38 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 3 1 JULY 2019
Δ in terms of its fairly energetic
pa c e – a lt hou g h it do e sn’t e nt i r e l y
cover for the fact that it is, just like
the Rapid before it, a full-sized
family hatchback built on a stretched
supermini platform.
In dry conditions the car had
all the front-driven traction and
smoothly metered automatic clutch
actuation it needed to put all of its
torque straight onto the asphalt from
rest. It hit 60mph in just under eight
seconds – which wouldn’t be too
shabby a showing from a £21,000
hot hatchback in 2019, let alone for
a practical family car of the same
power and price.
The DSG gearbox delivers well-
timed automatic shifts even at full
power, but it can be a little bit slow
and clunky when kicking down after
bi g, s udde n t h r ot t le appl ic at ion s.
Likewise it seems a bit slow when
you’re rowing up and down the ratios
y ou r s e l f i n m a nu a l mo de (for w h ic h
there are no steering wheel paddles;
instead, Skoda obliges you to use the
gear lever knocked sideways into its
sequential-style setting).
At a more typical everyday
mooching pace there’s seldom any
roughness or incivility about the
workings of the transmission. It
tends to take quite a high gear in
t ow n i f y ou le ave it i n ‘D’, le t t i ng t heengine’s turbocharged torque haul
the car along easily enough – or it can
be made a little bit more willing to
hold a shorter ratio if you drive in ‘S’
mode, without ever risking any kind
of ratio-shuff ling hyperactivity. In
b ot h mo de s , d r i v a bi l it y i s v e r y go o d.
Mechanical refinement is certainly
competitive. Inside the car at 50mph
our noise meter registered 64dB,
w h ic h i s on l y 2 d B mor e t h a n w e
found in our current class champion,
the Ford Focus. With its engine under
load the Scala presents a bit more
resonance and vibration than we’ve
found when testing this powertrain
in cars based on the VW Group’s
full-sized MQB platform, but the
d i f fe r e nc e i s sm a l l a nd w i l l l i k e l y not
b ot he r t he m ajor it y of d r i v e r s.
HANDLING AND STABILITY
AAABC
The Scala’s supermini platform and
its torsion beam rear suspension
put it at a notional dynamic
disadvantage, but it’s to the credit
of Skoda’s chassis engineers that
the car only really allows that to
translate into any serious perceptible
shortcoming in the way the car rides
(w h ic h w e ’ l l c ome t o shor t l y).
The steering is surprisingly
lightly weighted and short on feel
- and since it offers no selectable
drive modes as standard by which
you might weight it up, it’ll be that
w ay u n le s s y ou’r e w i l l i n g t o pay
extra for lowered suspension and
selective damping. Still, that’s the
only bugbear a keener driver might
have to complain about here. There’s
enough precision and responsiveness
about this car to give the Scala a
relative selling point compared to the
bigger, softer Octavia and to make
it competitive with the hatchbackclass’s prevailing dynamic standard.
As far as average family five-
doors go, the Scala conducts itself
respectably well.
Body control is present but
contained, and lateral grip levels
are moderately good. The car feels
narrower within typical British
lane-markings than an Octavia,
t o o, a nd s o it ’s e a s y t o pl a c e i n a
corner, and although it rolls a little
bit as the chassis loads up, it stays
true to a line and grips fairly well.
You’d stop short of calling the car
z The Scala’s steering is light and wants for feel but the car is easily placed and its grip levels are good. Its ride, however, feels choppy and falls short of the class standard
`
There’s seldom any
roughness or incivility
about the transmission
a