Test drive Skoda Vision C: courage and beauty
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Test drive Skoda Vision C: courage and beauty

Test drive Skoda Vision C: courage and beauty

With the help of the Vision C studios, Skoda designers eloquently show that the brand's tradition of creating elegant coupes is not only alive, but also has serious potential for further development.

Reliability, practicality, profitability: all these definitions perfectly match the essence of Skoda cars. They are often joined by the word "reliable", but when was the last time you heard someone call them "inspiring"? The fact is that recently Czech products have received such compliments quite rarely. 23 years after joining the VW group, the traditional Czech brand has not only crossed the threshold of one million cars a year, but has also become one of the most successful companies in the industry as a whole, whose models have a brilliant image in all objective indicators. Obviously, it's time for Skoda to remind the world that in addition to common sense, its cars also have a shower.

In other words, function does not always have to be carried out at the expense of emotion. This is exactly what the Vision C studio demonstrates, which debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in early March. This development is the harbinger of a new design line that promises more spirituality of form without neglecting other brand values. Some elements of the atelier will be seen in the next generation Fabia (expected later this year), as well as in the new Superb (due next year), but it has not yet been decided whether the four-door coupe will become a production model. However, within the concern, in addition to approximately the same size, but higher position of Audi, the A5 Sportback is also expected to appear on the VW Jetta CC.

More than just design

With a squat, tense silhouette, wide body and impressive wheels, the car looks much more elegant and dynamic than the Octavia on which it is based. While there are some similarities to Audi (torpedo sideline) and Seat (lantern shape), Czech crystal-inspired glass elements give the studios an extremely distinctive and authentic Czech feel. A kind of “ice” optics is a kind of leitmotif both in the exterior (in the field of lighting and a number of decorative elements) and in the interior (center console, door panels, ceiling lighting). Painted in bright green, the prototype is much more than just the design work of Josev Kaban's team of around 70 people. Here, new materials and innovative production methods were tested, such as automatic door handles, a highly customizable XNUMXD display behind the wheel and an avant-garde tablet on the center console that controls most of the functions.

Along with all the futurism, the studio makes a good impression with some virtues of a purely practical nature. Except for the reduced height by three centimeters and more sloping windows at the front and rear, the interior is almost identical to the Octavia, and the large rear lid gives access to a spacious and functional trunk. In the case of the production model, the electrically adjustable rear seats will unfortunately have to make way for the usual split seats, and the lightweight seams are likely to remain just a nice design gimmick as well.

Since the drive and chassis are borrowed from our familiar production model, the workshop can move independently. The car behaves like a typical representative of the brand with a rigid suspension, the real mileage is 11 km, and the average fuel consumption of a 725-liter gasoline turbo engine running on methane and gasoline is 1,4, 4,2 liters per 100 km.

We at auto motor und sport certainly don't see a good reason for Vision C to remain just a studio - it remains to be seen if the VW Group thinks so.

Text: Bernd Stegemann

Photo: Dino Eisele

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