Citroen C5 Aircross vs Skoda Kodiaq

What's the difference?

So, what did my family think about the Citroen C5 Aircross Sport?

I love how it looks and its updated safety list. It’s fairly spacious inside and has a great boot space but it’s lacking a lot of family-orientated practicality in the back seat. The lack of individual storage and amenities is noticeable when you have a kid or two but even as an adult, not having a cupholder for your coffee/drink on a trip feels odd.

The multimedia system and reversing camera need to be improved, too. Overall, it will suit a small family which is out of the baby stage but can’t yet justify upgrading to a larger SUV. It gets a 6.5/10 from my family. 

The new Skoda Kodiaq is an impressive, family friendly machine with a sharp design, loads of standard fruit, top-shelf safety and heaps of thoughtful touches throughout. It’s comfortable and refined, but thirsty relative to key competitors, and could do with a little more oomph, plus there are some niggles related to things like lane keeping refinement and the reversing camera. But there’s no doubt this so far low-key contender deserves a bigger share of the large, three-row SUV spotlight.

Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.

The facelifted model sees a sportier front with the grille redesigned to highlight the double chevron badge.

The bonnet curves around the badge, as do the two long LED strip lights that connect the headlights. The bonnet also sports new divots that give it a gruffer edge.

The wide profile at the rear and new three-pronged tail-lights create some interest.

The black plastic moulding that runs along the base of the car could look unfashionable on a lighter colour but on our blue paintwork, it looks good. As does the contrasting black roof!

The interior trims are finished in a combination of synthetic and Nappa leather but boast a two-tone colour which might not land with everyone. Particularly given the navy portions seem to be glittery in certain lights.

Sitting at 1859mm wide, 1695mm high and just 4500mm long, the overall exterior design is sporty but cute. It should appeal to those who want a nice-but-not-loud-looking car and something that is easy to park.

The new Kodiaq’s overall proportions are similar to the out-going version, but it’s around 60mm longer, with a new headlight arrangement and octagonal grille treatment at the front.

Squared-off wheel arches are a design signature, as is the ‘dark chrome’ D-pillar with silver roof rails. The turret slopes markedly towards the rear, no doubt a contributor to the car’s slippery 0.28 drag coefficient.

At the rear, sharp C-shape LED tail-lights are split into three and the dark chrome finish is also applied to the Skoda logo type.

Aside from specific badges on the front guards, car-spotters looking out for the Sportline should tick off 20-inch rims and metallic black finish on the grille, wing mirrors, roof rails, D-pillar and diffuser as well as a horizontal light strip on the grille.

In classic Skoda fashion there are numerous thoughtful details that make life that little bit easier, including pop-out door protectors, bins in both front doors, an umbrella slotted into the driver’s door, and even a media screen wiping tool (dubbed ‘Dry display cleaner’) to keep the inevitable fingerprints under control.

The interior is dominated by a 13-inch multi-media screen and 10.25-inch ‘Virtual Cockpit’ instrument display with ventilated wireless charging pads for two phones on top of the broad centre console. And that console is broad because gear selection is via a stalk on the steering column rather than a traditional centre shifter.

But the standout feature is a trio of press and turn configurable ‘Smart Dials’ for heating and ventilation control.

The current function for each dial is shown on a digital display in its centre. Press the dial to select the chosen function and adjust by turning it. The middle dial can be customised to control up to four user-selected functions including audio volume, fan speed, air direction, map zoom and driving modes (on the Sportline).

The dials are chunky and easy to use. A super neat ergonomic master class.

The interior is spacious for a medium SUV but the back seat knocks off some points for family practicality. So, let’s start in the back.

Despite there being plenty of headspace for my 168cm (5’6’’) height, the legroom is cosy behind my driving position.

Meaning a 0-4 rearward facing child seat will encroach on front passenger space. It’s probably best suited to a family which is out of the baby stages but it was cumbersome fitting my big harnessed-booster seat in there, too.

It has ISOFIX child seat mounts on the outboard rear seats and three top tethers but two seats will fit best. The floor is flat, which offers far more comfort for a middle seat passenger and I love how the seats can be individually shifted.

