Should I buy a Skoda Kodiaq RS or a Ford Everest Sport V6?
After a large SUV with extra seating and plenty of grunt? The performance-honed Skoda Kodiaq RS or V6-powered new Ford Everest Sport offer both, but the devil is in the details.
As the cost of airfares continues to soar, it's clear the great Australian road trip is here to stay, and the car of choice for Aussies traversing our wide brown land is a large, gutsy, capable SUV.
Two such beasts are the 2023 Ford Everest Sport V6 and the 2023 Skoda Kodiaq RS.
The Kodiaq RS provides spacious storage with sporty performance, while the Ford Everest Sport packs a punch with its V6 turbo diesel engine.
Both have three rows of seating, all-wheel-drive capabilities, and price points starting around the $70,000 mark.
Both cars also sit at the pointy end of their respective ranges, with the Kodiaq RS serving as the flagship model, while the Everest Sport sits just below the top-of-the-line Everest Platinum.
But, each attacks the SUV class in a different way. The Kodiaq RS features honed on-road dynamics and performance-skewed handling, whereas the Everest leans towards off-road capability with a more rugged construction aimed at towing and trips off the beaten path.
Which family hauler with performance cred is a better way to burn through roughly $75,000 drive-away? And, importantly, what's going to make the family road trip more bearable? We investigate.
How much does the 2023 Skoda Kodiaq RS cost in Australia?
The entire Kodiaq range got a midlife update in 2022, with the flagship RS receiving an under-the-bonnet overhaul, swapping its old turbo-diesel powertrain for a turbo-petrol one.
Every Skoda Kodiaq gets the same 2.0-litre, four-cylinder turbo petrol engine, but the RS's is tuned to produce more power and torque than the other two variants – 180kW and 370Nm to be precise.
The Kodiaq RS is priced from $69,290 before on-road costs, but my test car was finished in metallic paint, which adds $770 – bringing the as-tested price to $70,060 before on-road costs.
Skoda’s current drive-away pricing for the Kodiaq RS is $74,990 – a big jump up from the drive-away price for the Sportline, which starts at $59,990 drive-away.
That $15,000 difference can be semi-justified with the inclusion of the panoramic sunroof, which is typically an additional $1900, plus interior features like seat ventilation, electric adjustment for both front seats, middle-row seat heating, plus the extra active driver assistance technology.
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But even if you were to add those things up, you’d struggle to even get to $10,000 – and it’s hard to put a monetary value on the additional 48kW and 50Nm of torque from the engine.
As a result, it’s worth test-driving both the RS and Sportline grades given they offer the same level of cabin space, all-wheel-drive capabilities, and the Sportline features a solid level of standard equipment.
How much does the 2023 Ford Everest Sport cost in Australia?
The 2023 Ford Everest Sport sits third-highest in a four-model line-up: Everest Ambiente, Everest Trend, Everest Sport and Everest Titanium. Out of interest, the cheapest 2023 Ford Everest in the range is priced from $52,990 before on-roads.
However, the 2023 Ford Everest Sport is where the action is at. It's where the 184kW/600Nm 3.0-litre turbo diesel V6 powertrain starts from, as both the Everest Ambiente and Trend models remain a four-cylinder affair only.
Everest Sport models can be configured with either a 2.0-litre twin-turbo four-cylinder diesel and rear-wheel drive, or a 3.0 single-turbo V6 diesel and full-time all-wheel drive.
The 2023 Ford Everest Sport V6 is now priced from $69,590 before on-road costs, after it underwent a $500 price rise from March 2023.
If you're weighing up between the V6 or the 2.0-litre twin-turbo motor, the variant tested here costs $6800 more than the four-cylinder rear-drive version with the same badge.
Our test car was optioned with Blue Lightning metallic paint ($700) and 18-inch wheels with AT tyres (no cost) taking its drive-away cost to $77,827 if registered in Melbourne, but final drive-away pricing may vary based on location.
For a full breakdown of the 2023 Ford Everest's price and specification (for the Model Year 2023.5 range), click here.
