Skoda Octavia – impressively practical performer

I’ve commented before that not everyone loves cars, to many they’re merely practical, a means of getting from A to B, completing the school run or the daily commute. As long as it’s comfortable, economical and has enough space for all the paraphernalia that comes with daily travel tasks then it fulfils the requirements.

If that sounds like you then, except for the vRS model, the Skoda Octavia could be the one for your garage. Priced from €31,718/£26,775 and offering amazing amounts of space for luggage and rear seat passengers in particular, lots of standard equipment and a decent range of engines, it’s no wonder it has become a staple of the Czech car maker’s range.

Standard fare on the lead-in version includes heated front seats, navigation, wireless phone charging, dual zone climate, powered, heated and folding door mirrors, LED lights, auto dimming rear view mirror and the signature Skoda accessory of an umbrella in the door.

There are petrol, petrol hybrid and diesel engines with power outputs of 116PS or 150PS and manual or automatic transmissions. Diesel has become a dirty word of late but in reality not only do they emit less Co2 than petrol but particulate levels have been cleaned up dramatically over the last few years. Given how the motoring world is moving to try and combat climate issues, if you want diesel power now is the time as less and less models offer the option.

Skoda’s 2.0-litre unit develops either 116PS with 6-speed manual gears or a healthy 150PS with DSG automatic transmission. The benchmark 62 mph is passed in 8.5 seconds and from my experience, even allowing for a margin of error, the fuel consumption figures are impressively good. In a busy week I covered over 600 miles and failed to exhaust the fuel tank and am confident I could have reached 700 miles on a single tank.

On the road the Octavia is a quiet and smooth performer with my only misgivings being too much touchscreen, that’s not especially intuitive, and too many ‘warning’ chimes for driver assistance thanks to European legislation. And why have Skoda not fitted a rear screen wiper?!

Of course for many their misgiving would be diesel power. For me the benefits outweigh the negatives, but even with petrol power the Octavia makes a very compelling case from entry level to the top-of-the tree. At the very top the vRS version adds some excitement to the practicality too.