The amenities and storage in this row are sparse. You get directional air vents, reading lights, netted map pockets and shallow storage bins in the doors.

Siblings may squabble over the single USB-A port on a long road trip but more than that, there are no cupholders or drink bottle holders back there or even a centre armrest.

That said, the 182mm ground clearance made it an easy car for my six-year-old to get in and out of; plus, the stadium-like seating and wide windows meant he had an awesome view this week.

Now for the front. It has ample amenities, storage and tech. You get plenty of head- and legroom, plus with the panoramic sunroof the cabin manages to feel airy, too.

Individual storage is great with an extra deep middle console, glove box, two cupholders, bins in each door and two very handy utility trays situated near the toggle-type shifter.

Charging options are much better up front, too, and you can choose between a wireless charging pad, two USB-A ports and a 12-volt socket to charge your device.

It's super easy to connect to the wired Apple CarPlay and there’s wired Android Auto for those users.

The built-in satellite navigation is straightforward but that’s where the simplicity ends. I did not find the multimedia system or the digital instrument panel to be terribly intuitive to use and the touchscreen controls can be laggy.

I’m sure you could get used to it over time but I felt flustered.

For this size SUV, the boot space is great at 580L with all seats in use but you can bump it up to 1630L if you fold the back row.

The floor can be adjusted to make a level load space or dropped to give you greater depth for bulkier items and there is a temporary spare tyre underneath the floor.

There are luggage tie-down anchors, a cargo blind and I always like having a powered tailgate. 

At 4758mm long the new Kodiaq is around 60mm longer overall than its predecessor, but the wheelbase (2791mm) has only grown by 1.0mm. Yet Skoda claims the interior, including the third row space, is more generous.

And that stacks up in the front which is roomy, functional and visually interesting with lots of room and plenty of storage. That includes big door bins, a box between the seats,with a padded, adjustable lid that doubles as a centre armrest, a lower (large) and upper (medium) glovebox, a hinged compartment near the base of the steering column, and multiple cupholders in the centre console.

Move to the second row and sitting behind the driver’s seat set to my 183cm position and there’s tons of leg and headroom, and enough shoulder room for three grown-ups to sit together with too much grumbling for medium-length journeys.

And Skoda’s helpful, common-sense approach is there in abundance with, for example, map pockets on the back of the front seats, which have a phone-sized slot stitched into them. -There are pull up shades for each window, big bins in the doors with plenty of room for bottles and more, a pull-down centre armrest with two cupholders, tablet holders in the back of the front headrests, adjustable climate controlled vents plus a ‘Jumbo Box’ on the floor for extra bottles and ‘stuff’ (removable if you need foot room for a centre passenger). Nice.

As for the more spacious third row, it’s still best to think of the two positions back there as occasional spots for up to mid-teenage kids. It’s too tight for adults on anything other than a painful and brief emergency trip.

That said, there’s oddments storage and a cupholder back there. But the second row seat doesn’t roll and fold for rear row access. It’s more a matter of slide (forward) and tilt (the backrest) to provide enough space to scramble in.

No power outlet back there, either, but there are three USB-Cs in the front (one near the rear view mirror for a dashcam), plus another two USB-Cs and a 12-volt socket in the centre row.

Boot capacity is generous and class competitive at 289 litres (VDA) with seven seats up, 749L with five seats up and a whopping 2035L with the second and third rows folded.

In the boot there are numerous thoughtful touches like extra storage wells, bag hooks, a 12-volt power outlet, a luggage net, and of course, the power tailgate.

There’s a space-saver spare under the boot floor, and you’ll be able to tow a 2.3-tonne braked trailer (750kg unbraked).

On the way to making an impact on the category big guns, Skoda will hope to steal sales from large SUV middle-order players like the Hyundai Santa Fe (from $53,000), Kia Sorento (from $50,680) and Mazda CX-80 (from $54,950).

Offered in three grades from launch, the Select kicks off the range at $54,990 before on-road costs, with new standard equipment highlights including 19-inch alloy wheels, heated seats, a 13-inch media display, nine-speaker audio, digital radio and metallic paint.

