Every subsidiary of Volkswagen, at least the ones competing in the mass market category, has never really shied away from rolling out higher performance variants of their cars - often in tandem with products from their German parent company.
SEAT and Skoda habitually produce cars that are or a near-match to equivalents from VW, such as the Leon Cupra that’s analogous to the Golf GTI Performance or Superb Sportline 206TSI that gives the Passat 206TSI R-Line a very close run. Thankfully, for the most part, these separate offerings have been able to coexist harmoniously.
That said, Skoda’s plans to create a hotter version of their Kodiaq SUV marks new territory for the Wolfsburg-owned Czech automaker as the VW model it’s based on, the Tiguan, hasn’t yet been given fully sanctioned similar treatment. Not insofar as badging it as a ‘Tiguan R’, at least.
Autocar reports that a hunkered down Kodiaq with more aggressive trimmings and larger wheels has been spotted numerous times undergoing tests at the Nurburgring, each time shedding more and more camouflage, portending an imminent reveal of a new addition to Skoda’s sportier vRS portfolio as early as this year’s Paris Motor Show. Curiously, their sources suggest a bi-turbo TDI four-cylinder being responsible for the fast SUV’s thrust.
The unit itself is very similar to the 2.0-litre turbodiesels currently used in the common Tiguan and Kodiaq varieties, but fitted with an additional turbocharger and a more aggressive engine map to produce 180kW and 500Nm - identical to the Tiguan 2.0 BiTDi BMT 240 4Motion. This would endow the Skoda with similar figures to what is currently the most performant Tiguan: a 230km/h top speed and a 0-100km/h sprint time of 6.5 seconds.
In addition, the Kodiaq vRS has been confirmed to receive the Dynamic Chassis Control adaptive suspension system as standard, with drive modes to match the Octavia vRS: Eco, Comfort, Normal, and Sport. Speaking of the Skoda saloon, the hot Kodiaq’s bi-turbo engine is also slated to trickle into the next Octavia vRS’ diesel variant, which currently offers a less convincing 135kW and 380Nm.
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