Key details | 2023 Skoda Kodiaq RS | 2023 Ford Everest Sport V6 |
Price (MSRP) | $69,290 plus on-road costs | $69,590 before on-road costs |
Colour of test car | Moon White | Blue Lightning |
Options | Metallic paint – $770 | Metallic paint – $700 18-inch wheels with AT tyres – no cost |
Price as tested | $70,060 before on-road costs | $70,290 before on-road costs |
Drive-away price | $75,760 (Melbourne) | $77,827 (Melbourne) |
How much space does the 2023 Skoda Kodiaq RS have inside?
While the Kodiaq’s interior space feels positively vast, it actually has a fairly modest exterior footprint – only slightly bigger than a Kia Sportage.
While it’s technically still a large SUV, it’s more like a large SUV that’s been placed on a juice cleanse, meaning it’s an ideal car for inner-city dwellers whose extra baggage won’t squeeze into a medium SUV.
Getting into the car is made easier thanks to the elevated ride height, but I found Skoda’s door-edge protectors – plastic devices that swing out when the door is opened to prevent it from hitting and damaging surrounding objects – make closing the heavy doors problematic. You really have to slam them to ensure they shut properly.
The interior of the RS feels particularly spacious thanks to a massive standard-inclusion sunroof that spans almost the entire roof.
In the front seat, the suave black and red sports seats are heated, ventilated, snug and firm – although a headrest that slopes forward may have you feeling like your neck is a little bent out of shape (particularly if you wear your hair in a bun, like me).
Ergonomics are excellent and the layout makes everything accessible, plus it looks clean and streamlined.
Storage options are plentiful, including a central storage compartment with removable tray, umbrella holders in the doors, cupholders, and a cleverly designed split glove box that has separate compartments that open at the top and the bottom.
Legroom in the passenger seat is great, but with our Britax Brava child seat behind it in rear-facing mode, my husband found his legroom was minimised somewhat.
In the middle row, space continues to be accommodating, even for taller adults. With Drive’s photographer, who is roughly 193cm tall, in the driver’s seat, I still felt like I had ample legroom.
The middle-row seats are heated too, and occupants get their own separate climate controls for added independence.
Retractable sunblinds store neatly below the middle-row windows and reduce sun glare for kids, although they don’t remove it entirely.
Getting into the third row isn’t the easiest task. The Kodiaq’s seats fold and slide, but it’s not the smoothest process, and they don’t flip up for maximum clearance like the ones in some Honda or Mitsubishi models, so adults will have to squeeze.
Once you’re in the third row, most grown-ups will find their heads are grazing the roof and their knees feel cramped, but large side windows and plenty of light from the sunroof counteract the sense of claustrophobia.
Still, it’s not the most cramped third row I’ve sat in, and kids will certainly appreciate the novelty factor. Meanwhile, adults will appreciate keeping any stints in the third row nice and short.
If you’ve got the key in your pocket, the boot is accessible with a swift kick under the centre of the hands-free power tailgate – particularly helpful when you have arms full of supermarket shopping.
Inside, there’s a whopping 765L of space with the third row flat – a bigger boot than both the Kia Sorento and Toyota Kluger.
Even with the third row in play, there’s 270L at hand. That’s still a bigger boot that the Mazda CX-3 compact SUV and you’ll be able to squeeze a grocery shop in there if you’re strategic.
Under the floor, there’s a spot to slot in the cargo blind when the third row is in use, plus a temporary spare wheel.
How much space does the 2023 Ford Everest Sport have inside?
Starting with the first row, both you and your front passenger will find plenty of spots to park your gear. The centre console has a pair of deep cupholders, armrest storage, and my favourite – a dedicated sunglasses cubby right in front of the gearshifter. Tell me that isn't Australian engineering at its finest.
What isn't is that bloody gearshifter, however, as it's really annoying to use due to its shape, and the location of its shifter unlock button. After a week with it you do figure it out, so don't worry during the test drive.
Digression aside, there's more storage to cover, as we haven't spoken about the massive covered pit in the lower dashboard with wireless charger, nor the continuation of dual gloveboxes either.
If you have kids, run a small business, or are simply on the road due to a PAYG salary, the cabin of the Ford Everest is certified junk-proof. Specific to our Everest Sport model are a pair of deeply bolstered leather seats with electric adjustment, heating and cooling. They are wickedly comfortable and with a deep lumbar adjustment to properly keep back pain away. I covered around 1000km in seven days in the Ford Everest, and felt pretty good after each long day behind the wheel.
