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By
EWAN KENNEDY
31 December 2007
Skoda, the Czech car maker, is back in Australia after an absence
of several decades. Its most interesting model is called the
Roomster.
Aimed, as though you hadn’t guessed already, at providing a
roomy vehicle with a modest exterior size, the Roomster comes with
more style than is normal in this market segment. People wanting a
compact people mover often have to put up with a bland vehicle
just to gain practicality and interior space.
Skoda argued that it is possible to offer them a vehicle that
looks sleek and sensible. "We wanted to make our Roomster
look like an aircraft at the front and a house at the back."
One of the senior Skoda designers explained to us during a visit
to the company’s head office in Prague a few months ago.
And it works, in a vehicle that’s only 4.2 metres long, Skoda
has provided stretch out space for four big adults. It’s
relatively narrow, so three grownups in the rear isn’t really an
option, but three children have room to move. However, the
division of the back seat into a 40/20/40 per cent arrangement
means one of the kids should be smaller than the others.
The boot is huge, much larger than it has any right to be in a
car of this size. A pair of very large suitcases, or three medium
sized ones will be carried with ease. The rear seats can be folded
down to further increase cargo space. They can be folded
individually, either in a single motion, or double folded for even
more capacity. The seats can also be completely removed without a
great deal of hassle to give an almost van-like space.
It’s not just great interior room that makes the Roomster
work so well for families. The window line is significantly lower
at the rear seats than the front, resulting in huge side windows
that let even small children get an excellent view outside.
Another clever feature lets you remove the centre-rear seat
entirely. Then you can either have a good sized gap between the
two rear seats to keep warring kids separated, or slide them
closer together if they are at peace with one another and want to
play games. Another option is to fold down the backrest of the
centre-rear seat to give a small table with built-in padded
armrests and holders for two drink containers.
There are numerous interior features such as storage drawers
beneath the front seats and a multitude of other stowage areas for
sunglasses, mobile phones and so on.
As you would expect from a vehicle that has German Volkswagen
influence in its underpinnings, the Roomster has a solid feel that
we really appreciate.
Handling is pretty good, the steering is generally neutral at
normal to higher-than-average cornering speeds. The added height
of the Skoda over that of a conventional hatchback is noticeable
if you are looking for it, but doesn’t noticeably deter the
Roomster in hard driving and the typical family-car owner looking
for practicality ahead of sportiness will like the way it
operates.
Ride comfort is impressive, even on rough Aussie bush roads,
probably not a surprise when you realise that Skodas are designed
for road surfaces that are still showing neglect from the former
communist years. There is some jiggling around on really bad
surfaces, but we never found the limits of the suspensions bump
stops even on the really harsh surfaces over our regular test
route.
Skoda Roomster is powered by either a 1.6-litre petrol engine
or a 1.9-litre turbo-diesel. Our test car for the last week was
the turbo-diesel. Skoda and its parent company, Volkswagen
Australia, are both pushing hard on the diesel front at the
moment.
The turbo-diesel performance in the relatively light Roomster
is very good, with the usual surge of torque that’s such a
feature of diesels and makes it simple to get the car up long
steep hills or overtake in the safest possible distance.
Typically the engine used about six to eight litres of diesel
per hundred kilometres on motorways and reasonably level country
roads. This will rise to about eight to nine litres per hundred in
suburban driving, but it’s unlikely you will see consumption
over 10 litres unless you do a lot of heavy-duty commuting and/or
like to pedal along hard.
In its earliest days on the Australian market the new Skoda
Roomster seems to be struggling to find buyer acceptance. That’s
possibly because its radical looks may not appeal in a market that
traditionally favours conservative designs. Or it may be because
buyers find it relatively expensive at $26,990 for a car of its
apparent size. May we suggest the latter folks consider the size
of the interior over and above of that of the compact body shape?
AT A GLANCE
MODEL RANGE
Roomster 1.6-litre five-door hatch - $26,990
Roomster TDI 1.9-litre diesel five-door hatch - $28,990
FEATURES
ABS Brakes: Standard in both models
Air Conditioning: Standard in both models
Automatic Transmission: $2300 option with petrol engine, not
offered with diesel engine
CD Player: Standard in all models
Central Locking: Standard in both models
Cruise Control: Standard in both models
Dual Front Airbags: Standard in both models
Front Side Airbags: Standard in both models
Stability Control: Standard in both models
Traction Control: Standard in both models
SPECIFICATIONS (Skoda Roomster TDI 1.9-litre diesel
five-door hatch)
ENGINE:
Capacity: 1.896 litres
Configuration: Transverse, four cylinders in line
Head Design: OHC, two valves per cylinder
Compression Ratio: 19.0:1
Bore/Stroke: 79.5 x 95.5 mm
Maximum Power: 77 kW @ 4000 rpm
Maximum Torque: 240 Nm @ 1800 rpm
DRIVELINE:
Driven Wheels: Front
Manual Transmission: Five-speed
Automatic Transmission: Not offered
Final Drive Ratio: 3.158:1
DIMENSIONS, WEIGHT AND CAPACITIES:
Length: 4205 mm
Wheelbase: 2617 mm
Width: 1684 mm
Height: 1607 mm
Turning Circle: 10.5 metres
Kerb Mass: 1260 kg
Fuel Tank Capacity: 55 litres
Towing Ability: 450kg (1200kg with braked trailer)
SUSPENSION AND BRAKES:
Front Suspension: MacPherson struts, lower triangular links, coil
springs, anti-roll bar
Rear Suspension: Compound link crank axle, coil springs, anti-roll
bar
Front Brakes: Ventilated Disc
Rear Brakes: Disc
PERFORMANCE:
0-100 km/h Acceleration: 11.5 secs
Standing 400 Metres: 17.8 secs
FUEL CONSUMPTION:
Fuel Type: Diesel
Fuel Consumption - Combined Cycle (ADR 81/01): 5.5 L/100km
STANDARD WARRANTY:
Three years/unlimited km
© Copyright
Marque Publishing Company
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