Hi All,

People might be interested to have a look at the new Octavia vs Megane vs Golf vs Civic at autoexpress:

Face Value | Car Group Tests | Car Reviews | Auto Express

The Skoda Oct 2 facelift comes out tops even betting the Golf! Personally I prefer the old inside bar the radio and outside on the facelift no real views of... But good to know the press love the Octavia2!

James.

Not at all surprised to see the Octy in first place using the TSi engine. However, I was surprised to see the Civic beat the Golf, I have my reservations regards that one!. Think 1st place would have been a lot closer if they had used the Golf with the same turbo TSi unit as the Octy. Instead they used the ageing and normally aspirated 1.6 unit which only produces 102ps compared to the far torquier 1.4 TSi's 122ps. Also the TSi, apart from better performance, is much more frugal and two VED bands lower.

Lets face it, Skoda have already replaced the outgoing 1.6 Octy with the excellent 1.4 TSi.

Not at all surprised to see the Octy in first place using the TSi engine. However, I was surprised to see the Civic beat the Golf, I have my reservations regards that one!. Think 1st place would have been a lot closer if they had used the Golf with the same turbo TSi unit as the Octy. Instead they used the ageing and normally aspirated 1.6 unit which only produces 102ps compared to the far torquier 1.4 TSi's 122ps. Also the TSi, apart from better performance, is much more frugal and two VED bands lower.

Lets face it, Skoda have already replaced the outgoing 1.6 Octy with the excellent 1.4 TSi.

Not surprising the way they've biased the test on price. Notice the bottom spec Megane and Golf came 3rd and 4th, the mid spec civic 2nd and its no surprise the higher spec Octy with a good engine won.

I'm surprised by the golf, I thought they only used the 115hp 1.6 FSI unit. Have they ditched that and gone back to a 'normal' 16v unit with less horses?

Not surprising the way they've biased the test on price. Notice the bottom spec Megane and Golf came 3rd and 4th, the mid spec civic 2nd and its no surprise the higher spec Octy with a good engine won.

I'm surprised by the golf, I thought they only used the 115hp 1.6 FSI unit. Have they ditched that and gone back to a 'normal' 16v unit with less horses?

It's definitely the 102ps unit and it's only used in the base model Mk 6 Golf. Of course Skoda have replaced the1.6 FSI with 1.4 TSI.

Not surprising the way they've biased the test on price. Notice the bottom spec Megane and Golf came 3rd and 4th, the mid spec civic 2nd and its no surprise the higher spec Octy with a good engine won.

Ahh, but the Octavia has virtually the cheapest on the road price. I guess the Golf with the same engine is a couple of grand more than the Octy.

As others have pointed out, AE is not really comparing like with like, a common AE characteristic in its revies I think. I guess if their objective is to find the best small car package for under £15k, then the Octy 1.4TSI must be a strong contender. What might have been fairer would have been to compare this Octy with the equivalently specced models from competitors and then judge against a range of criteria including price. Depending on their priorities preferences the Octy might still have won on eg space, comfort and equipment. It may have fallen a little behind the Golf for refinement and perhaps handling but maybe not enough to justify the price difference.

Fit & finish wise, after trying the new Golf & Octy, I found there was very little to choose between them. The thing that did strike me with both was the apparent difference in cabin ambience depending on grade. With the Golf SE, it felt a considerable step up from the base trim S as did the Octy when comparing the S, or even SE, to the Elegance trim.

I believe that the Civic doesn''t even have a rear screen wiper. Enough to boot it into touch straightaway from my point of view!

..and the Renault is, well, a Renault, isn't it? Enough said!

The Golf with that engine is a flat a pancake.

No contest, really!

Edited 28 March, 200917 yr by Organist
spelling

I believe that the Civic doesn''t even have a rear screen wiper. Enough to boot it into touch straightaway from my point of view!

..and the Renault is, well, a Renault, isn't it? Enough said!

The Golf with that engine is a flat a pancake.

No contest, really!

No need for a rear wiper on the Civic - the rear vision being so abysmal. Loads of recalls, suspension problems, poor paintwork even the fuel filler flap caused problems. A can of gunk instead of a spare wheel - the Civinfo posters were generally a rather unhappy bunch.