Car review: Skoda Octavia vRS estate – handsome, understated and well-finished

The very good news here with this newest version of the new(ish) Octavia estate, the sporty vRS version, is that the “Skoda Proposition” remains pretty much as it was before – value for money, in other words, even though Skoda no longer sees itself as a “value” (still less “budget”) brand. At about £35,000 for a family estate you can see why, but the ingredients that have made Skoda’s long-term revival under VW group ownership secure are all there.

In this case it means you get the same excellent engineering as in the well-received Golf Mark 8, more or less the same power plant and transmission as the Golf GTI, but with far more space (either as an Octavia hatch or, as here, in estate car format) and a modestly discounted price. Plus, it’s a handsome, understated and well-finished machine with styling lines running back to the first of the modern Octavias, launched two decades ago. It’s as handsome as ever.

At the moment, too, Skoda have this little niche of the market to themselves. The Mark 8 VW Golf GTI isn’t on sale in Britain yet, and it’s unlikely to be offered up as an estate, that not being part of the historic GTI tradition. There’s a lively Ford Focus estate, but the ST version hasn’t turned up yet, and there’ll also be a wait for any hot Vauxhall Astra sports tourer. As another arm of the VW group, Seat will certainly produce a high performance estate version of the Leon in due course. If past form is anything to go by the Seat Leon or Cupra Leon wagon will boast the most power of all, and be a truly blistering machine, but with a bit less room for clobber in the back than Skoda offers.

open image in gallery

The Skoda mostly lives up to its promise. It’s not that fast in absolute terms, if truth be told, but it's more than adequate for any but the most demanding of drivers. I tried the Octavia with the VW group seven-speed automatic DSG gearbox, which is very clever indeed, as it has two clutches and has your next gear ready and waiting before you even know you want to use it. Clever, yes, but even after many years of development I still find it a bit hesitant sometimes, and especially after stopping. I’d prefer the manual on balance, when it arrives, which will be cheaper and easier to maintain. Otherwise the car had that nice feeling of it sort of shrinking around you, the handling predictable and secure – this Skoda is no skidder. Ahem.

As far as quality is concerned, the Octavia seems fine, but we’ll have to see how these ever more complex cars with electric handbrakes, semi-autonomous driver aids and sophisticated electronics perform in the long run. On behalf of future owners and of our planet, it’d be a great shame if otherwise serviceable vehicles with years of useful service to give get prematurely scrapped because the cost of what should be a simple cheap repair becomes an uneconomic labour-intensive nightmare.

There’s no shortage of kit, heated steering wheel included, and the only serious omission on my example was the lack of a rear view camera. As a very early production, mine was also missing the “sound actuator”, a ridiculous device that pumps artificial rorty-torty engine noise into the cabin. It didn’t bother me. Without that the Octavia vRS was what it was intended to be: a quiet, refined and reasonably rapid way of getting people and belongings around.

open image in gallery

Having driven Octavias over the years I’m happy to say the latest iteration is another chapter in a heartening success story. The new version is probably best had in its most basic form, in which you’ll get nearly all the technology and safety kit and thus represents the best value, which is what the Octavia should still be all about. But the vRS, with its bold 19-inch “anthracite” alloy wheels, neat black premium-style detailing and leather trimmings, suggests Skoda wants to be a bit more than that. Either way, you win.