Staggered launches are a great way of not only keeping a new model full of novelty for prospective buyers, but ensuring build quality is first rate too. Especially with a major model for a big brand, as the Octavia is for its maker.
On course for some 165,000 deliveries in Europe this year, the model is key to Škoda possibly passing Toyota to become the regional number two brand behind VW. Even it doesn’t quite get there (the tallies are very close), this year has been a blockbuster one for the Czech marque, plus it’s now way ahead of fourth placed BMW.
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The roll-out of powertrains for Europe’s best selling family car has been more or less continuous since major engineering updates and a facelift for generation five were revealed in 2024. New gearboxes, extra engines, all-wheel drive, plug-in hybrids, and now, the RS, or vRS as it is called in the UK.
TDI and PHEV are no more
In the 2020-2024 vRS hatchback and estate, there was a choice of petrol, diesel or PHEV. The time around, Škoda has simplified choice to just one variant for each of the two body styles, this being a 195 kW (265 PS) 2.0-litre petrol turbo. Drive is to the front axle only, via a seven-speed dual clutch transmission.
Announced on St Valentine’s Day 2024, it has taken some time for the sports model to reach production, and then a little longer still for right-hand drive cars. Now though, deliveries are underway and while sales volume will be at a modest level, the vRS has always been a popular car in the British market; the wagon especially.
Even though I always preferred the high torque of the 2.0-litre TDI if given a choice of engines, finding now that the vRS comes solely with the Golf GTI’s engine is, if anything, a bonus. This is in fact the most powerful Octavia yet and so Škoda has fettled the suspension, lowering the ride height by 15 mm, stiffened the dampers and added a limited-slip differential.
No all-wheel drive, no problem
Sampling a dark purple estate for a week I found zero steering tug, despite there being 370 Nm of torque, and really quite amazing traction for something with such high outputs and no all-wheel drive. But the dynamics are only one part of the heavily revised car’s appeal.
Where other Volkswagen Group brands often throw way too much technology at a car’s owner, Škoda hits the sweet-spot. Hopefully, what’s so good about the Octavia will be retained when generation six (or generation five of the VW ownership era) arrives in 2028. This car is replete with an interior strong on tactility and wonderfully short on overbearing tech.
Tactile treats and tame tech
That I was not once buzzed at for daring to wear sunglasses is just one example of the maddening stuff which now afflicts so many new cars. Recently, I even saw a review of a Geely where a journalist placed tape over the camera which watches the driver’s eyes. The Octavia instead leaves you alone to actually enjoy the experience of being behind the wheel.
First thing you must do upon entry – essential for me at least – is press a pleasing-to-touch steering wheel button which also has a twist action. This brings up Lane Assist and Speed Warning. Push then turn with your thumb and both are neutered. Most satisfying. On other VW Group vehicles, this is a tiresome faff via screen menus.
If only certain VWs were this well designed
The whole interior also feels somehow premium in spite of all the plastics being of the tough-feel and indestructible variety rather than squishable. Nor is there any of the dreaded ‘piano black’ trim which are always covered in dust and fingerprints. Everything looks and feels just like Volkswagens once did but sadly no longer do.
I wouldn’t call them pockets, so big are all four door bins, another great feature of this car. Nothing rattles in them either thanks to felt lining. The central cubby, on the other hand, is a touch small, as is the diameter of the two drinks holders. Never mind, as even really big bottles will fit in the doors. Each of which by the way, closes with a most pleasing thunk.
Even after all these decades, the size of any Octavia’s boot still impresses, and that started with the first VW Group model way back in 1996. And anyone lifting the tailgate of the Superb will soon see that Škoda seems to have a secret recipe for designing hatchbacks and estates with the largest load bays in the business.
Nobody wants a puncture kit; Škoda is listening
In the case of the vRS, not only is there an actual spare tyre and jack (optional, mind) – I keep finding them in press cars – but the luggage deck is surrounded by no fewer than six metal loops for attaching a net. But wait, there’s more. Škoda also gives you the same number of strong plastic hooks for shopping bags. The carpet feels durable too, as is the soft neoprene upholstery.
Seats up front have red and white vRS stitched-in emblems and integrated head restraints, while the rear bench of this five-seater is split 40:60 and includes a ski hatch. Skoda calls all these sorts of handy touches ‘Simply Clever’ but I think of them more as thoughtful things.
If only there was a real dial for music volume
It’s as if the people who design Škodas are made to live with them and so find what’s going to thrill an owner, while rejecting gimmicks or technology which irritates. Another thing? In this high-priced car, the front seats are adjusted manually. No slow motors, just big plastic grab-handles for backwards/forwards and a precise action for backrest tilt. Please let’s have more of this stuff and ditch the heavy, whirring, may go wrong with age electric alternatives. Oh, and when will the volume slider be axed? Yes, it exists in the Octavia: a real dial is what everybody instead wants.
A couple of other things which I’d love to see what would HVAC buttons and abolishing these automatic headlight touch controls. Bring back a dial or even better steering column lights stalk. Why? So that people will twist to off for a split second to say ‘after you’ rather than unintentionally dazzling the poor other driver by flicking high beams at them.
I am thrilled to report that (perhaps) the era of dodgy software might be in the past for Volkswagen Group models, something which really shouldn’t need to be in any car review. During my seven days there was no rebooting of the screen, no phantom emergency braking, no loss of tyre pressure warnings (that used to be thing and it was always wrong) and so on. Perhaps the company which had been the worst for such stuff is now one of the best.
Summary
The Octavia is always the car I commend to anyone who asks me what family vehicle is best. And if they have the budget for one, the vRS has been, in each generation, the pick of the range.
It’s a shame that diesel is no longer available but maybe it will return for the next generation – Audi has just announced a new MHEV 3.0 TDI for the Q5 and A6 so let’s hope it might be offered by Škoda too. Maybe just for the Superb though as there is no tradition of six-cylinder power in the Octavia. But as of the here and now, as a high-power 2.0-litre turbo, the new vRS is the pick of the Octavia crop.
Pricing for the Octavia vRS starts at GBP40,610. The test car, an estate, had optional Space Violet metallic paint (GBP855), an 18-inch space saving spare wheel (GBP200) and a Canton sound system (GBP705) among its options. Total cost is GBP46,230.
Combined economy is 40.3-39.5 mpg, top speed is 155 mph, 0-62 mph takes a claimed 6.5 seconds and CO2 is 159-163 g/km.
