Skoda Roomster 2007 Review

Skoda started out in bicycle manufacture during the early 1900s, before migrating to automotive manufacture, with an intermediate step via motorcycle manufacturing. For much of the 20th Century, Skoda's home base, the Czech Republic, has been a bit of a political football -- with the Germans and Russians playing 'kick to kick'-- but the Czechs now practise free trade with the rest of the world.

With freedom from the shackles of the past, Skoda was able to create modern automotive designs which found favour in the West. The car that brought the brand to the attention of the Volkswagen Group was the Skoda Favorit. This car was a more modern, front-wheel drive small car that was two or more generations ahead of the old communist era 120L, a design based heavily on the Renault 10 from the late sixties.

Volkswagen's aim in acquiring Skoda has been to develop a brand that would offer lower-priced alternatives to existing VW product. Curiously, Skoda's biggest market to date is Germany.

Skoda has walked a fine line between price and quality, encouraging customers to dwell more on the quality than the price. The company has established a presence in international rallying through the World Rally Championship.

Being part of the Volkswagen empire, Skoda draws upon its parent for support, but the cars are built in dedicated factories across Europe (as well as other parts of the globe), including three in the Czech Republic itself.

In bringing the Skoda name to Australia, Volkswagen settled on the Roomster multi-purpose vehicle and the Octavia hatch and wagon as the inaugural products at launch.

Locally, Volkswagen management will not discuss sales forecasts for the first 12 months or subsequently, but the company will admit to expectations the Roomster should account for 20 per cent of Australian sales, with the more conservative Octavia taking the balance.

Roomster is a car that superficially resembles a small van, such as the Citroen Berlingo, converted to carry additional passengers. In fact, the Roomster is a design that was intended to be a passenger-carrying vehicle from the very start.

A turbodiesel variant slots in between the manual and auto petrols, priced at $28,990 and driving through a five-speed manual box.

Options are metallic paint $540, pearl effect paint $540, reverse parking sensors $690, alarm $530, satnav $2090, roof rails $330 and 'Panorama' Roof  $1690.

All three variants (petrol and diesel) are equipped to the same level of trim, although tyre pressure monitoring is an added feature on the petrol auto only.

So, the standard equipment comprises a full complement of airbags (frontal, side and curtain), height adjustment for seatbelts in front and back, headrests for all seats, electrically assisted steering, four-wheel disc brakes, trip computer, full-size spare wheel, remote central locking, variable dwell intermittent wipers, climate control, pollen filter, eight-speaker CD audio system with MP3 input jack, electric windows, electric mirrors with demisting facility, 15-inch alloy wheels and leather trim for steering wheel rim, gearshift knob and gearshift gaiter.

The optional panorama roof is recommended. It lets light into the cabin and extends from the front of the roof back to behind the rear seat. There's a mesh blind that slides across the transparent expanse to reduce the light and the laminated glass itself cuts down ultraviolet light.

Curiously, we're told that the 1.6-litre engine fitted to the Roomster is the same as that fitted to the local-specification entry-level Golf, but the bore and stroke dimensions don't agree. According to Volkswagen's local website, the Golf's dimensions are 81.0x77.4mm (slightly oversquare) and press material from Skoda lists the Roomster's dimensions as 76.5x86.9mm (significantly undersquare).

It goes without saying that the power and torque figures are different for the Roomster too. Peak power of 77kW occurs at 5600rpm and 153Nm of torque is produced at 3800rpm.

As far as gears, ratios and final drive are concerned, the five-speed manual box that is coupled to the 1.6 petrol engine as standard is quite conventional. Fourth is slightly underdriven (1.03:1) and fifth is an overdrive gear (0.81:1) with a final drive ratio of 3.9:1.

The optional six-speed automatic offers sequential gear changing and the final drive ratio of 4.067:1 is reduced by an overdrive reduction gear of 0.906:1 between transmission and diff. First gear is quite 'short' at 4.15:1, but fifth and sixth are both overdrive gears with the latter particularly long-legged at 0.69:1.

The 1.9-litre turbodiesel engine option develops 77kW of power at 4000rpm and a handy 240Nm of torque at 1800rpm. Both the petrol and the turbodiesel engines comply with Euro IV emissions legislation. Whereas the petrol engine is a DOHC configuration with multi-point injection, the diesel is an SOHC valvetrain with direct injection.

Consumption figures, in accordance with ADR81/01 combined cycle testing are 7.0lt/100km (1.6 manual), 7.7lt/100km (1.6 auto) and 5.3lt/100km (diesel). For acceleration from a standing start to 100km/h, the 1.6 manual is fastest, with a time of 10.9sec, followed by the diesel with 11.5sec and, finishing last, the 1.6 auto with 12.5sec.

While the five-speed manual box that comes with the diesel Roomster features similar ratios to the petrol model's (albeit with an overdrive fourth), the final drive ratio is a high (fuel-saving) 3.158:1, allowing the diesel Roomster to take advantage of the engine's natural torque and thermodynamic efficiency for the optimum combination of performance, economy and quietness at speed.

Power and torque reach the road through the front wheels, which are suspended by a MacPherson strut set-up. At the rear, the suspension is a garden-variety Volkswagen-style torsion beam axle. Brakes are power disc, all round and the steering is a rack-and-pinion system with electric assistance.

The electrical assistance for the steering only draws power when the 15-inch alloy wheels are being steered away from the straight-ahead, so most of the time, the power steering system doesn't draw power from the engine, unlike traditional hydraulic systems. According to Skoda's technical expert, Phil Murray, this means of steering assistance will typically save up to two litres of fuel for every 1000km travelled.

