Skoda Octavia Scout, motoring review: A dream doggie carrier - with cash to spare for pet food
The Octavia Scout is a member of a growing tribe of soft-road estates for country-loving folk
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Your support makes all the difference.Price: £27,990
Engine capacity: 2.0 litre diesel
Power output: 181bhp @ 6,500rpm
Top speed: 136mph
Fuel economy: 55.4 mpg
CO2 emissions: 134g/km
I don't own a dog. It wouldn't be fair in my postage stamp-sized London flat, where the only place to exercise any energetic mongrel would be in my less-than-leafy parking space. That doesn't stop me dreaming about the kind of dog I'd own, though, or the type of car I'd ferry him home from muddy walks in.
It's probably an unhealthy obsession on both counts but my current favourite mutt would be a Jack Russell/whippet cross, with the new Skoda Octavia Scout as my dog-hauling estate of choice.
The Skoda recently replaced the Hyundai i40 estate in my dog-ferrying affections for several reasons. Firstly, it has a dog-friendly name, in homage to an eager-to-please American canine, and secondly, it will go places most estate cars won't.
That's because, like the more expensive Audi A4 Allroad, the Octavia Scout is a member of a growing tribe of estate cars; those fitted with advanced four-wheel-drive systems and plastic cladding. They are soft-road estates for country-loving folk and while they won't traverse a boulder field or cross a raging torrent, they are equally at ease on a trip to Homebase or crossing a muddy field. They are not as unyielding or environmentally unfriendly as a Range Rover and, in short, they are perfect for walking your dog somewhere just a little bit wild.
Then there's the boot, which in the Octavia Scout's case is essentially a doggie wet room with a tough plastic washable floor. Be warned about car-sick dogs, though; the Octavia gets the diesel engine from the Octavia vRS hot hatch. This produces 181bhp and, combined with the six-speed dual-clutch automatic gearbox, will propel you and your dog to 60mph in just 7.8 seconds. Surely that's a recipe for a vomiting dog? I advise caution.
A cynic might point out that as the Scout is based on VW Group's shared MQB car platform, it is little more than a rebadged VW Golf, Seat Leon, Skoda Fabia or Audi A3. But this is not a car made from the spare parts at a VW Group factory and, on the road, the Skoda feels more like an expensive Audi than a cut-price Czech import. In fact, it's nearly £5,000 cheaper than its German cousin. Think of how much dog food you could buy with that.
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