.0 would be more than enough to dismiss the current segment champion - the City. With the 1.5 TSi ending up far ahead!

Plastics looked aged and had a lot of scratches that stood out (understandable in a test car), but the dull colour scheme exaggerated all of it! Walking out of that test car - wife was seriously put off, and as for me - I was reminded yet again that this new Skoda "0-IN" quality may not be good for a long term keeper.

Skoda should upgrade the Kushaq soon! As mod Vid6639 rightly mentioned - "After driving the Kushaq seeing the complaints here, it is no longer on my radar as the Skoda no longer represents the same values as someone expects from it."

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