Skoda Scala – Back to Basics

Skoda Scala Active, €25,990

The Skoda Scala is the odd one out. The model is an alternative in the B segment, but not a crossover. The Scala shares its technical basis with smaller brother Fabia, but is a bit bigger in a number of areas. However, the performance levels are almost the same, so we start this edition of Back to Basics with a short comparison between the Fabia and the Scala.

Both models are cheapest as Active and then have a 95 hp 1-liter three-cylinder TSI under the hood, coupled to a manual five-speed gearbox. The Active versions of the two have an almost completely comparable list of standard equipment, so that we really only have to look at the differences in dimensions for a comparison – and at the price.

Compared to the Skoda Fabia

With the latter we find a difference of €3,200, because the Fabia is at your doorstep from €22,790. What do you get for that little over €3,000 extra in extras with a Scala? To start with: roughly 25 centimeters more car. The Scala is 4.36 meters long and, with a wheelbase of 2.65 meters, has about 8 cm more between the two axles than the Fabia. The result is more legroom and a larger luggage compartment. You can store 467 liters in the Scala, where the Fabia offers space for a maximum of 380 liters.

With an empty weight of 1,196 kg, the Scala Active is 48 kg heavier than a comparable Fabia. A small difference, but unfortunately enough to put the Scala in a higher shell for the mrb. However, the extra mass and centimeters led to Skoda opting to put the Scala on wider and larger wheels from the factory. Where you get 15-inch hubcaps on 185 mm wide wheels under a Fabia, the standard Scala rolls on 16-inch wheels-with-caps of 205 mm wide.

Yes: an entry-level Scala can still be recognized by its hubcaps. If the car was otherwise completely free of additional costs, it will wear the Energy Blue-called blue unipaint that you see in the photos. Other shades cost €390 to €890 extra. The front and rear lighting uses LED technology, although the indicators of all versions are halogen ones. Full LED lighting with things like dynamic flashing lights is also an option on the most luxurious version.

Larger and wider wheels than under a Fabia.

No Bluetooth, but Android Auto and Apple Carplay

What are not options are a manually operated air conditioning, an audio system with four speakers and the possibility to connect your phone via Apple CarPlay or Android Auto – but not via Bluetooth (!). You operate the system with a 6.5-inch touchscreen in the middle of an otherwise very black interior. Even the two-spoke steering wheel does not have a single contrasting strip and does not carry a single button. The standard seat cover is black fabric and as a driver you will still find analog counters in front of you.

Less analogous are the safety features of the Skoda Scala, because Lane Assist and an emergency braking system are also present on this model, as well as a sling of airbags. What you have to miss: cruise control, parking sensors and electrically operated rear side windows. Heated exterior mirrors are standard.

Old-fashioned

All in all, we can certainly not say that you get ‘more than enough’ with the standard Scala. Yes, air conditioning and smartphone connectivity are on it and that’s nice, but you can find those things on all new cars these days. Without parking sensors, cruise control, electrically operated rear side windows or multifunction steering wheel, the Scala in Active version is very bare by 2023 standards. On the other hand, it is quite spacious and – especially given the amount of interior space – is quite economical with petrol.

There is also something to be said for it back to basicscharacter of the Scala. Because where else can you find such air conditioning controls with simple rotary knobs, a five-speed gearbox and analogue counters? Precisely! Virtually nowhere. But whether that fits with a price of about €26,000? That is again doubtful. The marginally more expensive Skoda Scala in Ambition version, the second version, with an additional cost of €1,700, is therefore worth considering. It has 15 hp and one more gear, alloy wheels, Bluetooth, cruise control, buttons on the steering wheel and a few extras – and they fit the spacious Scala best.

This climate control would not have been out of place in a fifteen-year-old car. Nice and basic, or poverty?