What is it?
IT’S a pre-production model of the new Skoda Octavia, which is due on sale in March. Business Car Manager got behind the wheel of this car, which is 99 per cent the finished product, to find out what Skoda’s latest VW Golf-based model has up its sleeve.
Underneath the light camouflage is a much sharper design than the old car and while it won’t win any fashion awards, it’s a lot more contemporary and much more appealing. The big selling point for the Skoda Octavia though, is space. Apparently it has the most rear legroom, the most rear headroom and the biggest boot in its class.
When it does eventually go on sale we were told to expect a price of under £16,000, which is a fair whack above current starting prices. As a reprieve Skoda is promising a lot more kit – alloy wheels, Bluetooth mobile phone connectivity and satellite navigation is likely to be standard on virtually all models – as part of the enhanced Octavia package.
What’s hot?
- Let’s start with the space. The boot can hold 590 litres, which is 60 litres more than a Ford Mondeo (and big enough to hold four sets of golf clubs!). The back seats are cavernous, too, with real space for six-footers to stretch out.
- The interior is much improved too. There’s a little more flair and a much higher quality of materials. In short, it feels a lot more premium than the old Octavia.
- The 2.0 TDI with 148bhp we tested felt fast and smooth, with an expected 0-62mph time of 8.5 seconds. It’s also incredibly quiet – certainly one of the quietest four cylinder diesels we’ve tested.
- There aren’t any final figures for fuel economy but we’re expecting the 2.0 TDI to manage almost 70mpg. CO2 emissions will be under 110g/km making it a very appealing business car proposition.
- Even better will be the Octavia Greenline, with a 1.6 TDI engine that manages 83.1mpg and just 89g/km.
What’s not?
- We had a couple of concerns about the ride quality. Ridges in the road weren’t soaked up particularly well compared with a car like the Ford Focus or Mondeo. Perhaps this was an issue with our pre-production car though.
- The steering occasionally felt dead when pointing straight ahead on the motorway, too, but this could be a problem that’s solved for production.
- While it feels very capable on the whole, the Octavia isn’t the most exciting car to drive. It’s been designed to feel safe rather than exhilarating.
