New Volkswagen Tayron vs Skoda Kodiaq
We’re big fans of the Skoda Kodiaq, but can it do a number on its new seven-seat rival from Volkswagen, the Tayron?...
The contenders
NEW Volkswagen Tayron 1.5 eTSI 150 Elegance
List price £42,700
Target Price £41,153
The replacement for the Tiguan Allspace is closely related to the Kodiaq and pitched slightly more upmarket. Does it offer any benefits over its stablemate?
Skoda Kodiaq 1.5 TSI 150 e-TEC SE L
List price £41,700
Target Price £36,250
Skoda’s largest SUV has already seen off rivals such as the latest Peugeot 5008, thanks to its combination of great practicality and fine value for money
Sometimes, building an extension on your house is a perfectly adequate and affordable way of achieving extra living space. Similarly, retrofitting extra insulation, double-glazed windows and more efficient heating systems and appliances can be a reasonable way of making an old building more habitable. But at other times, the best solution is to start again, with something purpose-built.
That’s what Volkswagen has done with its seven-seat SUV. You see, the old Tiguan Allspace was essentially a regular five-seat Volkswagen Tiguan with a couple of small extra seats squeezed into the boot. Sure, it was capable of seating seven, but not all that comfortably for taller occupants of the third row.
Its replacement, though, is more fit for purpose. The all-new Volkswagen Tayron has grown compared with the Tiguan Allspace in order to offer more suitable space for taller folk in the rearmost seats.
The Tayron is up against some formidable rivals, though – including the closely related Skoda Kodiaq. This model sits on the same underpinnings as the Tayron and has already proved its worth by beating the latest Peugeot 5008 in a comparison earlier this year.
With the Kodiaq and Tayron being so similar in so many ways, there’s rarely been a more level playing field. What can the Tayron offer, if anything, over its slightly cheaper stablemate?
Driving
Performance, ride, handling, refinement
You’ll find the same 148bhp mild hybrid 1.5-litre petrol engine in each of our contenders. A small amount of electrical assistance is provided to aid performance and fuel economy, but neither car can drive on electric power alone, as some mild hybrids now do. There’s sufficient shove for pootling about with a light load, but fill the boot and all seven seats and both need to be worked quite hard if you want to make decent progress.
Plant your foot from a standstill and it’s the Tayron that’ll get to you to 60mph marginally quicker. This insignificant difference can be attributed in part to our Kodiaq test car’s winter tyres (versus the Tayron’s regular all-season ones), and also to the fact that the Tayron, in its Sport driving mode, has a rudimentary launch control system that gets you off the line slightly better. The Kodiaq doesn’t give you selectable driving modes unless you specify adaptive suspension – an optional feature not fitted to either of our cars.
Either way, it’s the automatic gearboxes that are the Achilles’ heel for both. They’re easily caught napping, taking time to drop down a gear or two when you ask for a sudden burst of acceleration. It makes going for an overtake or a gap in traffic more difficult, even if you have each ’box set in its slightly more responsive Sport mode.
Despite coming with big, 19in wheels, both contenders ride really comfortably, soaking up most bumps with ease. It’s only over larger, sharper intrusions where you start to see a difference, the slightly softer Tayron absorbing them with less of a thud than the Kodiaq. Along uneven roads, the Kodiaq’s tighter body control helps it to feel a little more settled, but neither car rocks you around in your seat to an extent that will cause discomfort.
It’d be unfair to expect these fairly large SUVs to be particularly agile, but you might be pleasantly surprised. Sure, fast cornering leads to a fair bit of body lean, but both generate plenty of grip and handle in a very capable, secure way at sensible speeds. The Kodiaq has more confidence-inspiring steering, though, with more consistent weighting. The Tayron’s very light steering gives you less of a sense of connection to the front wheels.
Coming to a smooth stop isn’t particularly easy in either car, because they have light brake pedals that sink a long way before anything meaningful happens. Exacerbating the problem is the fact that both cars have a ‘lift and coast’ function that removes engine braking by putting the gearbox into neutral when you lift off the accelerator (to help save fuel). This forces you to press even harder on the brake pedal in order to shed speed, with the Tayron being worse affected. As a result, driving smoothly can be a challenge at times.
When you’re simply cruising along on the motorway, though, both cars are pleasingly hushed, suppressing wind and road noise well. According to our decibel meter, the Kodiaq is slightly quieter at 70mph, but the margin is so tiny that you’d be hard pressed to split them using your ears alone.
Behind the wheel
Driving position, visibility, build quality
While both cars place you high above the road, it’s the Tayron that feels loftier. That’s because the Kodiaq has a slightly higher window line, giving the illusion (and that’s all it is) that you’re sitting lower within the car.
