Skoda Slavia Facelift Review: For You And Your Family?

The facelift does not change the core personality of the Slavia, but it does make the entire package more livable than it was before. Let's find out what we liked and what we didn't like after a day of driving it around Jodhpur. 

Design

There is absolutely no doubt that the Skoda Slavia is a classy looking sedan. It always was, and with this facelift, it is even more so. 

Skoda hasn't added any connected lighting element. Instead, they've made small revisions to the LED headlights and LED tail lights, which do look fresh along with new LED fog lights. I do wish the small chrome accents cutting across the grill were LEDs just like we've seen in the Kushaq, which would have added even more charm to the car's design. But the tail lights do get sequential turn indicators. 

It also sits on new alloy wheels, the size of which remains the same at 16-inches, but it suits the personality of the car. I've always said this, a bigger set of alloy wheels would really help the stance of the car, but Skoda chose not to do that in order to maintain the ride quality. 

For folks who want their sophisticated sedan to look a little sporty, Skoda is offering the Monte Carlo version right from the launch, which brings subtle red accents across the board with some front lip and rear bumper inserts, along with a boot lip spoiler and red brake calipers. The treatment isn't too loud, but does make a difference, making the sedan look a little more sporty. 

There are new colour options too with which you have a wide range of shades to choose from, including dual-tone options. 

Interior

Things inside the cabin haven't changed a lot, which is both a good and a bad thing. Because the design still looks classy and the dual tone theme looks airy, but bad because the quality of materials is just about acceptable. We hoped Skoda would take a step up in terms of how the cabin feels with smoother plastics and different textures, but that is not the case here. 

There are panels in the interior which still have play to them, so fit and finish could definitely have been worked upon. But the space, practicality and comfort quotient of the Slavia continues to remain the same, which is great because it can accommodate really tall passengers in the front seats without any issues, with enough space for rear seat passengers as well. I like that unlike SUVs in this price ballpark where you feel like you're sitting on the top of the bonnet even when the seat is at its lowest position, in the Slavia, you can find a nice sporty driving position.

The seats are firm which aid in long distance comfort and they have strong contouring which hold you well when you're having a bit of fun with the car. One improvement for comfort comes in the form of rear seat massagers. While the massage itself feels great, I think it would have been better utilized in the front row. But then if you have a use case for the second row and plan to chauffeur it, this is a feature that will provide you better comfort. 

Boot Space

Massive is a fitting word to describe the space that you get inside the boot of the Skoda Slavia. Small bags, medium sized bags, big bags: you can accommodate everything without any issues and even if you want to store something longer, the seats do have 60:40 split in them. The space is rated at 521-litre.

Features

The Skoda Slavia already had a strong feature package with all the basics covered and most of the modernities that you expect from a car at this price point. Whatever was missing has now been added in this facelift:

360-degree camera: Has multiple viewing modes and works well in the daylight, but the camera quality is a little grainy at night. 

Infotainment system: At 10.1 inches, there hasn't been a change in the size of the infotainment system, but it now is quicker than it was before and also has inbuilt Google AI Assistant which is useful and intuitive. It goes beyond the preset voice commands and you can actually have a conversation with it. Android Auto and Apple CarPlay are still wireless, and you can now use apps like Amazon Music and Spotify.

10.25-inch digital driver’s display: The bigger digital instrument cluster has really crisp graphics. While it may not have different themes, it does offer different layouts and all the information is relayed in a clear manner. 

Rear seat massager: Only has a single massaging mode, but actually feels useful after a long day of work. 

Other feel-good features that continue as it is include powered and ventilated front seats, single-pane electric sunroof, 8-speaker sound system, a wireless phone charger, and connected car technology. 

Safety

Most people might expect the addition of ADAS with a facelift in 2026, but Skoda has chosen not to offer it. Instead, it relies on a strong body shell with an extensive list of standard features. All-wheel disc brakes are offered with the bigger engine, and it now gets front parking sensors with its new 360-degree camera.

The five-star rating from global NCAP will be applicable on this facelift as well. 

Powertrain

The biggest change with this facelift has been done under the bonnet, where the smaller engine now gets an eight-speed automatic transmission instead of the six-speed automatic. The bigger turbo-petrol continues as it was with a DCT only. So how does the new transmission change things for the Slavia? 

 MT - Manual Transmission, AT - Torque Converter (automatic), DCT - Dual-Clutch Transmission (automatic)

To be honest, the difference isn't night and day. What the new transmission brings is a smoother drive in the city, where the car now crawls more gently in bumper to bumper traffic. The 6-speed automatic had a tendency to leap ahead which could catch the driver by surprise, but that has now been smoothened out to a large extent. Two extra ratios also allow Skoda to achieve better emission and efficiency figures, but both are things that we couldn't really test in our short first drive. 

The 1-litre turbo-petrol continues to be the base engine with the Slavia and for all intents and purposes, the performance that you get with this engine is more than enough for most people. It won't impress you with 0 to 100 times, but in gear acceleration is strong once you are in the turbo zone and all your overtakes irrespective of the load inside the vehicle can be done without any issues. 

At city speeds, you won't even feel the gear shifts, but when you are on the highway cruising at 100kmph and want a quick downshift, the transmission does drop multiple gears to help you achieve that overtake without any problems. I enjoyed using the paddle shifters too, which felt responsive and the transmission is as close as you can get to driving a DCT. 

As for the bigger 1.5-turbo petrol engine, it is a matter of wants more than needs. The gains in performance and refinement are very apparent. It feels less vibey at idling and quieter when pushing. Performance is effusive and the way it keeps going beyond triple digit speeds can get you in trouble if you're not too careful. So if you want that excitement in your drives, that is when you pick this engine. Otherwise the smaller engine is good enough.  

Ride & Handling

The Slavia continues to drive beautifully. It has that European sophistication in the way it rides, where you do feel the road, it doesn't isolate you from the tarmac, but it doesn't get too uncomfortable as well. 

As for the bigger speed breakers, I would like to give a shout out to the ground clearance (179 mm), because even with the full load inside the vehicle where I expected the car to scrape its bottom, it did not and it crossed it with ease. So you can actually go rough roading with this car and it will tackle most of the so-called speedbreakers that our cities can throw at it.

And every bump and crack that you might feel at city speeds will be forgiven when you start getting closer to the triple digit speeds on a smooth tarmac, because that is when you would appreciate the poise with which it carries speed. It is just super planted, comes back into a neutral driving position after going over an expansion joint or any sudden undulation very beautifully and the confidence that you get while making a high speed lane change is great. 

It reacts very naturally to any steering input, and the body movement inside the car when you're taking a corner at a higher speed is also controlled. So yeah, as long as you can live with the slightly stiffer suspension, driving the Skoda Slavia will feel like a good time.

Verdict

This facelift might not fix all the grouses we had with the Skoda Slavia because there are areas where Skoda could’ve made improvements and it chose not to. As a result, whatever reasons you may have to not buy it remain the same, but it does give you new reasons to buy one, the main one being the new 8-speed AT, which offers smoother drives in the city.

And with new features now part of the package, if you were in the market looking for a sedan that drives well, the Slavia will be our top recommendation.