Launched earlier this year, the Skoda Kushaq has been welcomed by many compact SUV buyers. The new model sits on the MQB-A0-IN platform and goes on to rival models like the Hyundai Creta and Kia Seltos. While it’s actually the most fun-to-drive option in the segment, one of the biggest drawbacks is that it is a petrol-only model that comes with powerful turbocharged gasoline motors. This is pretty surprising considering that the diesel versions of the Creta as well as the Seltos are in pretty good demand. Having a diesel engine option gets important for those having a high monthly running, especially if you take into account the ever-increase price of fuel. No wonder, then, that we finally have what can be termed as the first-ever Skoda Kushaq CNG. Basically, an owner of the 1.0 TSI variant has installed an aftermarket CNG kit to bring down the running costs.
This car belongs to one Amaan Mistry from Ahmedabad, who seems to have plonked in a CNG kit soon after purchasing the vehicle. He goes on to state that the performance of his vehicle has improved after installing the CNG kit and he’s getting a brilliant fuel efficiency of 25 km per kg. Given that a kg of CNG costs less than Rs 55 in Ahmedabad, this simply translates into a running cost of little more than Rs 2/km. This is much lesser than what running the 1.0 Kushaq on petrol costs. In fact, it’s even lower than the running cost of diesel variants of the Hyundai Creta and the Kia Seltos.
Also read: Skoda Kushaq Ambition Variant – The Most Sensible Choice?
However, no matter how good an option installing the CNG kit seems to be, one should simply refrain from such modifications. For starters, it simply voids the warranty, which means, in future, if anything goes wrong due to some manufacturing defect or pre-mature part failure, you might have to shell out big sums of money for the repair work. Moreover, irrespective of what the owner claims, no car can perform as well on CNG as it does on petrol. Keeping this in mind, installing a CNG kit on a turbocharged petrol car doesn’t seem to be a very good idea. Also, as per the owner, the cost of installing this CNG kit is Rs 1.25 lakh, which is definitely on the higher side. While the low running cost will help the owner recover the initial cost pretty quickly but unless he has a high monthly running, it would still take him a while to break even.
Also read: Is Skoda Kushaq worth buying? Pros and Cons!
The Skoda Kushaq has been on sale in three variants – Active, Ambition and Style. It’s available with two turbo-petrol options – 1.0 TSI and 1.5 TSI. The former outputs a maximum power of 115 PS and a peak torque of 175 Nm, while the latter produces 150 PS and 250 Nm. The smaller engine is available with 6-speed manual and 6-speed torque-converter automatic transmission options while the more powerful motor is available with a 6-speed manual and a 7-speed DSG option.
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