ROADTEST - Skoda Octavia vRS Combi:Even surrounded by financial gloom and guilt, it's tough to resist the lure of a 2010 car. Especially if it combines performance, space and value with an unassuming badge
JOB LOSSES, crippling mortgage rises, a mountainous national debt, and personal pay cuts. The national mood is dour and has been for 18 months or so. Dinner table conversations that were once tedious estate agent rants are now a competition to claim the most Dickensian poorhouse lifestyle. While the church may have fallen out of favour with many, we’ve redirected our Catholic guilt towards creating the Matt Talbot school of economics.
That’s why you need to avoid shouting about this Skoda too loudly. To speak of the incredible bargains in the new car market at present is regarded as economic sedition: such talk will get you sentenced to a three-hour ear-bashing on the dire state of the economy.
Take my word, don’t try it in public: I can safely do it from the confines of our fortified office, with a crack security squad in the lobby to fend off unwanted diatribes.
I suspect Skoda has hired some homegrown Czech special forces for the same task at its office, for the mood there must be positively ebullient. Looking at the sales figures for January, there are a few surprising risers in the charts. Renault is doing very well on the back of their pre-scrappage scrappage offer, for example. But it’s the VW-owned Czech brand that seems to be punching well above its weight.
There’s one obvious reason for this: Irish buyers have rediscovered their taste for value, and it’s one of the few brands that can honestly claim to have immediately tapped the current mood. It was fortunate that the Czechs remembered their core roots in this regard, for we were concerned with its pricing structures when the Roomster was launched some years back. Hanging out with the Germans was starting to rub off on its prices. That’s all gone now and they are well on their way to becoming a proper force on the Irish market. But is this car really the answer to Irish prayers?
The idea of a performance diesel no longer raises eyebrows. The idea of a hot diesel from Skoda doesn’t even cause people to flinch, given the brand’s image overhaul since coming under the wing of Volkswagen nearly two decades ago. But a hot diesel estate from Skoda surely must cause some raised eyebrows?
While the car also comes as a regular saloon, the stealth estate is our favourite format. Give me a BMW M5 Touring over a Z4 or an Audi RS4 Avant over the flashier R8. There’s an inherent modesty in these estates that belies their ability. It’s practical, functional and family-orientated, but it can whip most of the brash and garish wannabes.
In Skoda’s case they refer to their estate as the Combi version, which sounds like a late night takeaway deal.
Naming convention aside, the vRS range, which benefits from at least a passing association with the Golf’s GTi performers, offers a level of bargain buy that hot hatch fans haven’t experienced since they discovered they could re-use the Blu-Tac from their wall posters.
This is the 2-litre diesel version, pushing out 170bhp, and there is a turbocharged petrol version on offer as well, tipping in at 200bhp. Both are combined with either a smart, snappy six-speed manual transmission or the dual-clutch automatic transmission, first introduced to the public on the 3.2-litre Audi TT several years ago but these days a mainstay of many brands.
It’s a strong performer with impressive pace and decent handling, if not quite the equal of more expensive rivals, such as the Focus ST and RS range, or the latest Golf, which seems a little more sophisticated in its handling than the Skoda.
There is significant torque steer if you push the vRS along and you find yourself battling with the steering to get control for a moment, like riding an unruly horse in full gallop. At the same time the traction control can cut in early, particularly on wet roads as the tyres battle to get grip. It all suggests that the steering and chassis are close to their limits.
It’s a common feature in front-wheel-drive performance cars but something that both Ford with its RS range and Volkswagen with its Golf GTis have managed to engineer out in recent years, pushing the acceptable limits for power solely supplied through the front wheels above 200bhp, which was a general rule of thumb for front-wheel-drive hot hatches at the turn of the last decade. That 200bhp limit has been overcome, so we would have hoped that Skoda could have adopted some of the latest developments in this car.
That said, if you are a little more delicate with the throttle you won’t have a problem getting the most out of this fine supercharged diesel engine. It packs a proper punch and for this money we’re hard-pushed to come up with many hatchback models to challenge it. The few that do lack the all-round versatility it offers and the value package.
Admittedly, many consider the Octavia to be a proper rival in the family car class, despite its Golf roots. Yet even in this scenario you have to consider that for equivalent power in a diesel estate you will be expected to add between €7,000 and €12,000 to this vRS price, particularly if you want a similar equipment list. If you are one of those who think Octavias should be pitched against the Ford Mondeos of this world, then you can clearly see the financial benefits of this car.
This is a facelift to the car that has been on the market for some years now. Mainly aesthetic, the changes include minor tweaks to the front bumper and grille, new headlamps and taillights. It’s not enough to draw you into the showroom on its own right, but enough to warrant a second look.
From a practical point of view one of the most impressive elements of the vRS range is the amount of standard features on offer.
There are rear parking sensors, a really good stereo from a brand I’ve never heard off, tyre pressure monitoring, rain sensing wipers and cruise control – all within the €28,615 price tag. There are very few challengers to this car when you put all the elements together. Performance diesels for under €30,000 are as rare as an appreciating used car. Tack on the added practicality of an estate and you’ve got a good family car that offers fun for the person behind the wheel as well.
This is the real deal: a sharp performer cloaked in a modicum of bling, yet practical enough to tick all the boxes for the over-serious and utilitarian Irish pessimist.
When word does get out that you bought a new car and you prepare to be stoned from the moral high ground by our economic Cassandras, you can honestly plead that you’ve only bought a diesel Skoda family estate. That will stem the tide of vitriol. The fact the vRS tagline is never going to make it into the popular lexicon the way GTi did is a lucky break for you. And the punch it packs under the bonnet? Well that can be our little secret. Besides, when you tell them the price, no one will believe it’s a performance version. As I said, the perfect performance car for petrolheads trying to live a little in modern Ireland.
FactFile
Engine:A 1,968cc inline four-cylinder supercharged diesel engine putting out 170bhp @ 4,200rpm and 350Nm of torque from 1,750rpm
0-100km/h:8.4 secs
L/100km (mpg):5.7 (49.6)
CO2 emissions:150g/km
Tax:€302 per annum, band C; auto version with DSG has 159g/km with tax at €447
Specifications:The RS comes with a wealth of features as standard, including ESP stability control; rear parking sensors; dualzone auto air-con; LED daytime lights; Bluetooth phone system; rain-sensing wipers; cruise control; electric windows; tyre pressure monitor; 17" alloys
Price:€28,615 (€32,315 for the auto version of combi; €27,565 for saloon version of diesel)
THE RIVALS
VW Golf GTD 5-door
Power:170bhp
0-100km/h:8.1 secs
L/100km (mpg):5.3 (53.3)
CO2:139 g/km
Tax:Band B, €156
Price:€32,435
Subaru Legacy 2.0 TDS Tourer
Power:150bhp
0-100km/h:8.9 secs
L/100km (mpg):5.7 (49.6)
CO2:151 g/km
Tax:Band C, €302
Price:€32,545
Ford Focus 2.0TDCi Titanium (auto)
Power:150bhp
0-100km/h:9.9 secs
L/100km (mpg): 5.8 (48.6)
CO2:154 g/km
Tax:Band C, €302
Price:€26,715
Volvo V50 1.6DRIVe SE
Power:109bhp
0-100km/h:11.3 secs
L/100km (mpg):3.9 (72.4)
CO2:104 g/km
Tax:Band A, €104 Price: €32,340