Skoda Kodiaq

Has the decision to ditch diesel resulted in a palpably hotter seven-seat SUV?

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Price £46,035 Power 242bhp Torque 2731bft. 0-60mph 5.9sec 30-70mph in fourth 9.9sec Fuel economy 29.5mpg CO2 emissions 199g/km 70-Omph 59.2m

MODEL TESTED VRS 2.0 TSI 245PS 4x4 DSG

It wasn't so long ago that diesel shook off its reputation as HGV fuel and simply became the fashionable, economical choice for any kind of car. Everything had to be diesel-powered, from city cars to supercars, to the point that Audi at one stage seriously considered a V12 diesel R8.

How quickly that's changed. A handful of diesel performance cars remain, like the Audi SQ5 and the BMW M340d, but the tide has rapidly turned. The BMW M550d is long gone and the Ford Focus ST diesel won't return after the facelift.

Skoda has a long history with performance diesels - the first Fabia RS had a 1.9-litre TDI - but now the largest performance Skoda, the Kodiaq vRS, has fallen in line with expectations and traded derv power for petrol.

The engine may be new for the Kodiaq, but it's the familiar Volkswagen Group 2.0-litre EA888, here in 242bhp tune as also found in the Octavia vRS and Volkswagen Golf GTI. It's no doubt a more sporting engine than a big diesel, but in a heavy SUV like the Kodiaq, we rather liked the torquey oil-burner, so the new petrol engine has something to prove.

The Kodiaq vRS remains an unusual offering in that it's one of very few seven-seat SUVs to come with an overtly sporting derivative. If you want a performance SUV, you normally have to either go with something smaller like the Cupra Formentor or Hyundai Kona N, or pay a lot more for a six-cylinder BMW X3 or Mercedes GLC.