Over in the second row, the space isn't as big as you'd think. It's okay for the class, as I found myself with limited knee and leg room when sitting behind my own driving position (I am 183cm tall). It claws back points with its sliding and reclining second row, however. You also sit up high in the second row, with stadium-like seating giving you a clear view outward through the huge front window.
Another good thing about the stadium seating is how it helps with loading young kids in the car. Popping the baby into a rearward-facing Britax Graphene was easy, and loading a four-year-old into a Rally Infasecure booster seat was much the same.
There are even roof-mounted air vents to help direct air into a rearward-facing seat, so consider your bub and back well catered for with a Ford Everest.
The third row is tight and purely for children and young adults only. Entry into the back is decent, however, with a reclining and sliding second row generating generous access to the third row.
I could fit in the back, but my knees were jammed up against the second-row seat backs, and it wasn't very comfortable. Consider it for young kids and children only.
There are some cupholders for passengers six and seven, however, and even more roof-mounted air vents for them too. With the third row folded and set up as a five-seater, the Ford Everest can fit 898L in its boot.
That's massive, and I was able to fit a pram, bassinet, two backpacks, and 600kg of travertine tiles just fine. Sans travertine, the stroller fit nicely both lengthways and longways and easily left room for two suitcases.
The boot is massive. As a seven-seater, you still have 239L left to pack, which is about 80 per cent of most modern hatchbacks.
2023 Skoda Kodiaq RS | 2023 Ford Everest Sport V6 | |
Seats | Seven | Seven |
Boot volume | 270L to third row 765L to second row 2005L to first row | 239L to third row 898L to second row 1823L to first row |
Length | 4699mm | 4940mm |
Width | 1882mm | 1923mm |
Height | 1685mm | 1841mm |
Wheelbase | 2791mm | 2900mm |
Does the 2023 Skoda Kodiaq RS have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto?
The Kodiaq’s infotainment system feels up-to-date and user-friendly, without being distracting or overly convoluted.
There’s a wireless phone charging pad (which accommodates larger devices), wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and two USB-C ports to connect your devices.
I found the Apple CarPlay connection was consistent throughout my week with the Kodiaq, effortlessly re-pairing upon entering the car and ensuring my calls and music were clear and uninterrupted.
In all Kodiaq grades, the infotainment control centre is a 9.2-inch touchscreen with crisp graphics and excellent positioning for use on the move.
This screen and ‘virtual cockpit’ driver display screen aren’t huge or particularly revolutionary in their design, but they’re well-executed, responsive and functional enough to hold their own against offerings from more upmarket brands.
Managing audio from the steering wheel is easy, but I found it frustrating that there’s no quick way to hang up phone calls when using CarPlay (when using Bluetooth or Android Auto, you can end a call by holding the volume dial down).
If you’re so inclined, you can drop an extra $2900 on the Tech Pack, which adds a 12-speaker Canton sound system, but I really enjoyed the quality of the standard-fit system and found it more than satisfactory for playing Running Up That Hill by Kate Bush on repeat.
Does the 2023 Ford Everest Sport have Apple CarPlay and Android Auto?
The 2023 Ford Everest Sport features a 12.0-inch infotainment system with wired and wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity. There's also a wireless charging pad in case you hate cables that much. The system uses flash-looking software but remains a bit laggy upon start-up.
We also found the audio quality with wired and wireless Apple CarPlay to be crackly and glitchy, with subtle distortions heard anywhere from every 60 seconds to once every five minutes.
Josh Dowling drove a different vehicle and also noticed the same thing (with a different iPhone too); however, Sam Purcell noted no issue with his Android phone in our big blue test car. Hopefully the software is patched by Ford soon enough.
The infotainment system does do everything else pretty good, too, and the Ford-branded 10-speaker stereo is good enough for the coin. Its rendition of King Gizzard and The Lizard Wizard's Nonagon Infinity was satisfactory in sounding clear enough, large enough, and with enough punch behind the percussion to carry the album.
Is the 2023 Skoda Kodiaq RS a safe car?
The Skoda gets a five-star ANCAP rating and was last tested in 2017. That rating predates some key changes to ANCAP scoring and testing introduced in 2018 and again in 2020, and is set to expire at the end of 2023.
