Hot new Octavia vRS turns up the heat
● First taste of 242bhp vRS ● Petrol, diesel and plug-in to be offered
CZECH Republic, Mlada Boleslav. It’s the location where Skoda was founded 125 years ago, and today it’s where we meet the company’s latest, and arguably most controversial model, the new Octavia vRS.
For the first time, Skoda will make the vRS available with a plug-in hybrid powertrain, alongside petrol and diesel options. It’s a big shift for a car which has long been a huge success story for Skoda: one in five Octavias sold in the UK is a vRS.
To see how the firm’s Volkswagen Golf GTI rival is shaping up, we’ve been for a passenger ride with the man in charge of the car’s development, Skoda’s Board Member for technical development, Christian Strube.
Despite being an engineer, the first thing Strube is keen to explain is the design. The vRS’s overall look is subtle, but it has just enough design flourishes to mark it out as the flagship performance car: there’s a glossy black grille, enlarged air intakes and chrome-tipped exhausts.
We jump in the passenger seat alongside Strube, and immediately notice that the interior maintains the understated look that the vRS model has cultivated over the past 20 years. The elegant two-spoke wheel from the standard Octavia has made way for a racier three-spoke rim, while red inlays, contrasting stitching, and supportive but comfortable sports seats also feature.
The model we’re in here is the 2.0-litre petrol version – we’ll have to wait until a later date to try the plug-in version. As it stands, the four-cylinder turbo develops 242bhp, which enables a 0-62mph time of 6.7 seconds, according to Skoda, which is quick, but not as rapid as some rivals.
The roads around Skoda’s HQ are far from perfect; the beaten up surfaces aren’t