 So you are wondering why all of a sudden most car manufacturers are scrambling to upgrade the engine options of their existing models , especially since most of them were fine machines. Well , you may blame or perhaps thank the implementation of the Bharat Stage IV (BS-IV) emission norms across major cities by the Indian government recently. Keeping in mind the new and more stringent emission norms , the Czech carmaker Skoda has also joined the bandwagon and now offers new engine variants for its Superb and Laura sedans. You can read about the new Superb elsewhere in the magazine as
we’ll restrict our conversation to the latest Laura with a new diesel engine.
It’s called the Laura 2.0 TDI CR (AT) and it replaces the older 1.9 TDI. In simpler terms , the car sports a 2-litre turbo diesel engine , and instead of the earlier pump duse system , it now has the efficient common-rail injection with 16 valves. The same engine is also available in the Skoda Superb sedan which we had tested earlier. The good part about the new Laura is that it is compliant with the BS-IV norms and so is more environmentally friendly. There is no change in the design of the car and no one is complaining. But the best aspect about the torquey mill is the refinement and the smooth power delivery. The sedan still retains the very addictive and brilliantly sorted out six-speed DSG  automatic transmission. The Laura now has the ability to pump out 140bhp of peak power with an amazing 320Nm of torque. Interestingly , the same engine with a manual transmission produces 30bhp less than the AT.
The turbo lag has been reduced and the ability of the six-speed automatic is further proven by our kick-down figures. The moment you hit the accelerator pedal , it responds instantly and the quick upshifts make it a fun car to drive. If you’re in the mood to cruise , the DSG comes to the rescue again by shifting to the top gear even at lower speeds and there is enough torque to keep you sailing through.
The specs looked nice on paper , but when we tested the car it felt even better as the Skoda outperformed the older variant and how. We flew from naught to 100km/h in just 10.31 seconds , that’s over 3 seconds quicker and it sounds more impressive when you consider that the new Laura 2.0 weighs over a hundred kilos more! Comparatively , the fuel efficiency has been hit as we got 11.5kmpl in the City and around 18kmpl on the open highway , which isn’t too bad.
The new Laura TDI CR (AT) has an on-road Pune price tag of around Rs 17.01 lakh for the Ambiente variant , which is around Rs 50 , 000 more than the previous model. However , there are a few basic things missing like the steering mounted controls and the touch screen infotainment system which were present in the earlier models. Having said that , the new Laura is a very likeable car and with the automatic transmission , it has also become a hassle-free and fun car to drive even in the city.
More photos:
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It’s called the Laura 2.0 TDI CR (AT) and it replaces the older 1.9 TDI. In simpler terms , the car sports a 2-litre turbo diesel engine , and instead of the earlier pump duse system , it now has the efficient common-rail injection with 16 valves. The same engine is also available in the Skoda Superb sedan which we had tested earlier. The good part about the new Laura is that it is compliant with the BS-IV norms and so is more environmentally friendly. There is no change in the design of the car and no one is complaining. But the best aspect about the torquey mill is the refinement and the smooth power delivery. The sedan still retains the very addictive and brilliantly sorted out six-speed DSG
automatic transmission. The Laura now has the ability to pump out 140bhp of peak power with an amazing 320Nm of torque. Interestingly , the same engine with a manual transmission produces 30bhp less than the AT.
The turbo lag has been reduced and the ability of the six-speed automatic is further proven by our kick-down figures. The moment you hit the accelerator pedal , it responds instantly and the quick upshifts make it a fun car to drive. If you’re in the mood to cruise , the DSG comes to the rescue again by shifting to the top gear even at lower speeds and there is enough torque to keep you sailing through.
The specs looked nice on paper , but when we tested the car it felt even better as the Skoda outperformed the older variant and how. We flew from naught to 100km/h in just 10.31 seconds , that’s over 3 seconds quicker and it sounds more impressive when you consider that the new Laura 2.0 weighs over a hundred kilos more! Comparatively , the fuel efficiency has been hit as we got 11.5kmpl in the City and around 18kmpl on the open highway , which isn’t too bad.
The new Laura TDI CR (AT) has an on-road Pune price tag of around Rs 17.01 lakh for the Ambiente variant , which is around Rs 50 , 000 more than the previous model. However , there are a few basic things missing like the steering mounted controls and the touch screen infotainment system which were present in the earlier models. Having said that , the new Laura is a very likeable car and with the automatic transmission , it has also become a hassle-free and fun car to drive even in the city.
More photos: