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The Skoda Kodiaq vRS is the range-topping version of the Kodiaq seven-seater SUV, one of our favourite family cars on sale. It offers exactly the same practicality as its more sensible counterpart, but it’s neither as comfortable as the regular car, nor is it sporty enough to be fun to drive.

It’s a bit like a middle-aged boxer. Yes it’s athletic and packs a punch, but really it’s better off snoozing on the couch with the dog, comfy slippers on and cup of tea on the side table.

It’s also not as sporty as other fast SUVs such as the Mercedes-AMG GLA 35 and BMW X1 M35i, nor is it as comfortable or fuel efficient as the plug-in hybrid Peugeot 5008 or Kia Sorento.

It looks purposeful though, with a deeper, more aggressive bodykit than the regular Kodiaq. There’s definitely a resemblance to the smaller Octavia vRS hot hatch, with a wide front lower grille, blacked out trims all-round and chunky rear diffuser with a full-width reflector and big exhaust tips.

The cabin is similar to the regular Kodiaq, with a straightforward, well-laid out dashboard and standard-fit 12.9-inch infotainment screen. Where the vRS differs is in its upholstery, because every panel is covered in red accents or stitching; even the instrument display and rear door panels haven’t escaped the vRS treatment.

Being so closely related to the regular Kodiaq means there are loads of storage spaces and clever touches, such as a built-in screen cleaner for the central display and built-in umbrellas in the front doors.

There’s lots of space across the front two rows of seats, and the middle row not only slides but reclines - handy on long drives. It’s a shame the fixed-headrest front seats are so bulky though, because they rob middle-row passengers of some of the view out the windscreen, and they’re not all that comfortable on your neck, either.

The third row is fairly spacious - you get more room in a Hyundai Santa Fe and Kia EV9 - but at least seats six and seven are trimmed to match the sporty front pair. The boot is an enormous 845 litres with the last row stowed away, or 310 litres with it up.

Around town the Kodiaq vRS feels no more intimidating to drive than the regular Kodiaq, because the driving position and good all-round visibility are unchanged. It’s a little less comfortable over broken roads due to its sports suspension, but it’s far from uncomfortable.

Motorways are almost as comfortable as in the regular car, too, but there’s a touch more tyre roar as a result of the vRS model’s 20-inch wheels. Standard-fit acoustic glass keeps wind noise at a minimum.

Point the Kodiaq vRS’s enormous nose down a twisty road and you’ll be surprised at just how capable such a big car can be through winding corners. There’s remarkably little in the way of body lean, and the beefy 265hp 2.0-litre petrol engine never feels strained, but the big vRS never feels fun to drive.

If you need one car that can haul your family around and still shake a leg on a country lane, however, it’s worth considering. Have a look at the latest Skoda Kodiaq vRS deals on Á«»¨Ö±²¥, or Kodiaq vRS lease deals instead. There are used Kodiaq vRS examples for sale, or other used Skodas too. Á«»¨Ö±²¥ can even help you sell your car when the time comes to switch.

The Kodiaq vRS starts at a smidge under £54,000, which is a lot of money for what is ultimately a sensible seven-seater Skoda. That’s around £3,000 more than the faster, more fun BMW X1 M35i, though it’s not a seven-seater, and it’s £7,000 more than a top-of-the-range Peugeot 5008, which is a better car to live with day-to-day.

What’s most shocking, though, is that you can get a very well-equipped, stylish and more comfortable Kodiaq SportLine for £10,000 less than a vRS, and while it’s not as fast, it’s worth every penny of that cost saving.

The vRS model is a cut above the regular Kodiaq on a twisty road, but it’s too compromised to be properly fun or seriously comfortable

In town

For all of the performance enhancements that the vRS has received, it’s no more intimidating or difficult to drive around town than the regular Kodiaq, which is a very good thing. Forward and side visibility is great thanks to the high seating position and tall windows, while it’s not too bad at the back either - though a big SUV will never be the easiest car to manoeuvre around town.

Where the vRS tweaks have made an impact is on the drive comfort, because even with its firmer suspension it’s almost as comfortable as the regular car - . That’s not to say it’s become a hard-edged sports car, but you can definitely feel potholes and broken roads more in the vRS - even with the adaptive suspension in its softest setting.

On the motorway

The Kodiaq vRS’s motorway manners are virtually unchanged from the regular model, but with the added benefit of more power making for quicker acceleration on slip roads and better overtaking performance. You get standard-fit adaptive cruise control which takes some of the strain out of long journeys, too.

Yet the biggest downside to the vRS model is the fuel economy. Being a heavy, seven-seater SUV, the 2.0-litre turbocharged engine works extra hard keeping you at the national speed limit, and MPG suffers compared to the non-sporty Kodiaq models.

On a twisty road

Being a vRS model, it comes as no surprise that the sporty Kodiaq is quite adept at tackling twisty country lanes. There’s little in the way of body lean on a bend and plenty of acceleration between corners thanks to that mighty engine, plus plenty of grip from the four-wheel drive system.