The Kodiaq range received a 92 per cent score for adult occupant protection and 77 per cent for child occupant protection, while pedestrian protection was rated at 62 per cent and safety assist received 54 per cent.
All Kodiaqs have nine airbags, including rear curtain, side and knee airbags to protect back-seat occupants.
Is the 2023 Ford Everest Sport a safe car?
The Ford Everest earned a five-star ANCAP safety rating dated 2022, meaning it has been tested under the latest and most strict criteria.
It scored really well in terms of child occupant protection (93 per cent) and adult occupant protection (86 per cent). Safety assist systems also received an 86 per cent rating, while vulnerable road user (pedestrian) protection scored 74 per cent.
Among the new-generation Everest's changes is the adoption of a centre airbag between the front seats. This one protects occupants against colliding with each other in side impact crashes. The Ford Everest now has one, taking its total airbag count out to nine.
At a glance | 2023 Skoda Kodiaq RS | 2023 Ford Everest Sport V6 |
ANCAP rating & year tested | Five stars (tested 2017) | Five stars (tested 2022) |
Safety report | ANCAP report | ANCAP report |
What safety technology does the 2023 Skoda Kodiaq RS have?
Because the RS is the top-grade Kodiaq, it gets plenty of safety and driver assistance tech as standard.
This includes additions like Skoda’s park assist, which will manoeuvre into a space for you, and traffic jam assist that utilises the lane assist and cruise-control systems to start, brake and turn the car to copy the movement of surrounding vehicles in a traffic jam.
Unfortunately, as a result of ongoing semiconductor shortages, Skoda has had to remove blind-spot detection and a rear cross-traffic alert from the Kodiaq range. Both are extremely helpful active safety features that are particularly useful on a large SUV, but neither are essential safety inclusions.
Additionally, the car I drove had an overhead-view monitor that gives you a bird's-eye view of your surroundings. It's an inclusion that was temporarily dropped from the car due to semiconductor shortages, but will make its return for the 2023 model-year.
Otherwise, all Kodiaq grades receive autonomous emergency braking for the front and rear, front and rear parking sensors, and adaptive cruise control. The rear parking sensors are pretty full-on and there’s no way to lower their sensitivity, so you’ll have to settle for being something of a Nervous Nelly when parking.
What safety technology does the 2023 Ford Everest Sport have?
The 2023 Ford Everest Sport is absolutely loaded with safety gear.
Standard-fit tech includes autonomous emergency braking with intersection turning assist, pedestrian and cyclist detection, lane-keeping assist with road edge detection, evasive steering assist, blind-spot monitoring, and rear cross-traffic alert with rearward automatic braking.
Despite being packed full of advanced driver assist systems, none are intrusive or get in the way of a good time. The lane-keeping assist gently prods when you veer out of the lane, the automatic braking system is not as annoying as your back-seat driver, and blind-spot monitoring warning lights are easy to see in all conditions.
How much does the 2023 Skoda Kodiaq RS cost to run?
If you buy a pre-paid service pack, it costs $2600 to service the Kodiaq RS over five years, or $3400 over seven years. Skoda's warranty covers the vehicle for seven years and unlimited kilometres.
If you purchase the five-year pre-paid service pack, it works out to roughly $520 a year, while the seven-year pack works out to an average of $486 a year.
That's more expensive than your average mass-market brand, but reasonably affordable for a premium brand.
The Kodiaq RS will cost $1393.99 to insure annually based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.
How much does the 2023 Ford Everest Sport cost to run?
Servicing a 2023 Ford Everest Sport V6 costs $350, $425 and $455 in years one, two and three respectively. That brings the total three-year ownership cost to $1230, with Ford expecting you to bring the car back every 12 months or 15,000km, whichever comes first.
Years four and five cost $695 and $350, making five years or 75,000km of driving worth $2275.
Insurance costs come in at $1527 a year based on a comparative quote for a 35-year-old male driver living in Chatswood, NSW. Insurance estimates may vary based on your location, driving history, and personal circumstances.
That makes its after-sales costs around about average for the segment.
