Skoda Scala finally revealed

The Skoda Scala hatchback has finally been fully unveiled after a long-winded reveal campaign and that the good thing about that is we don’t have to endure any more teasers.

Ever better, Skoda now has a direct rival for Australia’s top-selling cars — including the Toyota Corolla and Mazda3 — because it’s much larger than the Rapid hatch it replaces at 4362mm long, 1793mm wide and 1471mm tall.

That also makes the Skoda Scala 107mm longer, 30mm wider and 30mm higher than the current Volkswagen Golf, despite being based not on its MQB platform but the MQB-A0 chassis that underpins the smaller VW Polo.

Riding on a 2649mm wheelbase (12mm longer than the Golf’s), the front-drive Skoda five-door Scala is claimed to have the longest interior in its class, as well as the biggest boot – which measures a massive 467 litres and expands to 1410 litres with the rear seats folded.

Practicality continues with up to three nets, four tie-down points, multiple storage compartments and bag hooks on both sides on the cargo space, plus a 12V power outlet, double-sided floor, barrier net and illumination.

The Skoda Scala presents a more emotional design theme for the VW-owned Czech brand as previewed by the Skoda Vision RS concept at the Paris motor show last October.

Key changes are the more angular headlights and the ditching of the Skoda logo from the rear hatch, where large letters now spell the model’s name (which is Latin for ‘ladder’).

Apart from being more pleasing to the eye, the heavily sculpted five-door body is also very aerodynamic with a 0.29Cd drag co-efficient thanks in part to a flat underbody design.

Diesel power will be offered, at least in Europe, in the form of 66kW/145Nm 1.0-litre three-cylinder and 86kW/250Nm 1.6-litre four-cylinder TDI engines, alongside a compressed natural gas engine.

But the mainstays of the range in Australia, where the Skoda Scala is due on sale by the end of 2019, is likely to be the largest of three turbo-petrol powertrains.

They include 70kW/175Nm and more powerful 85kW/200Nm versions of the same 1.0-litre three-cylinder engine, and the Golf’s 110kW/250Nm 1.5-litre four-cylinder.

All of them are fitted with a six-speed manual gearbox as standard (except the base engine, which gets a five-speed), and a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic will be offered with the high-output engines.

Standard equipment extends to LED headlights and tail-lights, a 6.5-inch infotainment touch-screen and 15-inch wheels, which more expensive variants scoring 8.0 and 9.2-inch screen and wheel sizes up to 18-inch.

Premium models will pack an eight-speaker sound system, Wi-Fi hotspot, 3D satellite navigation, wireless phone charging, 64GB of internal SSD storage and downloadable apps.

Taking another leaf out of the Golf book, options will include 10.25-inch digital instruments, full LED interior and exterior lighting, a full-length panoramic sunroof, microfibre seat trim, a heated windscreen and steering wheel and dynamic rear indicators.

Also on offer will be an optional Sport Chassis Control package with 15mm lower ride height, stiffer springs and two-stage adaptive damping, plus a host of extra safety systems.

These include autonomous emergency braking and an adaptive cruise control system that can steer, accelerate and brake at speeds up to 210km/h, plus lane keeping assistance, automatic high-beam, reversing camera, parking assistance, up to nine airbags and an upgraded blind spot monitor.