That comes on top of upgraded three-zone climate control, a power-adjustable front driver’s seat (with memory), leather trim, a power tailgate, keyless entry and start, a 10-inch digital instrument cluster, wired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, privacy glass, rain-sensing wipers, LED head- and tail-lights, LED ambient lighting and heaps more.

The Sportline ($58,990 before on-roads) adds dynamic indicators, 20-inch rims, sports front seats, synthetic leather and synthetic suede trim (with grey contrast stitching), Sportline glossy black exterior elements, aluminium finish pedals and a heated steering wheel.

An optional $4000 Ultimate Package adds Dynamic Chassis Control (including adaptive dampers), Canton 12-speaker audio, a head-up display, heated rear seats, park assist, surround-view cameras, hands-free tailgate opening, progressive steering, hill-descent control and a power-adjustable front passenger seat.

Then an initial batch of 100 Launch Edition cars ($63,490, BOC) is based on the Select, adding power-adjustable and massaging front seats, a heated steering wheel and rear seats, Dynamic Chassis Control, auto parking, a surround camera view, matrix LED headlights, Canton audio, a head-up display and a panoramic glass sunroof.

Well and truly in the right price ballpark with an impressive standard features list at every level. It’s also worth noting a sporty 195kW Kodiaq RS will be arriving in September.

The C5 Aircross Sport has a 1.6-litre, four-cylinder turbo-petrol engine with a maximum power output of 133kW and 250Nm of torque. It’s not super grunty but there’s plenty here to keep you up to speed on the open road.

It is a front-wheel drive and has an eight-speed auto transmission but the gear changes can feel a bit jerky at lower speeds.

All new Kodiaq launch variants are powered by the same 140kW/320Nm ‘140TSI’ 2.0-litre turbo-petrol four-cylinder engine driving all four wheels through a seven-speed dual-clutch auto transmission and two coaxial (wet) multi-disc clutch packs.

It’s the same direct-injection unit used in numerous other Volkswagen Group products such as the Audi A4 and Q5.

Ah, this is where it earns back some points!

I was very impressed by the efficiency of this because the official combined cycle fuel figure is 5.7L/100km and my real-world usage came to 6.2L! That’s fantastic for this sized SUV and for a turbo.

With a fuel tank of 53L and based on the combined fuel figure, you should be able to get a driving range of around 930km, which is good for those families who like to do road trips.

Skoda’s official fuel consumption figure for the Kodiaq 140TSI, on the combined (urban/extra-urban) cycle is 9.2L/100km, emitting 209g/km of CO2 in the process, which is a reminder we’re dealing with a roughly 1.8-tonne, three-row, seven-seat SUV powered by a 2.0-litre engine.

Minimum fuel requirement is 95 RON premium unleaded and with a 58-litre tank theoretical range is around 630km.

Start-stop is standard and on test over several hundred kilometres in the Select and Sportline, we saw an average of around 8.5L/100km, but that was majority highway and B-road running. Expect low 10s and above in the city. Not horrendous but not spectacular.

Despite its city-friendly size, the C5 Aircross Sport is just as happy cruising on the open-road as it is in an urban environment.

The ride is smooth enough once you get up to a steady speed but the suspension can feel harsh on a bumpy road.

Also, the auto stop-start function can make it feel sluggish to respond, so I disabled this on most trips.

There is plenty of power so you'll feel confident overtaking or getting up to speed on the open road. However, you have to be a little more aggressive with the accelerator when you’re hitting hills.

The steering can, at times, feel vague when you’re at lower speeds but is otherwise responsive.

The cabin space is quiet and nice to be in on the highway and you’ll be able to chat with your passengers with ease.

What I like most about this though is the visibility – the windows are large and I feel like I have a clear view most of the time, which isn’t always the case in an SUV.

Parking this is a cinch with entry to tight car parks helped by a 10.7m turning circle!

However, the 180-degree view camera isn’t great and near hopeless at night time. A clearer image would be welcome but front and rear parking sensors ease the annoyance.

Skoda claims the Kodiaq will accelerate from 0-100km/h in 7.9 seconds and while there’s enough power for overtaking and easy cruising, it’s no powerhouse.

