Review: 2026 Skoda Kodiaq RS

The hot Skoda for seven people in tow dials the temperature down a notch.

The Kodiaq RS has become larger.

The Kodiaq has been wildly popular because of its SUV form factor as well as its seven seats. That is quite a rare combination at its price point and families have been lapping it up, at least until Chinese competition came to the party. However, the RS variant is still an interesting one, as you don’t usually associate a family-hauler as a sporting car (just like the GLB 35 AMG). With two kids myself, the Kodiaq RS was, at least on paper, a dream car all-in-one. 

The subtle light strip across the grille is just about visible.

Skoda’s new Kodiaq is more substantial in size than ever before, which doesn’t quite bode well for the RS variant. That said, it does come with a nifty AWD system that can send 100% of torque to the rear axle, or up to 85% to a single wheel. It does sound like an interesting dynamic setup which I wanted to try out. It also now comes with 265 hp and 400 Nm, which are definitely not numbers to scoff at. 

The twin tail pipes are actually fake.

The exterior of the Kodiaq RS is rather conservative if you take away its bright blue paintwork. There are large wheels, twin exhaust tips (fake, by the way) and a smattering of RS badges, but it looks pretty low-key. I guess that is a desirable trait for hot-blooded dads. 

The engine is punchy but lacking soul.

The story is pretty much the same for the interior, which is serious and formal. There is red contrast stitching, a RS steering wheel and RS seats. At least the latter two, which are important touch points, are pretty good. 

The interior is business-like.

On start-up, the Kodiaq RS is unusually quiet. Dynamic Sound Boost amplifies the exhaust note in the interior, and like in the pre-facelift Octavia RS, I really disliked it so I switched it off immediately. Once that is done, the drivetrain is too hushed. There is hardly anything to hint that it is a sporting engine at all. No doubt, once stretched, the power is there, but it too feels just adequate to haul the chassis around. Instead of a sports car, the Kodiaq RS just feels like the normal car with a particularly powerful engine. 

RS logos uplift the ambience.

The AWD system feels pretty conservatively tuned too. Although it is able to put 100% of power to the rear, the ESP is way ahead of you to prevent that from even happening. It requires to be disabled and the car manhandled to some extent to really extract some dynamism from the AWD. But safe and secure the Kodiaq RS definitely is. DCC Plus works a charm in the Kodiaq RS; the ride can literally be as calm or as frenetic as you want across an almost limitless scale. Progressive Steering adds weight to the helm with speed but not much by way of feel.  

It's actually RS, not vRS.

In many ways, the Kodiaq RS reminds me a lot of the pre-facelift Octavia RS. Very capable, but lacking quite a fair bit of soul. But I loved what Skoda did to the facelifted Octavia RS. Here’s hoping that Skoda can apply some of that magic in an update to the Kodiaq RS to unleash its full potential. 

Photos by James Wong