Skoda Kylaq Review: Fun-to-Drive Car Under ₹10 Lakh?

Skoda Kylaq Review: If you are planning to get a new sub-4m compact SUV around ₹10 lakh, there are various choices available in the market. These cars are offered with plenty of features, have a comfortable cabin, and come with a petrol or a diesel engine. Some of the popular choices among buyers are the Tata Nexon, Mahindra XUV 3XO, Hyundai Venue, Maruti Suzuki Brezza, and others.

In this segment, if you wish to choose a German SUV that has good driving dynamics, is safe, and has a punchy petrol engine, you can check out the Skoda Kylaq in the market. Recently, Skoda India added new variants to the lineup and made it a more competitive choice in the segment. It has features like a sunroof, front ventilated seats, a wireless charger, and others.

Recently, we drove the Skoda Kylaq manual, powered by the turbo petrol engine. We drove it in the city and on highways, and here is our experience of the Skoda Kylaq, whether you should consider it or not.

Let’s get started!!

What’s Good

Performance

The Skoda Kylaq comes with a 1.0L inline three-cylinder turbo petrol engine, which makes 118 bhp and 170 Nm of torque. paired with a six-speed manual or an automatic gearbox. Since we drove the manual gearbox, it is one of the most fun-to-drive German car which you can consider under ₹10 lakh in the market.

The Kylaq’s engine offers good performance and has a punchy character. Since we drove the manual, it was more fun and engaging to drive in the city and on highways. The gearing is tall, and it crosses 100 km/h in third gear itself. The low-end lag is present, and you need to downshift. However, the mid-range is the sweetest, and the top-end feels a bit empty. The overall performance of the engine is good.

Since we drove the manual gearbox, the clutch bite is an important factor. The clutch travel is longer, and it will take some time to get used to the biting point. However, the gear shifts are smooth, and it is engaging to drive the manual on the highways and in city conditions.

Features

The Skoda Kylaq has decent features on offer. It comes with a regular sunroof, front-ventilated seats, wireless connectivity for Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a digital instrument cluster, and others. Moreover, it has reverse parking sensors, reverse parking camera, auto start/stop system, and more.

During our experience, we liked using the wireless connectivity of Apple CarPlay, and it is quite a useful feature. Moreover, sometimes it does not connect easily and takes some time to operate. The 10.1-inch infotainment system has a crisp display and is slick to use. The touch is responsive and does not feel laggy. The reverse parking camera has decent quality, and we expect Skoda to upgrade it to a 360-degree parking camera in future updates.

Boot Space

Skoda claims the Kylaq has a boot space of 441L. In real-life, though the Kylaq is a sub-4m compact SUV, the boot space is quite useful, and it is deep. 

The loading capacity is also not too high, and you can easily stuff in luggage, and it is a practical space for your weekend getaway.

Ride and Handling

The Skoda Kylaq has a suitable ride quality, and it offers a comfortable cabin space. The suspension is tuned slightly on the stiffer side, which offers a spirited driving pleasure. The seats are quite comfortable, and it has a good bolstering support with their leatherette upholstery. Since the suspension is tuned on the stiffer side, it maintains its line and pace, and the body roll is well contained.

The Kylaq comes with a responsive steering wheel, and it offers a good feel and feedback. Though it is very light to use in the city conditions, it holds up well during high speeds. Around corners, the tyre grip could have been improved, and there is some vibrations that filter on the steering wheel at idle.

Safety

The Skoda Kylaq is a safe car in the market. Talking about its safety features, it comes with six airbags, ABS with EBD, traction control, TPMS, hill hold control, and others.

Though it misses out on Level-1 ADAS features, which are offered in some competitive SUVs, it has scored a five-star safety rating in the Bharat NCAP for adult and child occupants.

What’s Bad

Rear Seat Space

Despite the Skoda Kylaq offering a comfortable cabin space and the front seats being good, the rear seats felt a bit cramped. 

If you are a tall passenger, you’ll hardly find any knee room and leg room, and might even have to compromise a bit on the headroom as well. Additionally, the cabin is not wide enough, and seating three passengers in the rear can be a tight fit.

Fuel Efficiency

Since the Kylaq comes with a punchy turbo petrol engine with a manual or an automatic gearbox, Skoda says it offers good mileage as well, along with performance. 

As per ARAI, the Kylaq manual returns a fuel efficiency of 19.68km/L. However, in real-world situations, we got a fuel efficiency of 10.5 km/L. On driving it sedately, you can extend it to up to 13-14km/L as well.

What is the price of the Skoda Kylaq?

The price of the Skoda Kylaq starts at ₹8.60 lakh (on-road, Noida) for the base, Classic variant, and it goes to ₹15.17 lakh (on-road, Noida) for the top-spec Prestige Plus automatic variant. 

Since we drove the Prestige Plus manual variant, it is priced at ₹14.01 lakh (on-road, Noida).

Verdict

Now the million-dollar question arises -- should you go for the Skoda Kylaq in its segment or not? Our answer is Yes. The exteriors of the Kylaq have a sporty appearance, and the interior could have offered better space. The feature list is decent. However, the Kylaq feels sporty while driving, and the performance of the engine is also great, giving German characteristics under ₹10 lakh. The ride quality is on the stiffer side, but Skoda could have tuned the suspension better for better comfort.

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