Even though the Roomster looks oddly proportioned from the outside, its length is just 1mm greater than the Golf's and the wheelbase is only 39mm longer. It is significantly narrower (1684mm versus 1759mm) and higher (1607mm versus 1485mm).

Size, space and general utility are undoubtedly the Roomster's forte. Even with the front seats as far back as they'll go, there remains plenty of rear-seat legroom for adults and the Roomster's roof is so high, that only a basketballer could feel cramped. The panoramic roof that is available as an option contributes further to the cabin feeling light and airy.

For kids, the rear door belt-line is low enough for five-year olds to comfortably watch the scenery, even without booster seats -- not that that's recommended (!)

The second row seating comprises three distinct sections and all three can be removed or folded flat. Skoda describe this modular seating as 'Varioflex' and with the seats removed altogether, the Roomster can handle up to 1780 litres of payload, by volume. With the seats in situ, but folded, that capacity is reduced to 1555 litres. When all three seats are occupied, the available luggage capacity is reduced to no more than 530 litres.

The seats in the rear can be removed individually and, by removing the centre seat section, the two remaining seats can be moved closer together, but leaving the occupants more shoulder room on either side. As a consequence, the Roomster can accommodate two adults in front, three small adults or teenagers in the rear, or two larger adults in comfort.

Skoda has managed to squeeze so much room into such a relatively small car through reducing the overhangs, relying on compact design from using 'light' car (Fabia/Polo) mechanicals in a small car's footprint (Golf) and employing the old Japanese designers' trick of sitting the occupants bolt-upright in a car with a high roof.

And finally, they've pirated every trick in the Volkswagen design book when it comes to entering and exiting small hatchback cars. As an example, the tailgate rises nice and high, but not so high that the driver needs a step-ladder to pull it back down.

From an active safety standpoint, the Roomster comes with standard ABS, traction control, stability control and Engine Braking Control (EBC). This last feature prevents wheels from locking due to violent engine braking. Pioneered in Alfa Romeos, EBC is something like ABS for those times when the brakes aren't applied, but the car is actively slowing just through dint of the engine's compression.

Both the traction control system and the stability program (ESP), will reduce engine power and apply the brakes independently, if the former detects unrelenting wheelspin and the latter detects vehicle tracking in a way not consonant with  the driver's chosen course (monitored through the steering wheel input).

Six airbags are fitted as standard and these include side curtains. These and engineering attention paid to the controlled deformation of the body in the event of a collision led the Roomster to achieving a five-star Euro NCAP score for occupant protection and four stars for child safety.

The Scenic also boasts similar equipment levels, but where the Roomster and Scenic have relegated the same features to the optional basket (ie: metallic paint and 'panoramic' roof), the Roomster's prices are a bit lower than the Scenic's. In short, you'd have to say that the Roomster comprehensively undercuts the Scenic on price and features.

They're very different vehicles with almost a diametrically opposed sort of appeal, but it's barely possible that buyers might cross-shop the Roomster against the Dodge Caliber. The Dodge is certainly cheaper than the Skoda and offers some good value for that price.

The Suzuki SX4 is another possibility and, frankly, a more likely competitor to the Roomster, but while granted it offers a price advantage over the Roomster, it's not quite as safe for families, based on NCAP testing.

The advantage of that -- and the car's all-round field of vision -- comes with the parking, pure and simple. Being able to drive the car and manoeuvre it into tight spots will appeal to many drivers who need the space, but not the 'footprint'.

As you would expect of a design from the Volkswagen stable, the Roomster handles and holds the road well. There's not a lot of body roll, despite the car looking 'tippy-toey'.

Called upon to make a sudden change of direction during the drive program, the Roomster swerved and recovered with poise. Combined with the driving safety aids, the Roomster's core dynamics are most dependable.

In the mechanical section of this review, the Roomster's gearing was covered in some detail. The reason for this is that the petrol Roomster with the five-speed manual box is not the perkiest performer in the world. The engine is refined and willing, plus the Roomster -- for all its built-in passive safety -- is not unduly heavy, but in real world driving it's not as quick as you might expect of a 1.6-litre small car.

Part of the problem arises because the Roomster is a small car with a 1.6-litre engine and most small cars these days are fitted with an engine displacing at least 1.8 litres. Developing 77kW of power, the Roomster's petrol engine just doesn't seem to have the ultimate grunt to overcome the relatively high gearing. For this reason, the diesel Roomster would be more appealing for those who want better than average performance.

Even so, the 1.6 is economical for its size and power, with the added advantage that according to Skoda's figures, it covers the 0-100km/h test faster than the diesel (10.9sec versus 11.5).

Generally speaking, the Roomster is very easy to drive, but occasionally, the manual transmission will catch out drivers changing back from fifth to fourth. It feels like the fourth gear gate does not run straight back. One theory to explain this is that the détente's spring loading has been calibrated for LHD operation and is based on the gear selector being pulled from the left, rather than pushed away from the right. Otherwise, the gear change is light and easy to use.

There was some wind noise encountered during our drive program, which was occasionally augmented by road noise on certain surfaces, but the ambience within the Roomster was largely quiet and relaxed.

One car did have a persistent rattle in the near-side rear passenger door, but build quality was impressive otherwise.

In summary, the Roomster is a very practical car for families living within the inner suburbs of our capital cities. It's not the kind of car that will set hearts racing, but there are drivers who will be attracted by its combination of practicality and offbeat looks.