Yet there’s no escaping the Kodiaq vRS’s size, because although it shares an engine and the basis of its four-wheel drive system with the excellent Volkswagen Golf R or Audi S3, it’s much taller and heavier than either of its cousins, and it’s missing the trick differential at the back. As a result, it’s just not as fun as either.

Not that you’d want to take it to its limits, because the whole point of the Kodiaq is that it’s a sensible family car. Your kids won’t appreciate being flung about on a country lane, and while the interior is pleasant, it’s not made from hose-down materials.

You get a spacious interior packed with clever features, but you’re better off using the third row of seats for children rather than adults

Luckily, the Kodiaq vRS’s interior is virtually unchanged from the regular model, which is excellent news for practicality. The sports seats are just as comfortable as the normal ones, and you get the same enormous glovebox, two-become-four cupholder setup, dual wireless charging pads and deep door bins as you do on a diesel Kodiaq. Fantastic news.

It doesn’t stop there, because Skoda has paid extra attention to detail with the Kodiaq, so you get an umbrella in each front door in case you’re caught out in the rain, a parking ticket holding tab in the corner of the windshield and little rubber feet at the base of the cupholders so that you can open a drink one-handed.

There are even ISOFIX child seat anchor points in the passenger seat, ideal for a parent travelling with a lone infant in the car.

Space in the back seats

This is where the Kodiaq vRS’s prodigious size shines, because there’s more than enough space for three tall adults to sit in comfort, even on a long journey, and you’ll fit a pair of children in the third row of seats behind them, too. The middle row even slides fore and aft, and reclines, making it easy to balance legroom across both rear rows.

That being said, you’ll want the second row all the way forward for anyone even remotely tall to sit in the third row. It’s not easy to get back there, either, so seats six and seven are best used by young children.

For occupants in the middle row, an almost-flat floor means there’s plenty of foot space, while the big door bins offer enough room for water bottles, or road trip snacks of your choice.

Boot space

Again, the benefits of the plain Jane Kodiaq give the vRS extra brownie points here, because the boot is simply enormous. You can only spec it as a seven-seater, but even then there’s a whopping 845 litres of luggage space with the third row of seats stowed away.

With them up, there’s still 320-litres of boot space at your disposal - which is comparable to a small hatchback such as a Volkswagen Polo or Renault Clio hybrid. To get them down is a bit of a faff, because you have to make sure the middle bench has been slid all the way forwards first - something that’s easily forgotten.

The Kodiaq’s sensible, style free cabin has been spiced up with some sporty vRS-specific touches, but it’s still unexciting

Though the regular Kodiaq’s interior is a bit bland, if inoffensive, the vRS zhuzhes things up with lots of red stitching, red trims, a pair of sporty, figure-hugging front seats and vRS-specific badges and a steering wheel. You get swathes of Alcantara upholstery as standard, but if that’s not your thing you can pay for leatherette instead.

Otherwise it’s standard Kodiaq fare in the vRS, with a hefty 13.0-inch infotainment screen floating above the dashboard, plus physical (and excellent) controls for the volume and heater system below it. The infotainment is fairly crisp, with configurable shortcut bars top and bottom which make it a bit easier to use on the day-to-day.

Build quality is largely solid inside the Kodiaq vRS, but material quality is disappointing in places. While it is perfectly pleasant up front - save for the hard plastics under the dashboard, the second row of seats are sandwiched in between scratchy door cards. That’s the compromise you have to expect in a ‘budget-friendly’ performance SUV.

As the range-topper, the Skoda Kodiaq vRS is only available with a single engine choice - a 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol unit that produces 265hp and comes paired to a four-wheel drive system.

That’s all well and exciting, but in reality you’ll become well acquainted with your local forecourt attendant. We only managed a paltry 26mpg during our testing, which simply isn’t sensible. It’s also a good chunk down Skoda’s claimed 33mpg figure.

As it starts at £55,000, the vRS is subject to the luxury car supplement between years two-to-six, and as it’s not got any hybrid assistance and emits around 191g/km of CO2, it also sits in quite a high bracket for first-year road tax. Ouch.

Company car drivers had better look elsewhere for the same reason, as the Kodiaq vRS is in a high band for Benefit-in-Kind payments, too.

The Skoda Kodiaq vRS shares its excellent five-star Euro NCAP crash safety rating with the regular model, with an equally impressive 83% child occupant safety score as a result.

You get a suite of safety features as standard in the Kodiaq vRS, including adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, speed limit warning and assistance, blind-spot monitoring and cross-traffic alert, handy for changing lanes and merging into traffic.

Skoda came a middling 12th place in the 2025 Driver Power survey for owner satisfaction, which is adequate, if not impressive. The Kodiaq vRS is still too new for any known issues to have popped up, but we’ll update this review if anything comes to light.

You get a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty with every new Skoda, which is also unimpressive when compared to alternatives from Hyundai, Kia and Toyota, which offer five-, seven- and ten–year warranties, respectively.