Either way, the driving positions are sound, each lining you up perfectly with the pedals and steering wheel. Both give you electrically adjustable lumbar support to help ward off back ache on long journeys, and the Tayron even has a massage function, but it’s still easier to get comfy in the Kodiaq. That’s because it comes with a fully electrically adjustable driver’s seat, whereas the Tayron makes do with manual adjustment, unless you pay an extra £2210 for the Leather Package.
With those elevated seating positions and relatively slim windscreen pillars, visibility to the front and sides is hard to fault. The view to the rear is nearly as good; both have large rear screens and generous-sized side windows behind the rear doors that allow a clear view over your shoulder.
Front and rear parking sensors and rear-view cameras are standard on both cars, but the Tayron goes a step further by including a surround-view camera. You can add the latter to the Kodiaq as part of the optional Driving Assistance Plus Package, but it’ll cost you £1820.
The Kodiaq’s seats are covered in artificial leather, whereas the Tayron uses a suede-like material. Both interiors feel solidly built and offer a nice mixture of materials, with hard plastics being contained to the lower reaches, but the areas that you touch most often feel a bit plusher in the Tayron, especially on the tops of the doors.
Infotainment systems
Volkswagen Tayron
The operating system may be fundamentally the same as the Kodiaq’s, but there are subtle differences. One that works in the Tayron’s favour is that its configurable shortcut icons at the top of the 12.9in touchscreen are slightly larger, making them easier to hit on the move. However, the main shortcuts are less accessible than the Kodiaq’s, and space is taken up by most of the climate controls. Nor is the screen quite as responsive to inputs.
Skoda Kodiaq
With the Kodiaq’s 13.0in touchscreen not having to accommodate all of the air-con controls, there’s plenty of room across the bottom for shortcut icons to take you straight to the most often-used functions. Add to that a configurable row of shortcuts for more specific functions at the top and it’s easy to navigate the system while you’re driving. True, the icons could be larger, but the screen responds quickly to inputs.
Space and practicality
Front space, rear space, seating flexibility, boot
No one will moan about a shortage of space in either car, especially in the front. Even if you’re broad and well over six feet tall, you’ll be able to stretch out and not have to worry about banging elbows with your neighbour or your hair being ruffled by the rooflining.
Both offer plenty of storage space up front, but the Kodiaq goes the extra mile by having larger door pockets, a handy second glovebox on the top of the dashboard and more covered cubbies in the centre console.
Second-row occupants won’t struggle for space any more than those in the front, especially with the standard sliding seats (which are split 60/40 in both cars) pushed all the way back for maximum leg room. True, the Kodiaq offers slightly more head room, but you’d have to be exceptionally tall to notice the difference. And if you are, the middle-row seatbacks can be reclined slightly in both to improve clearance and comfort.
For parents who need to secure child seats, each car provides three Isofix mounting points – on the front passenger seat and the outer middle-row seats. Neither has any in the third row.
Although the back doors open wide, access to the rearmost seats can be a bit awkward, even after you’ve tilted and slid the middle row forwards. But once they’re in, there’s enough space for a pair of average-sized adults or older children. The broader Kodiaq offers more shoulder room, as well as a smidgen more head clearance; a six-footer will be brushing the ceiling in the Tayron. The latter has a little more leg room, though. While the margins are small, the Kodiaq is the comfier option overall for those in the back row.
In five-seat mode, both have big boots that’ll happily swallow a family’s holiday luggage or a couple of pushchairs. With the second row pushed all the way back, nine carry-on suitcases can fit into the boot of each car; that’s impressive, although the rival Peugeot 5008 can swallow one more. To fit that extra case in the Kodiaq or Tayron, you’ll need to slide the middle-row seats all the way forwards.
The second-row seatbacks (which are split 40/20/40) can be folded down using handy remote release levers inside each car’s boot. Doing so creates a long, flat extended load bay, with the Kodiaq’s stretching even farther than the Tayron’s.
To boost boot practicality, you can add a Simply Clever Cargo Package (£190) to the Kodiaq; this brings a storage net, rubber floor mat and storage compartments for the load bay. For the same price, you can add a storage net partition to the Tayron, but it doesn’t include the other items you get with the Kodiaq’s pack.
Boot space
Volkswagen Tayron
Boot capacity 345-850-1905 litres Suitcases 9
Skoda Kodiaq
Boot capacity 340-845-2035 litres Suitcases 9
Buying and owning
Costs, equipment, reliability, safety and security
For anyone buying outright, the Tayron’s list price is exactly £1000 higher than the Kodiaq’s in the trims tested. The gap widens when you factor in discounts; you can expect to shave around £1500 off the Tayron, whereas you could save at least £5400 on the Kodiaq.
The Kodiaq is the cheaper option if you elect to take out a PCP finance agreement, too. On a three-year deal with a £4000 deposit from you and a 10,000-mile annual limit, the Kodiaq will set you back £595 per month, whereas the Tayron will cost £625.
