Skoda Slavia 1.5 TSI MT long term review, third report – Introduction

Third report: What higher option to take pleasure in a handbook than on twisty, mountain roads? Right here’s our weekend with the Slavia.

Not surprisingly, nearly all of Skoda Slavias bought are the automated variants, as prospects demand extra comfort and ease of use of their each day grind to work. However in case you drive to Mahabaleshwar usually, as I do, you might have considered trying the handbook. My first stint with the 1.5 Slavia because it entered our long-term fleet jogged my memory that nothing beats the connection and intimacy you get with a handbook.

Slick 6-speeder has a brief throw and makes shifting enjoyable.

It’s the easy pleasures of having the ability to push the engine to the redline with out some laptop deciding when it’s time to upshift, indulging within the misplaced artwork of heel and toeing with each downshift, or merely flicking by means of the gate of the 6-speed gearbox. True, lots of vehicles nonetheless have handbook transmissions, however the way in which the world goes, they might develop into extinct, so it’s finest to take pleasure in them when you nonetheless can. And there’s no higher place to take pleasure in a handbook than on a twisty street, which is why I referred to as dibs on the Slavia when a weekend journey to the hills beckoned.

Complementing the 6-speed handbook gearbox is the 150hp, 1.5-litre turbo-petrol, which is definitely the center and soul of the Slavia. It’s a completely good motor that has a punchy mid-range and a powerful prime finish, which, allied to the tall gearing of the 6-speed handbook, offers the Slavia a capability to munch miles with out breaking right into a sweat.

1.5 turbo-petrol has immense punch and is kind of easy too.

The 1.5 Slavia is a long-legged automotive, and 100kph – the pace restrict on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway – equates to a lazy 2,000rpm in sixth gear. Third gear, good for 160kph is an efficient overtaking device and, at cruising, speeds falls properly within the meat of the 1.5 motor’s powerband. A small flex of the proper foot is all that’s wanted for the Slavia to lunge forward and this surplus of energy makes the 1.5 Slavia a superb freeway automotive. It’s even higher on a winding street.

The 11km drive up the Wai Ghat to Panchgani was an absolute blast. Flicking between second and third gears, and generally right down to first for the tighter hairpins, to maintain the 1.5-litre turbo-petrol on the boil was a weekend’s price of leisure dished out in simply quarter-hour. It’s not simply the sturdy engine and slick gearbox that make the Slavia such enjoyable to drive, additionally it is the simple and predictable dealing with. The suspension is de facto well-calibrated and ideal for the bumpy roads round Mahabaleshwar.

Turbo lag at low revs requires frequent shifts.

Driving within the hills additionally exposes one of many weaknesses of the 1.5 Slavia – turbo lag. Due to the tall gearing, engine revs are inclined to drop. And so, at low revs, there’s a good bit of turbo lag and you find yourself shifting down a gear and utilizing the gearbox regularly, which actually isn’t any unhealthy factor. It’s unhealthy for gas effectivity although and this shot of spirited driving got here at a worth. The Slavia gave 8.8kpl on these mountain roads, which pulled down the general common to 11.2kpl. It’s not nice however not unhealthy by turbo-petrol requirements.

Cabin lacks the European really feel of earlier Skodas.

Talking of requirements, poke across the cabin and it’s clear that match and end is less than German ranges. A number of the materials are starting to look scruffy and the woven roof liner additionally appears the more serious for put on. However the second you pop the clutch and put your proper foot down, you’ll overlook what you had been grumbling about. That is really an entertaining automotive.