Skoda Kushaq 1.5 TSI Automatic First Drive Review

Crank up the motor and you’d find it to be refined and creamy smooth – nothing less was expected of it in the first place. Pull it into D and get going, and the motor unravels itself to be pretty useable in the city. It remains almost linear requiring light throttle inputs to potter around town. With the tachometer hovering under the 2,000rpm mark, it shifts through the gears smoothly, thanks to the advanced DSG. Its peak power is delivered early in the rev-range so there’s barely a need to push the motor towards the redline.

And even when you do give it a good wring, the TSI Evo remains vibe-free as it races towards the 6,000rpm mark. On the flip side, it’s not a motor that’d give you a whiplash each time you smash the throttle. The four-cylinder has a predictable nature but the fun-to-drive factor is subdued to an extent. What’s more, it also comes with something called ‘Active Cylinder Technology (ACT)', which deactivates two cylinders under low load condition, thereby improving fuel efficiency. This cylinder activation and deactivation happens seamlessly without letting the driver know about the wizardry behind the scenes.

Surprisingly, there are no drive modes in the Kushaq. You do get switchable traction control, but different drive modes altering the nature of the engine could have possibly helped solve Kushaq’s dearth of a fun-driving character. That said, it’s not exactly an unenthusiastic engine and isn’t boring to drive. Push it hard and triple-digit speed comes up with no drama and you can cruise at highway speeds all day with no troubles.

Pull the DSG gear lever to S and the motor would happily hold the revs to redline and won’t upshift on its own. And the presence of the paddle-shifter is an added cherry too. The things to write home about the Kushaq include its strong brakes despite the lack of disc brakes on the rear wheels. They have a strong initial bite and add confidence when you are being fervent behind the wheel.

With a well-weighted steering wheel of the Skoda Kushaq, the steering response is direct with little to no lag off-centre. Around corners, the turn-ins are nice and easy with body roll well under control. Yet again, offering different drive modes to alter the steering and throttle response combination would have done wonders for making it fit different buyers’ requirements. Nevertheless, the one thing the Kushaq really does better than its rivals is the way it rides and handles.

The design elements with a piano-black strip running across the dash, dotted texture integrated above it, and an integrated chrome strip joining the vertical air vents on the extreme ends of the black-grey finished dashboard- all this does look overdone. We also expected better quality of plastic in few places around the cabin like the door grab handles, lower dashboard, and centre console.

Move to the centre console, and the new 10-inch touchscreen is all-new. It is inspired by the MIB-3 unit from the expensive Skodas. The touch response of the screen is quick and the interface isn’t too difficult to navigate either. You also get mobile telephony through Android Auto and Apple CarPlay along with various other third-party apps for music, navigation, and audiobooks. One interesting element here is that Skoda has decided to offer only USB-C type charging ports and no standard USB-A in the Kushaq.

For the automatic climate control, there are no physical buttons but a feather-touch screen like you used to get in the old Honda City. So, it can be difficult to operate at times, especially when driving. Another snag is a couple of blank buttons present in the strip on the centre console that houses the hazard switch, door-unlock button, and buttons for ventilated seats.

Talking about the seats, they are comfortable and well designed to offer good lower back, side, and shoulder support. There’s a good amount of headroom too for my frame (I am 5’5”) and seat height, and steering adjustment should pose no problem for taller drivers. As for visibility, it’s fairly good thanks to the thin A-pillar and large windows. Getting inside the second row of seat is fairly easy too. With a longer wheelbase than the Creta (2,651mm compared to 2,610mm), the benefit is seen in the more than ample leg space.

Even the scooped-out roof liberates more headroom but the Kushaq would sit only four in comfort. With two seats contoured for better support, the middle seat’s backrest sticks out and the seat base is cut short too. You do, however, get armrest mounted cupholders, two USBs, three headrests, and rear AC vents for the back-seat passengers.

At 385litres, the boot space of the Kushaq is smaller than what’s offered by the rivals. But it offers a deep cargo space with relatively common loading lip height, unobtrusive boot space, and 60:40 split-folding seats as well.

There are a few of Skoda’s ‘Simply Clever’ features but they are very limited in numbers and we expected some more to make the Kushaq stand out. For taking on the segment bestseller, you need to offer a few first-in-segment equipment and features to make some noise. But the Kushaq appears to have arrived with some firepower short.