Category: Small Family 
Price Range: £16,966 to £16,966
Volkswagen engineering and quality in a better-value package, ample space with a huge boot, economical and high-tech engines, keen handling and an excellent ride.
Styling is staid to some eyes.
This is effectively a roomier Golf at a lower price. The Octavia is a complete and very capable car, and a very smart buy which should bury any lingering Skoda stigma for good.
This second-generation Octavia (launched 2004) is based on the Volkswagen-Audi 'A' platform, shared with the Mk5 Golf and contemporary Audi A3 though almost 60% of its components are Skoda-specific. Like its popular predecessor, it is a long-tailed, big-booted hatchback or estate, between the Golf/A3/Leon and the Passat/A4 in size, and big enough to be considered as an alternative to the likes of the Laguna, Mondeo and Vectra.
Underneath its smart, chiselled body are the same steering and suspension systems that transformed the Golf Mk5's dynamics compared with the stodgy Mk4 (although the old Octavia always was a sharper drive than its Wolfsburg cousin). The rear suspension is very similar to a Ford Focus's, and the electric power steering includes some clever technology which automatically compensates for crosswinds and road cambers.
The engine range comes from most of the Volkswagen group's latest developments, including the direct-injection FSI 1.6 (115bhp), 1.8 (160bhp), 2.0 (150bhp) and turbocharged 2.0 TFSI (200bhp). The 140bhp, 236lb ft, 16-valve, 2.0-litre TDI also makes an appearance. This and the 1.9-litre, 105bhp TDI is available with the sequential double-clutch DSG gearbox as in the Golf and Audi TT. Other engines are a 75bhp 1.4 16v and a 102bhp 1.6 (now discontinued), both with conventional injection, and the 170bhp 2.0 TDI PD.
There are four-wheel-drive versions of the estate, including the Scout , with higher ground clearance and off-roader-like styling accessories.
Latest Readers' Drives About the Skoda Octavia Estate
wrote on 13 09 2007
wrote on 12 05 2007