The Tayron was slightly more economical on our mixed test route, managing 42.5mpg to the Kodiaq’s 41.9mpg – possibly due to the latter’s winter tyres. Add up all of the costs that a private buyer can expect over three years of ownership, though, and the Kodiaq will be cheaper to the tune of more than £4000.
For company car drivers paying benefit-in-kind tax, the Kodiaq’s slightly lower CO2 emissions move it down a band compared with the Tayron. That means anyone in the 40% tax bracket will save £863 between now and April 2028 by choosing the Kodiaq.
Both cars come with lots of standard equipment, including three-zone climate control (which includes separate controls for second-row occupants), a heated steering wheel, keyless entry, an electric tailgate and heated front seats. While adaptive cruise control is standard on the Tayron, you’ll have to pay an extra £830 for the Driving Assistance Package to get it on the Kodiaq. Conversely, adaptive matrix LED headlights are standard on the Kodiaq but £595 extra on the Tayron.
Neither car was included in the most recent What Car Reliability Survey, but Skoda ranked higher in the overall brand league table, placing 13th (out of the 31), compared with 18th for Volkswagen. Should anything go wrong, each offers an unexceptional three-year/60,000-mile standard warranty.
The Tayron hasn’t yet been tested for safety by Euro NCAP, while the Kodiaq scored the full five stars last year. As well as having automatic emergency braking, each comes with a driver fatigue alert system, traffic sign detection, lane-keeping assistance and blindspot monitoring.
Our verdict
Clearly, these closely related seven-seaters do a very similar job in many respects; you could pick either of them and be very pleased with it. But that doesn’t mean we’re unable to find enough points of distinction to name a winner.
What becomes clear, when you dig deeper, is that it’s the Kodiaq that ekes out an advantage in more areas. Not only will it cost you less to buy and own, but it also offers slightly more generous interior space and better driving manners.
The Tayron is still well worth considering, especially if you prefer its slightly plusher interior. In fact, its blend of practicality and comfort makes it a great new addition to the seven-seater category. But the Kodiaq is also strong in those areas and more, so it’s hard to justify the step up in price demanded by the Tayron.
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1st – Skoda Kodiaq
For Better to drive; cheaper to buy and run; slightly roomier in second and third rows; better infotainment system; well equipped
Against Climate control knobs feel a bit flimsy; slow-witted gearbox
Recommended options None
What Car? rating 4 stars out of 5
Skoda Kodiaq review >>
Skoda Kodiaq deals >>
2nd – Volkswagen Tayron
For Slightly plusher interior; more absorbent ride; loftier-feeling driving position; more economical in our test
Against Soggy brake pedal can make smooth stops tricky; higher PCP bills
Recommended options None
What Car? rating 4 stars out of 5
Volkswagen Tayron review >>
Volkswagen Tayron deals >>
Specifications: Volkswagen Tayron 1.5 eTSI 150 Elegance
Engine 4cyl, 1498cc, turbo, petrol
Peak power 148bhp at 5000rpm
Peak torque 184lb ft at 1500-3500rpm
Gearbox 7-spd automatic, front-wheel drive
0-60mph 9.2sec
30-70mph in kickdown 9.1sec
Top speed 127mph
Braking 30-0mph 8.5m
Braking 70-0mph 46.1m
Noise at 30mph 58.4dB
Noise at 70mph 65.9dB
Kerb weight 1723kg
Tyre size (standard) 235/50 R19
Fuel tank 55 litres
Test economy 42.5mpg
Official economy 44.1mpg
CO2 emissions 146g/km
Specifications: Skoda Kodiaq 1.5 TSI 150 e-TEC SE L
Engine 4cyl, 1498cc, turbo, petrol
Peak power 148bhp at 5000rpm
Peak torque 184lb ft at 1500-3500rpm
Gearbox 7-spd automatic, front-wheel drive
0-60mph 9.4sec
30-70mph in kickdown 9.5sec
Top speed 127mph
Braking 30-0mph 9.1m
Braking 70-0mph 48.2m
Noise at 30mph 58.7dB
Noise at 70mph 65.7dB
Kerb weight 1710kg
Tyre size (standard) 235/50 R19
Fuel tank 58 litres
Test economy 41.9mpg
Official economy 45.2mpg
CO2 emissions 142g/km
Weather conditions 17deg C, dry
Cars pictured
Volkswagen Tayron 1.5 eTSI Elegance with Ultra Violet metallic paint (£810), electric tow bar (£1095), tyre pressure monitoring system (£205) and net partition (£190)
Skoda Kodiaq 1.5 TSI 150 e-TEC SE L with Bronx Gold metallic paint (£650), heated windscreen (£340), Winter Package (£320), Light and View Plus Package (£170) and 19in Halti Anthracite polished alloy wheels (£125)
