A hot performance version of Skoda’s Kodiaq has been on the cards ever since the SUV was first revealed back in the summer of 2016.
And now we’re finally seeing what it is capable of after the Czech car maker released a video of the Kodiaq vRS completing a record-breaking lap of the Nürburgring’s legendary Nordschleife.
Piloted by racing driver and sometime-Top Gear bod Sabine Schmitz, the cranked-up mudplugger tackled the 20.832-km-long circuit in 9:29.84 minutes – the fastest time around the Nordschleife for a seven-seater SUV.
Note how specific that record is and the emphasis on ‘seven-seater’. That’s because the record for the fastest SUV period was set by the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio last year – and it was 1:38.14 minutes quicker.
Schmitz, who became the first woman to win the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring in 1996 before triumphing again the following year, described the Skoda Kodiaq vRS as “great fun on the track”.
“Skoda has made full use of its large SUV’s potential with the Kodiaq vRS,” she added.
“I can certainly imagine that I’ll be encountering the Kodiaq vRS regularly during my laps around the Nordschleife in future.”
Watch highlights from Sabine's record run:
Technical details are kind of scant right now, but we do know that Skoda’s latest vRS – which joins hot versions of the Octavia and Superb in the vRS range – uses a new two-litre 237bhp bi-turbo diesel engine that’s already available in the VW Tiguan.
In VW’s SUV, it can accelerate to 62mph in 6.5 seconds so expect something similar when Skoda reveals all on the Kodiaq vRS at the Paris Motor Show in October.
For now, check out leasing deals on other variants of the Kodiaq: personal / business