Toyota Hilux vs Skoda Kodiaq [2017-2020]

I'm smitten by pickup trucks and their versatility. So, there's no second guessing what I chose when the Toyota Hilux made it to the line-up of the fourth edition of CarWale's annual off-road day. In fact, it was the only massive pickup amongst SUVs here. To cope with the bulk, it has a 2.8-litre turbo diesel engine producing 200bhp and 500Nm of torque. All this power is routed through a six-speed torque converter automatic to the four-wheel-drive system. The latter gets High (H4) and Low (L4) range paired with electronic 2WD/4WD control. Despite the length, it has good approach (29.22degree) and departure (26.36degree) angles and runs on stock Bridgestone tyres (265/60 R18). Let's see how it performed.

I was told that the Skoda Kodiaq Scout is the off-road focussed variant of the SUV. And with this claim, the car comes with an additional body cladding, new alloys, an all-black cabin and more interestingly, a dedicated 'Off-Road' mode for those who love to venture into the wild. Skoda has also increased the ground clearance of this Kodiaq Scout by 6mm, bringing it up to 194mm. But, is all this sufficient enough to make the Kodiaq more capable? We find out.

To celebrate what we have left, we gather a bunch of true-blue 4x4s every year and give them hell!