At a glance | 2023 Skoda Kodiaq RS | 2023 Ford Everest Sport V6 |
Warranty | Seven years, unlimited km | Five years, unlimited km |
Service intervals | 12 months or 15,000km | 12 months or 15,000km |
Servicing costs | $2600 (5 years) $3400 (7 years) | $1230 (3 years) $2275 (5 years) |
Fuel cons. (claimed) | 7.5L/100km | 7.6L/100km |
Fuel cons. (on test) | 10.7L/100km | 9.9L/100km |
Fuel type | 95-octane premium unleaded | Diesel |
Fuel tank size | 60L | 80L |
Is the 2023 Skoda Kodiaq RS fuel-efficient?
Interestingly, Skoda quotes a lower average combined fuel use in the RS than in the Style or Sportline grades – 7.5L/100km. Meanwhile, claimed urban consumption is 9.6L/100km.
My week of urban driving returned an overall figure of 10.7L/100km, and I found that I burned through half a tank of fuel with a combination of short freeway stints and inner-city commuting.
Additionally, all Kodiaqs require a minimum of 95 RON, so the combination of elevated fuel usage and more expensive petrol is definitely something that’s worth weighing up over the course of ownership.
Is the 2023 Ford Everest Sport fuel-efficient?
The official combined fuel consumption claim for the Ford Everest V6 diesel model is 7.6L/100km.
After 1000km of driving in mixed scenarios on the freeway and in town – and with 200km of load testing – we saw a final figure of 9.9L/100km.
In reality, you'll likely see more than the official claim, and certainly if you plan to lug things around with it.
What is the 2023 Skoda Kodiaq RS like to drive?
Before we get into the driving experience, we need to talk about the Kodiaq RS’s fake engine noises.
At first, I found them a little cheesy, but as I spent more time in Sport mode, I realised they added a sense of fun and excitement that’s otherwise lacking from most large SUVs.
Additionally, when my son was a newborn, I wanted any car I was driving to be as silent as possible so he wouldn’t wake up, so the concept of a car that can tailor its exhaust noises to your circumstances is actually sort of genius.
So too are the Kodiaq’s various drive modes, which enable you to customise the level of engine noise as well as the damping and steering characteristics, with the option or Normal, Comfort and Sport.
I found that the ride with the Kodiaq in Comfort mode is ideal – it’s supple but without the wobbly, top-heavy feeling you sometimes get in larger cars.
The steering feel is also fantastic. The Kodiaq RS gets something called progressive steering as standard, which basically means it becomes more dynamic at speed and requires less input, but is nice and light around town.
As a result, the Kodiaq is actually a really easy car to manage around town.
On paper, a 12.2m turning circle appears on the larger side, but somehow the combination of light steering and moderate footprint meant I was able to complete a surprising number of manoeuvres I wouldn’t normally pull off in a larger car (three-point turns in dead-end streets, or U-turns on main roads, for example).
All Kodiaqs are all-wheel drive and can offer extra traction whenever they detect wheel slippage, which adds to the overall balanced and capable behind-the-wheel feel.
The whole range also features a seven-speed dual-clutch automatic transmission, but the RS grade adds paddle shifters for those who really want to lean into the sporty vibe.
I found this dual-clutch transmission particularly well executed. It moves smoothly through the gears without any lag and is punchy when you really kick down – without being jumpy at lower speeds.
Acceleration from a standstill is immediate and you have to be careful, as the car can get up to speed quickly.
The idle-stop system incorporates well into this overall package and is virtually imperceptible, even in stop-start traffic.
If I had one complaint it’s that the rear-vision mirror could be larger, but otherwise visibility is good and the driving position is comfortable but not so high you sacrifice driver feel.
What is the 2023 Ford Everest Sport like to drive?
Ford really has paved the way for refinement with body-on-frame vehicles.
The new 2023 Ford Everest is a pleasure to use both unladen and laden. Starting with the ride solo, it's smooth, comfortable, and only at speed do you get that dual-cab ute tremor. You know, that feeling of jiggling you more than the road surface tells your eye. It only really happens on freeway speeds and with one passenger, and even then it's subtle at most.
Around town it's an absolute joy and makes light work of clean and semi-distressed roads. Our drive route saw us plot a path out of Sydney's CBD and through its south-west, with our final destination in the Southern Highlands district of New South Wales. Here, the roads are awful and have been well undermined by the recent La Nina weather event smashing the east coast. It also means the roads haven't been repaired yet either, making them great for testing with our adventure-seeking wagon.
