Here is my walkaround and first impressions of Skoda Slavia Style 1.0 TSI.
Design & Styling
The Slavia's styling is unmistakably Skoda. It sports the familiar Skoda family face and the rear too has some resemblance to the 4th-gen Octavia, which was launched earlier this year. When it comes to size, it's larger than the 1st-gen Octavia and has similar dimensions to the Honda City. The Slavia gets coupe-like styling, LED daytime running lights, hexagonal LED headlamps, LED tail-lights and 16-inch alloy wheels. The vehicle will be available in 5 single-tone body colours.
Build Quality, Fit & Finish
The Slavia has a monocoque construction and is built on the MQB-A0-IN platform, which is a variant of the modular MQB platform adapted for the Indian market. The doors, bonnet & tail-gate don't feel as heavy as you'd expect in a European car. The doors make a bit of a clunky sound rather than a satisfying 'thud' on shutting. That said, they don't feel flimsy. There’s not much flex in the body panels and the car feels fairly well built. Overall fit & finish are just as you'd expect from a European car.
Ground Clearance
On paper, the Slavia has a ground clearance rating of 179 mm, which is healthy.
Safety
The Slavia is loaded with safety features such as 3-point seatbelts for all five occupants, 6 airbags, ESC, ABS, multi-collision brake, hill-hold, TPMS, ISOFIX child seat mounts, rear parking sensors, reversing camera, auto headlamps and auto wipers. The car is also equipped with XDS and XDS+, which is a part of the Electronic Differential System and improves the front wheel traction. It reacts when the load on the inner wheels is reduced while cornering and slows down the wheels under reduced load, preventing them from spinning.
Skoda claims that the car's safety systems have not only been tested for generic crash tests like homologation and the GNCAP @ 64 km/h front deformable barrier but are also designed and tested to work in crash scenarios based on internal VW standards. The side and curtain airbags have been designed to meet a crash scenario of side pole crash, which is higher than GNCAP standards. The curtain airbags offer head protection to the front as well as rear passengers. The Slavia has been designed to meet European pedestrian safety norms. Currently, the Indian regulatory requirements only mandate protection for lower leg & head impact; the Slavia will reduce upper leg injuries too.
Info Source: Team BHP