Most manufacturers no longer offer conventional diesel engines at all, but this is not the case with Skoda. Into our test garage came a nicely equipped Octavia Combi Style 2.0 TDi with DSG automatic gearbox , which tries to show that the diesel has not yet said the last word. However, the even tougher task will be to defend the price…
Last time we had the Octavia RS 2.0 TSI in red and before that, also the classic liftback with SportLine option painted orangeo . The cars thus specified were really distinctive and didn’t fit in with the crowd of other concerns on the road. But that’s not the case with the example tested today, which has no fashion fads and, in its dark blue paintwork, manages to blend in perfectly with the urban grey.
Despite its blandness, however, the Octavia can still impress. The “Blue Nightfire” color may be beautiful in the sun, but it looks like all those fleet blue Octavias in regular traffic to me. Nice, though, are the optional 18″ Perseus wheels in dark finish, with 225/45 tires. Otherwise, the Octavia design-wise probably needs no introduction, it is after all the outdated pre-facelift version, as an upgraded version has already seen the light of day a few days ago.
Let’s take a peek inside. Virtually nothing changes here, and I’m not going to comment on the digital instrumentation anymore. We are familiar with it and it is the same in the current Fabia, for example. It has a 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.
In the first fourth-generation Octavias I tested, I criticized the infotainment system, whose touchscreen controls almost everything, including the air conditioning. The system was choppy and couldn’t be relied on much. Skoda hasn’t slacked off, however, and the infotainment’s reliability has been exemplary. I haven’t experienced a single freeze up in this car, and on the contrary I appreciate, for example, the ease of controlling the assistants via a button on the steering wheel.
The seats are a bit stiffer, but the back will appreciate that on long journeys, plus they have decent lateral guidance. The overall position behind the wheel is also good. Although many complain about the design of the two-spoke steering wheel, I especially find it comfortable when maneuvering in cities or longer routes with my hand “damn low”.
There’s a large compartment in the door that fits a 1.5-litre bottle, while the small one under the armrest is where you’ll drown your wallet and keys at most. If you want to raise and slide the armrest, the space underneath remains open and unnoticeable to the eye with all that inside. A bit of an odd solution, but one we know from other models.
Passengers can sit comfortably not only in the front but also in the back. Directly below the rear vents are the digital climate control and 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 the excessively tall centre tunnel, which is there for the option of 4×4 versions.
The Octavia’s boot has always been one of its strongest weapons. In its combi guise, its volume climbs to 640 litres, and when the rear seats are folded down, up to 1,700 litres, which is actually a record for its class. There are various “simply clever” gadgets, hooks and a roller shutter with two locking positions. The boot lid opens nicely high and even at the 186cm height of the standard tester, I still had a nice few centimetres of headroom under lock.
The 2.0 TDI 110kW (150k) boasts not only decent dynamics, but more importantly, great fuel economy. The unit is refined by diesel engine standards and gets on well with the seven-speed DSG dual-clutch gearbox. Thanks to the 360Nm of torque, it has plenty of power in every situation and even highway speeds of over 200 km/h are no problem. Tested in Germany.
Even more impressive, however, is the consumption. You can still drive the Okresky like this in winter for just over 4.5 litres /100km. The estate manages 130 km/h on the motorway in 5.5 l/100 km and even in the city it doesn’t take more than 6 l/100 km. Total weekly consumption, after driving 940km on a single tank, was 5.5 litres per 100 kilometres. However, it could have been even lower. The eco-hobby tax is present here too, in the form of a urea tank that needs to be topped up regularly. As the classic would say, “We have exchanged an imaginary bucket of coal for 1,200 litres of diesel over the lifetime of the car.”
However, I wasn’t completely satisfied with the classic DSG dual-clutch tune anymore. More specifically, I was surprisingly very happy in Sport mode, where everything worked as it should. The gearbox then keeps the revs at a reasonable level so that it doesn’t bother the crew, and then there’s a quick but not over-reaction when the throttle is applied.
In normal mode, however, I always waited for the software to decide to downshift after adding throttle. If it then just selected a gear lower, everything would still be quite fine, but more often than not, the gearbox decided to downshift two gears and it takes a bit of time in the first gear and in the second gear it is undesirable, due to too much noise from the engine, which has plenty of torque even in a higher gear.
Smooth acceleration is thus ensured by the sport mode, where you actually don’t suffer from consumption at all and get rid of the understeering rumble of the diesel unit. And one more plus… in Sport mode, the gearbox doesn’t set off on a glide. PS: the DSG’s smooth shifts are pretty good now, apparently the software has been tweaked after customer complaints.
Ground clearance of the standard Octavia chassis is 142 millimetres. It’s comfortable at higher speeds and on motorways, but especially on the broken tarmac in cities, it doesn’t exactly get on best with big wheels. An adaptive DCC chassis at an extra cost would certainly solve that, though. I’ll mention that a few more times here…
Despite this, though, 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 to be highlighted, but it doesn’t boast too much precision and is a bit overpowered. Many will also welcome the surefootedness in corners, but there again I can’t stop thinking about the sporty chassis. With it, the Octavia is more stable and handles better when driving fast, moreover, without comfort suffering. So I repeat – DCC is worth it.
How to summarize this! The Skoda Octavia with the 2.0 TDI engine is a good car. Period. If you spend most of your time on the motorways and drive upwards of tens of thousands of kilometres a year, the low diesel consumption certainly makes it worthwhile. However, if you can put up with slightly higher consumption, a better choice would be the 1.5 TSI e-Tec, with which makes the car more agile, cheaper and has a nicer sound. Add to the equipment the, already mentioned for the third time, adjustable DCC chassis and you’ll have a car like a pod.
Now the most important question, can it defend its relatively high price? I actually don’t know myself. It’s a good car that I can’t fault in any significant way, but over 41k euro for the admittedly top-of-the-range Style version, but in reality still a sort of mid-range trim, is seriously a lot. But the competition, apart from the VW Group, does not offer an honest diesel engine with a volume of at least two litres, and there are also cars with a station wagon body today…