One of the Everest's best elements is how in control it feels over really bad sections of road. It's confident and sure-footed, and doesn't feel skittish or at the mercy of limited tyre grip.
Half the secret sauce is the new four-wheel-drive system, which offers traditional two-wheel drive and four-wheel-drive modes, but also has a 4A setting for all-wheel drive on demand in all conditions. Finally, we have a 4x4 workhorse that can actually be driven on the roads in 4x4 mode, unlike most other cars of this type.
As a vehicle that'll be used by partners to haul precious cargo – sometimes human or furry – it nails the brief. It's about time full-time 4x4 is here.
The Everest's handling feels more composed overall, too, and it's clearly been fitted with improved suspension components for 2022 that are better both on- and off-road.
I took the opportunity to load the vehicle right up to GVM, too, where I conducted another drive loop over the same 2.5-hour drive to the Highlands. The ride does settle when laden, and it still features enough suspension travel as to not bottom out or feel 'heavy'.
Up at speed you'll notice the weight, but acceleration efforts sub-80km/h genuinely feel like you're not lugging anything. This is where the new V6 powertrain comes into its own, as it's quieter, gutsier and more effortless at lugging. No, you don't need the higher-output motor with more cylinders, but as they say, the job is always quicker when you have the right (appropriate) tools.
The 10-speed auto does change six times on the way up to 60km/h, but it gets the shifts done swiftly and doesn't feel or sound like a Fast and Furious movie (you know, endlessly shifting a gearbox with unlimited gears).
Visibility out of the car is another strong point of the Ford Everest, and another reason why it feels easy to drive despite its size. The front window is absolutely massive, and the tall glasshouse means you can simply peer over and out the car when navigating tight areas.
To recap, it's markedly better overall in the key areas that matter: ride, handling and powertrain performance.
Key details | 2023 Skoda Kodiaq RS | 2023 Ford Everest Sport V6 |
Engine | 2.0-litre four-cylinder turbo petrol | 3.0-litre V6 turbo diesel |
Power | 180kW @ 5250–6500rpm | 184kW @ 3250rpm |
Torque | 370Nm @ 1600–4300rpm | 600Nm @ 1750–2250rpm |
Drive type | All-wheel drive | Four-wheel drive |
Transmission | Seven-speed dual-clutch automatic | 10-speed torque converter automatic, low-speed transfer case, locking rear differential |
Power-to-weight ratio | 101kW/t | 77kW/t |
Weight | 1790kg | 2454kg |
Spare tyre type | Temporary | Full-size |
Tow rating | 2000kg braked 750kg unbraked | 3500kg braked 750kg unbraked |
Turning circle | 12.2m | 11.7m |
Should I buy a 2023 Skoda Kodiaq RS or a 2023 Ford Everest Sport V6?
Both the Skoda Kodiaq RS and Ford Everest Sport V6 will add value to your family road trip – but in very different ways.
If you're a pack of proper adventurers, the Everest is a jack-of-all-trades family wagon with a set of skills developed with hard yakka and off-road driving in mind.
Meanwhile, the Kodiaq offers a capacious cabin with some premium touches, plus an on-road manner that can switch from docile and comfortable to savage and sharp in the blink of an eye.
As the newer model in our comparison, the Everest also boasts more recent safety credentials, but the pair are evenly matched in terms of technology and equipment – with the Skoda possibly more polished in its execution, particularly in the infotainment department.
The Everest's boot is bigger in five-seat mode, but the Kodiaq's third row is marginally more tolerable. Although the third row in both cars should only be considered a temporary solution for ferrying kids around, rather than a viable option for full-sized adults.
Kodiaq buyers might face steeper ongoing ownership costs when it comes to servicing, but the trade-off is that it's a few hundred dollars cheaper than the Everest in drive-away form.
Neither car is particularly economical on the fuel front, but the petrol-powered Kodiaq could see you visiting the service station slightly more often.
In summary, it's the Everest's relative newness – particularly in the safety department – that sees it edge very slightly ahead of the Kodiaq in this comparison.
However, neither car will disappoint or let you down on your annual family summer holiday – whether you're bush-bashing in the Ford, or touring along the coast in the Skoda... fake engine noises and all.