Peak power of 140kW arrived high up in the rev range (4200–6500rpm) but maximum pulling power (320Nm) sits in a broad band from 1400–4100rpm, which is just where you want it around town and on the highway.

The seven-speed dual clutch auto delivers quick, smooth shifts and steering wheel paddles (standard on the Sportline) add extra involvement if you want or need to shift ratios yourself.

Suspension is by MacPherson-type struts at the front and multi-links at the rear, and ride comfort is good, with B-road imperfections and high-frequency bumps not upsetting the car unduly.

The combination of the Select’s 19-inch rims, shod with 235/50 Hankook Ventus S1 evo rubber, is comfy, although the Sportline on 20-inch alloys, wearing 235/45 Hankook Ventus evo SUV tyres, is much the same.

We drove a Sportline fitted with Dynamic Chassis Control (as part of the optional Ultimate Package) and in ‘Comfort’ the adaptive damping set-up is overly soft, to the point where the car lopes and feels floaty over undulating sections.

Switch to ‘Sport’ and it’s too firm on anything other than a billiard table smooth surface. Surprise, surprise, ‘Normal’ is the just-right Goldilocks setting.

Pushing a little harder through some back road corners, the AWD system with automatic torque distribution does its thing seamlessly, while the electrically assisted rack and pinion steering is nicely weighted and accurate with good feel.

What doesn’t always feel so good is the lane-keeping assist system making abrupt, intrusive corrections. Not all the time, but often enough to furrow your brow.

Braking is by discs all around, ventilated and clamped by dual-piston callipers at the front, and solid with single-piston sliding callipers at the rear. They proved progressive and strong over several hundred kilometres on the launch drive program.

Under the heading of miscellaneous observations, this car’s ergonomics are top-notch. All buttons, switches and controls are intuitive and easy to use.

The twisting column-mounted gear shift stalk, an increasingly popular placement, takes a bit of getting used to, but once you’re familiar it’s great.

A 12.0m turning circle is sizeable, even for a car of this size, and we noticed a distorted view from the reversing camera, especially when manoeuvring close to other cars. 

The Kodiaq is impressively refined and quiet in terms of engine, tyre and wind noise.

The standard ‘Comfort’ seats are great, as are the Sportline’s grippier sports seats (and they’re still easy to get in and out of), while soft-touch materials around the dash and doors enhances the cabin’s premium feel.

The second-gen Kodiaq has been given a maximum five-star ANCAP assessment and there’s a swag of new or upgraded crash-avoidance tech on board, including a head-up display with traffic sign recognition, predictive adaptive cruise control, upgraded lane assist with adaptive lane guidance, improved AEB with pedestrian and cyclist detection, turn assist, traffic sign recognition, recalibrated driver fatigue detection and traffic jam assist.

If, despite all that, a crash is unavoidable, there are nine airbags fitted, including a front centre bag to minimise head clash injuries between driver and co-pilot. And standard multi-collision brake helps reduce the chance of secondary impacts after an initial crash.

There are three top-tether points for child seats across the middle row, with ISOFIX anchors on the two outer positions.

The on-going costs are super-reasonable on the C5 Aircross Sport, with a five-year/unlimited km warranty included.

You can also choose to pre-purchase a three- or five-year capped-priced servicing plan, both significantly cheaper than the pay-as-you-go option. 

On the three-year plan, services are $1100 or an annual average of $366.

It’s a flat $2000 for the five-year plan, (averaging just $400 per service), which is very competitive for the class.

Servicing intervals are every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever occurs first.

The Aircross also comes with a five-year roadside assistance plan that is offered through Digicall Assist, for added peace-of-mind.

The Kodiaq is covered by Skoda’s seven-year/unlimited-km warranty, which is ahead of the mainstream five-year warranty pack, although a little short of some, like MG and Mitsubishi at 10 years.

Scheduled servicing is every 12 months/15,000km, which is the expected norm for the category, and costs are still being fine-turned.

That said, you can expect pre-paid service pack pricing of around $2750 for seven years, or an average of roughly $393 per service, which is on the money for the category.