The latest facelift of the four-door Skoda Octavia brought not only minor cosmetic changes, but also one very significant improvement. We put it through its paces in a classic weekly test, and straight into the most desirable Top Selection engines and equipment…
The Octavia showed off a slightly different headlight design after the upgrade, and a bit of “magic” was done here as it lost the fog lights down in the bumper, which were replaced by a strange little parabola in the headlights. These are already matrix-based in Top Selection trim and can also swerve into corners.
The lights with the “outrigger” are different and fine, I just personally don’t like the front grille too much, which now has too many pointless plastic areas. If the material used wasn’t at least glossy, it would suit it a lot more in my opinion. But that’s about it from the design criticisms, otherwise it’s still an unrestored classic.
Another new feature after the upgrade is that the electric slats, which were in front of the radiator and could improve aerodynamics, have disappeared without any replacement. So it’s a question of why this happened, but most likely cost-cutting played a role. The electrically operated vanes are simply a complicated and more expensive component, and here the developers apparently sacrificed functionality, at the cost of a small lift in consumption, and therefore presumably emissions.
Let’s take a peek inside. Virtually nothing changes here, and the digital dashboard is the same as we know it. It has high resolution and a fairly simple but functional display. There could have been some extra alarms like the SportLine or RS has but I understand that something has to be left for the higher versions.
The “faux fabric” upholstered seats are a bit stiffer, but the back will appreciate that on long trips, plus they have decent lateral guidance. The overall position behind the wheel is also good, and although many complain about the design of the two-spoke steering wheel, I find it comfortable, especially when manoeuvring in cities or on longer routes with my hand down.
However, the crucial and for me personally the biggest and most significant news happened elsewhere – the problems with slow and freezing infotainment are finally a thing of the past. The prefacelift never quite got rid of them, and it was the biggest pain of the whole car, which could nicely poison any driving experience. The newer version is absolutely exemplary in this regard, everything worked to a tee and not once did I experience any sort of glitch, phone disconnection or system reboot.
The issue where music playback from the phone via Apple CarPlay was completely muted and couldn’t be amplified until the next system boot also disappeared. Even the full-screen scrolling animations now felt very smooth to me. Of course, the system in the test vehicle also had online navigation, which is one of the few built-in GPS that I tend not to turn off and use Google Maps or Waze.
After the facelift, you can also finally park your car by simply pulling over and pressing the engine start/stop button. An automatic sequence of actions then takes place – pulling out into neutral, switching off the engine and applying the electronic parking brake. The previous version was completely unaware of this and bullied you by knocking out or pulling the handbrake manually.
On the other hand, once you start, you have to (or can…) manually turn off the speed limiter and the maximum speed limit beeper or lane keep assist, but that’s two clicks away with the buttons on the steering wheel or the infotainment display. Someone at Škoda has obviously thought about it and made it easier for us to get around some Brussels nonsense…
It probably goes without saying what the Octavia’s main attraction is, even in liftback guise. Yes, it’s the 600-litre boot, which is only 40 litres smaller than the estate’s in base trim. Add to that all those bag hooks, a mesh programme, a double floor and other gadgets that make hauling cargo a breeze. I’m not surprised that the wagon version is more popular, but on the other hand, I think a lot of buyers have the larger version completely unnecessarily. The liftback already offers a very solid carrying capacity that few manage to use even half of on a regular basis. With the seats folded down, you get a whopping 1,555 litres…
Passengers can sit comfortably not only in the front, but also in the back. Directly below the rear vents is a 2x USB-C connector. The 40/20/40 split seats have extended seat cushions at the extremities with good thigh support. Worse off will be the middle passenger, who will be hampered by an excessively high centre tunnel and, in our trim, a simply clever storage compartment with cup holders.
I don’t have too many reservations about the performance of the legendary 2.0 TDI. Cold, it’s a classic tractor, but once it warms up a bit, it falls silent and you practically don’t know much about it in normal driving. There’s plenty of power in the unit, it doesn’t lose its breath even on the motorway, and to be honest, I’d trust it to feel more than 110kW. The unit already gets on much better with the seven-speed DSG dual-clutch gearbox. There’s plenty of power in every situation thanks to 360Nm of torque, and even motorway speeds of over 200mph – tested in Germany – don’t trouble it.
It doesn’t even ask too much for its dynamics, and even in brisk driving it can go sub-5-litres per hundred. We ended the week’s test with a 5.1 litre figure after driving over 1000km, and most of that was motorway. If we drove most of the counties, we’d probably get to the 4 litres per hundred mark…
The chassis is comfortable at higher speeds and on motorways, but especially on broken tarmac in cities, it doesn’t exactly get on best with the big wheels. Despite this, however, it’s a pleasantly tuned car that, apart from a slight rumble from the rear axle, also pleases with decent sound deadening. The pleasant steering deserves a shout-out, but it doesn’t boast much precision. Surely the DCC adaptive chassis would solve all this at an extra cost…
The new Octavia with the base 1.5 TSI 85kW (115k) petrol engine and manual gearbox can be bought in Drive trim from €20,990. On the other hand, the most powerful Octavia RS, with a 2.0 TSI 195kW (265k) engine with automatic, currently starts at €39,960. However, the most sensible choice for people who drive tens of thousands of kilometres a year still remains the 2.0 TDI diesel unit, which, in conjunction with the 6-speed manual gearbox, offers a top output of 85kW (115k) and up to 110kW (150k) with the 7-speed DSG automatic. Our more powerful bit is priced at €35,700 and the version we tested with extras came in at almost the price of the base RSa, €39,637.
I was never too keen on the original version of the Octavia four, as I had a lot of reservations and never really got into it. After the facelift, it’s a slightly different story, as the Skoda Octavia is now a mature and refined car that doesn’t fall short in any respect and, on the contrary, excels in many ways. The Octavia has finally matured for us, so feel free to consider it as your family car…
