COUNTLESS hours of work by Skoda Australia has delivered massive success, with confirmation the parent company has reclassified Australia’s technical category, allowing for red hot Kodiaq RS to come to Australia.
Available to order from late 2019, the Nürburgring record-setting seven-seat performance SUV is on its way, after the factory factory in the Czech Republic reset our technical category from a ‘hot and dusty’ climate to a ‘moderately hot country’.
The change makes the sizzling performance variant a reality. The Kodiaq is the first Skoda SUV to wear the RS name and is powered by a potent 176kW/500Nm 2.0-litre bi-turbo diesel engine capable of 0-100km/h in seven seconds.
In 2018, German race driver and Nürburgring 24-Hours winner Sabine Schmidt lapped the world famous Nordschleife in the Kodiaq RS, setting a new seven-seat SUV record of 9m 29.84sec.
The sporty model gets unique 20-inch ‘Xtreme’ alloy wheels, red brake calipers, blacked-out mirrors, roof rails and an RS badged grille. Inside there’s premium leather with the RS logo stitched into the front headrests and Skoda’s high definition digital cockpit.
“Since its launch, we have been working tirelessly to bring the Kodiaq RS to our shores,” Skoda Australia director Michael Irmer said.
“The project to bring the high-performance bi-turbo diesel-powered Kodiaq RS has seen collaboration between Australian and Czech technical teams sharing data and know-how,” he said.
“It is because of their shared passion for the Skoda brand, and this exciting car, that we can finally offer an RS-spec SUV.”
Pricing and full specification for the beefed up Kodiaq model will be available closer to local launch.
