Skoda Octavia RS – Performance Car with GTi Mechanicals
My favourite colour for a car is yellow, so when Dunia Prestasi Auto Sdn Bhd gave me a yellow Skoda Octavia RS for a test drive, it started scoring brownie points from the very start. After a 1000 kilometre test drive that took me to Penang, and then on to the Belum Resort on the East-West highway and back, I come away even more impressed – here is a car that is very understated, and at the asking price of Rm190,400.00, it is something that a driving enthusiast might want to consider if one is looking for a reasonably-priced performance car.
Imagine this! You need a family car because you need to use it for work, and whenever necessary, you need to pack your family and perhaps a kid or two, and if your kids are young, you may have to pack a pram or stroller and all the baby stuff into the boot – those with kids will know what I mean. Those whose kids have outgrown their prams may have to pick up people from the airport – people with huge suitcases for long travel stints, or perhaps they may want to go for a foursome of golf on a weekend, and would like the whole flight to go in one car, if possible. Insofar as the Skoda Octavia is concerned, be it the RS model or not, the boot space is impressive, and that is putting it mildly – when the hotel porter in Penang was loading up our car upon our departure, the first thing he said was, “Wow! The boot is very big!” And this is coming from a porter who looks at car boots every day. The boot lid is designed to open very wide and high in the Skoda RS – it will take at least four golf bags and the boot is long enough to put in a golf bag lengthwise. In terms of large travelling bags, the boot is wide enough to take at least four or five huge ones without any problem. You really have to check it out to see what I mean.
Interior space is also very good – after I showed the boot to some of my friends, the next thing that they wanted to check was interior space, and somehow, the designers have managed that very well too – there is plenty of legroom for both front and rear occupants, thanks to clever division of space and a 1,079mm rear overhang.
Next, you want a car (doesn’t everybody?) that has great driving dynamics, which includes, acceleration, good top speed, agility, and the stopping power to match. With the Skoda Octavia RS, you get the performance of the Mk V Golf GTi – 197 horses and 280 Nm of torque, from a 2.0 litre TSI turbocharged engine from the Volkswagen Group, which incidentally owns Skoda. Coupled to this is the famed DSG (Direct Shift Gearbox) with very close-ratio gears from second to sixth gear to transfer drive to the front wheels – it comes with paddle shifters as a bonus, and a Sports mode if you feel the power is not enough. Also standard is ESP and a host of driving aids too long to remember. The brakes are excellent, and if anything else, you are likely to complain that they are too powerful – but all dual-clutches need powerful brakes due to the lack of engine-braking characteristics.
Suspension is 4-wheel independent, with Macpherson struts at the front and a multi-link arrangement at the back. Weighing in at 1,470kg, the Octavia is a vey well balanced car, with a very rigid frame, which includes a built-in front strut reinforcement, and a robust front member stretching under the bonnet from left to right – this I suppose must be to cater for the more extreme conditions in Eastern Europe. I note with interest a steel bonnet – but this is probably to keep costs down and to offset the rear overhang – an aluminium bonnet and boot would bring the overall weight down, but I suppose they will come up with that soon.
On the road, the Skoda Octavia is extremely nimble, and drives better than my other German-made car which costs more. It loses out a little to the Golf GTi in terms of acceleration and agility around corners, but if you need a car that has more space, this is it. When push comes to shove, the Octavia RS will give as good as it gets – just remember that this is a sedan, so what you are getting is actually the best of two worlds – a sedan with real sports car behaviour. In passing, I had better mention that fuel consumption is decent – you can choose to be at around 9.5 litres per 100 kilometres in normal driving, or around 12.0 litres per 100 kilometres in hard driving (as tested by me over 1000 kilometres).
From a driver’s viewpoint, the Skoda Octavia RS is a great car – and anyone driving it would be hard put to find any chinks in its armour –except for the fact that the brand awareness is just a little on the low side.
