FIRST DRIVE
SKODA KAROQ SCOUT
The vehicle that replaced the award-winning Yeti gets the off-road treatment but remains first and foremost a slick family SUV ON TEST Karoq Scout 2.0 TDI 150
W
hen Skoda launches a new 4x4, you can be sure that after a few months it’ll also launch a Scout version of the vehicle. And sure enough, following on from last year’s introduction of the Karoq to replace the smash-hit Yeti, here’s the Karoq Scout. The Yeti was famed for the brave styling that made it so distinctive,
42 | JULY 2019
4pp Karoq Scout.indd 42
and looking that way didn’t seem to cost it anything in terms of popularity. Nonetheless, Skoda has gone a lot more conservative this time, with a design that looks much more like a modestly scaled-down Kodiaq. Still, if you’re going to be a scaled-down anything, you might as well be a scaled-down Kodiaq, what with that being one of the very best vehicles on the entire market. And the extra underbody cladding that
comes with the Scout treatment does work well enough with the Karoq’s image, adding a touch of attitude without making it look as if it’s trying to be something it’s not. We’ve got the Scout here in 2.0 TDI 150 form, which is one of four engine and gearbox combos available in this trim. You can get it with a 1.5-litre petrol unit or a version of the same 2.0 TDI tuned for 190bhp, both of which come as standard with DSG auto gearboxes; the engine tested here can be specced that way as an option, but we’ve got it with what is the only manual in the Scout line-up. Thus equipped, the Scout lists at £31,290. We’re seeing a pretty consistent £4500-£5000 discount being offered by online brokers, however, so don’t be too quick to let that put you off. It’s still a lot more expensive than the most basic Karoq, but of course you get a lot more kit in Scout form. This includes four-wheel drive, as well as that protective
lower body cladding and an OffRoad mode which, without turning it into anything that’ll trouble a Landcruiser, gives it more ability than almost any owner will ever believe, let alone need..
CABIN AND PRACTICALITY Typically of anything that comes out of the Volkswagen Group, the Karoq is tidily designed and beautifully put together inside. So many car makers try to come over all cleverclever and end up looking fussy and clumsy instead, but what we have here is an object lesson in doing the simple things right. The facia is designed around a really slick media screen whose graphics and operation shows how far in-car infotainment has come. Its resolution is top-drawer and it responds instantaneously to inputs, with a clarity to its interface that
4x4 03/06/2019 22:50