IT’S TEMPTING to describe the Skoda Octavia as the no frills option of the mid-size hatchback world. Like a loaf of white sliced Everyday Value bread from Tesco, it’s not especially exciting but you know it offers a predictable blend of affordability and practicality. That’s why more than two thirds of Octavia sales go to company car fleets, rather than private buyers. It’s a car for the head rather than the heart.
Yet, with the new Octavia, updated for 2017 rather than redesigned from the ground up, Skoda has added a number of eye-catching tech features that may appeal to more than just an accountant’s bottom line.
All Octavias, for example, now include elegant glass-fronted touchscreen infotainment systems that react to finger gestures, not just pressure. Three screen sizes are available, from the 8-inch Bolero and Amundsen versions (the latter offering sat nav and a WiFi hotspot) to the whopping 9.2-inch Columbus system, which includes a 64Gb hard drive and DVD player.
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The larger of the two touchscreens is impressive in its clarity and visual impact. It’s a huge, gleaming slab in the centre of the dashboard. But we found the smaller screen almost as arresting but easier to operate, with added menu buttons down the right-hand side of the screen, and it comes with all the features a gadget-lover could want.
Then there’s an optional inductive charging plate for compatible smartphones, a 575-watt Canton stereo and a host of driver assistance tools including a pedestrian detection system that will slam on the brakes if a smombie steps out in front of the car, and Trailer Assist, which steers for you while reversing a (you guessed it) trailer.
Skoda’s engineers seem to have got a little carried away with innovative little tweaks to the new Octavia, in fact, evidenced by a new central cup holder that is designed to grip the base of fizzy drink bottles, allowing you to screw on or unscrew the cap with one hand. Hopefully whoever came up with that idea was given the rest of the week off.
Unusually for a mid-life facelift, the updates go beyond new gadgets and styling tweaks (a wider grille, redesigned light clusters, all-LED headlights, etc.); the rear wheels have been shifted further apart (20mm or 30mm, depending on the engine choice) in an attempt to give the car a wider, more planted feel on the road.
Over a two-day test we covered hundreds of miles through England and Wales, in four variants of the new Octavia hatchback, and found all to be satisfyingly good fun to drive. We were impressed with the composed chassis of the Octavia when it was launched in 2013, with its ability to ride uneven British roads without any nasty vibrations and shudder, and the wider back end on the 2017 model only helps with stability. We were able to make rapid, confident progress through the twists and turns of the Brecon Beacons.
Skoda introduced Dynamic Chassis Control as an option for Octavias last year, which automatically adjusts the suspension via electrically-operated valves to suit road conditions and driving style. You can select Comfort, Normal or Sport mode, and each makes a marked difference to the way the car feels to drive, although in all honesty we preferred the basic (passive) suspension system in almost every situation.
Another option is the Drive Mode select, which allows you to fine tune the engine response, steering weight and gearbox, but again, a basic set-up is all that you’ll need in the Octavia.
Likewise, going for the optional larger, more attractive wheels is a waste of time. The first car we drove was shod with large, 18-inch alloy wheels, meaning you get thinner (low profile) tyres — what Jeremy Clarkson calls “painted-on” — and, while they helped the car round corners with less body roll, we found the ride to be too harsh, with plenty of road noise adding to the problem.
The mix of colours in the cabin is about as aesthetically compelling as a goth’s wardrobe
Stepping into a model with 16-inch rims, and therefore deeper, more pliant tyres, transformed the ride and much of the harshness was eliminated. There was still a fair amount of noise into the cabin but a set of rubber aimed at reducing tyre noise could perhaps help here (there was a difference between the cars’ different makes of tyre on our media drive).
Whatever, the Octavia isn’t as well insulated for sound as the likes of a Golf, from sister company VW, which uses the same underpinnings, or the Audi A4.
Worse than the noise from the tyres, though, was that from the wind around the driver and passenger windows. A motorway run makes an apparently calm day sound like you’re driving in a howling gale. We couldn’t trace the exact source of the boom but suspect it’s related to a combination of thin window glass and air flowing over the wing mirrors, which Audi spent two months working on when developing the A4. Clearly its engineers didn’t share their findings with their opposite numbers at Skoda.
Another disappointment was that, while the build quality of the cars is top notch, Skodas inevitably suffer from having to slot into the brand’s designated place in the VW family hierarchy. They must appear to be a step down in style from Volkswagens, and two down from Audis, and so the choice of materials and colours used in the cabin is rather uninspiring.
The most striking feature, found in the SE L trim car, was brushed aluminium-effect panel in the driver and passenger doors. The dashboard could have benefitted from running this trim element from the doors, across its full width. As it is, you get soft black plastic on top, softer black rubbery plastic underneath and hard black plastic under that, for the glovebox and the like. It’s about as aesthetically compelling as a goth’s wardrobe.
The good news is that the Octavia’s long wheelbase (distance between the front and rear axles) means space inside is excellent, and the estate version offers a cavernous load area. This is despite being 3mm shorter than the hatchback, oddly.
There’s even better news under the bonnet, where you get a choice of three petrol or three diesel engines. The 1.4-litre 150PS turbocharged petrol is a strong motor with plenty of poke at exceptionally low revs and can reach 62mph from a standing start in 8.1 seconds, which is pretty good considering it only pumps out 114g/km of CO2 (low for a petrol engine) and averaged around 41mpg during our time with it.
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Only 5% of sales will go to the little 1-litre 3-cylinder petrol, which was introduced in 2016, but it turned out to be our favourite engine. It’s a peppy little thing with a wide power band and good amounts of go at low and medium speeds. Sadly, if you need to engage afterburners to overtake at 60mph, it runs out of breath, but it’s a good option for most situations and its puny size means less weight over the front wheels, which makes the nose of the car more responsive. Plus it’ll get at least 45mpg and save you in road tax, producing just 108g/km of CO2.
The diesels, meanwhile, offer further tax savings and better economy for motorway cruising, but attract a premium in price: the 115PS diesel is more than £2,000 dearer than the 115PS petrol.
And so we’re back to decisions of the head rather than the heart, and ultimately buying an Octavia still means you’ve run the numbers and know it makes sense on paper. Falling in love may happen, but don’t count on it.
The post Skoda Octavia review (2017-on) appeared first on Sunday Times Driving.
source https://www.driving.co.uk/car-reviews/skoda-octavia-review-2017/
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