Road test review: Skoda Scala Style

Tuesday, 11 August 2020

Skoda Scala: Top Small Car

SKODA SCALA STYLE
Base price: $38,990
Powertrain and economy: 1.5-litre turbo-petrol inline four, 110kW/250Nm, 7-speed dual-clutch automatic, FWD, combined economy 5.7L/100km, CO2 129g/km (source: Skoda).

You can’t say the Scala Style doesn’t have... er, style.

Vital statistics: 4362mm long, 1531mm wide, 1471mm high, 2649mm wheelbase, luggage capacity 467 litres, 18-inch alloy wheels.
We like: Punchy drivetrain, sips fuel, looks good on the outside, reasonable price

We don't like: Interior could be a bit more interesting, cup holders weirdly small

We liked the Skoda Scala so much when it came out we made it our Top Small Car last year. So with a new round of awards looming closer, how does it still stack up? We check out the top-spec Style to see.

Scala sounds like an unpleasant skin condition. What exactly is it again?

Scala is Skoda’s blurred-lines replacement for the Rapid Spaceback that bridges the small and medium segments. More tech, new looks and maximum bang-for-buck were the main boxes to tick on Skoda’s list and, largely thanks to Volkswagen’s MQB parts bin, Scala has done just that.

The form-hugging sports seats look like there’s a rally-bred engine burbling away under the bonnet...

* Skoda's new baby arrives in NZ

* Road test review: Skoda Scala Sport

... but there isn’t, just VW’s longstanding 1.5-litre inline four. Not that it’s a bad thing, of course.

* The Skoda Scala is our Top Small Car of 2019

Is the Style the Scala to get? I’d say yes.

So it’s a blend of a wagon and a hatchback, two sorts of cars not many people buy these days. Why should I care?

As it’s the most expensive Scala on offer in New Zealand, expect most of the options to be added. That means you get adaptive cruise control with lane assist, sporty seats, full bi-LED adaptive headlights that turn with the car, LED taillights, parking sensors at both ends, keyless entry and an eight-inch touchscreen rather than a six-incher.

Style also gets the stronger engine shared with the Sport, VW’s 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder with cylinder deactivation and a petrol particulate filter, paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. The suspension system is of the adaptive sort, sitting 15mm lower than usual. Pretty high-tech stuff for a sub-$40k hatchback.

Additional extras over the Sport are decorative “black dots” inserts with red ambient lighting and chrome accents, tinted rear windows and an umbrella in the driver’s door. It looks better than, say, the Kamiq we had a while back but it’s still quite conservative, for better or worse. There are also “easy open” cup holders in the centre console that grip the bottom of a bottle, presuming your bottle can fit in them. They’re quite small.

All Scalas have quite a hefty boot, able to take up to 467 litres, larger than that of the Ford Focus (443L) and the Kia Cerato (428L). Given they cost about the same we should mention the Corolla, which has a boot size of 330 litres in ZR Hybrid trim, the most storage in any current ‘Rolla.

And how’s it go?

Pretty damn well. The engine might not inspire many spec-sheet wars but it’s enough to offer a few thrills when you want it to. Lowering the ride height by 15mm has firmed the ride some but it helps the point-and-squirt nature of the car. No wheel-mounted paddle shifters means you can’t feel like an F1 driver but manual cog-swapping can be done at the gear shifter itself.

Though you don’t really need to do it yourself. Nudging the shifter into Sport mode sharpens up the chassis and lets the transmission hold lower gears longer. Hitting 100kmh from standstill takes just over eight seconds, with the full hit of torque coming at between 1500rpm and 3000rpm.

The sporty seats almost imply the Scala is hiding some sort of rally-bred powertrain and while we wish this was the case, Scala Style isn’t a hot hatch. And while cornering dynamics aren’t as thrilling as the much smaller Ford Fiesta ST or Polo GTI (light, muted steering doesn’t help), Scala handles itself fine.

‘Normal’ mode is ideal in town, soaking up Auckland’s imperfections nicely, and the lighter steering is good for navigating smaller streets and carparks. Cylinder deactivation on an already frugal engine means the claimed fuel consumption is rated at 6.2L/100km, with real-world driving often dipping into the fives.

Does it do anything wrong?

Not really, especially if you don't mind Skoda’s restrained approach to styling. I quite like the hockey-stick rear lights – in fact the whole rear end looks good – and the angular styling up front works too. The interior could be a bit more interesting but it follows the function-over-form philosophy, which can be charming in its own way. More herbs in the engine department to match the sports seats wouldn’t go amiss either.

And if you do want more, you’re a bit out of luck. Skoda does build a Monte Carlo version of the Scala, which consists of a bunch of black accents, a panoramic sunroof, a red-trimmed interior and unique wheels but the local arm said it won’t be here for the next wee while. We will get the Kamiq Monte Carlo soon though, which is basically a crossover version of the Scala. Plus, despite the connections to Skoda’s success at the Monte Carlo rally, the cars bearing the same name don’t offer any sort of improvements to the powertrain.

To answer our original question – is the Style the Scala to get? – I’d say yes. It adds enough options as standard over the Sport to warrant the $4k price hike, especially when you consider the bi-LED headlights are a $2250 option by themselves.

Any other cars I should consider?

The Style splits the difference between a fair few hatchbacks at the price. Ford’s Focus Titanium sits at $42,490, a $3.5k premium over the Scala Style while the Focus Active is $37,490 and the Mazda3 GSX starts at $36,895 versus the $41,095 GTX.

Toyota’s Corolla can be had in ZR Hybrid form for $39,990 and, if you want to keep it in the family, the Volkswagen Golf Comfortline is $36,490 and the Highline is $40,990.