Skoda mk1 Octavia vRS

Car: 05 vRs Octavia 55 - 60k miles. Standard. Silver.

Note. This car has been stolen.

Now our Octy has sadly gone Ill give my take on them. Im not a fan of VAG's and of the 4 cars we have had in the last 12months (ST, 2 blown Rovers, Audi), the only duffer was the other VAG. (A3 1.6s). So the Skoda really needed to be a lot better.

Looks, yes. I love the look of it. Infact you can sum most the car up by looking at it, subtle but effective.I think it looks classier then my ST, and makes Rovers Vitty sport look a state.

Inside there is a hint of bland, like the designers got bored. Also like other VAG's random bits of trim fall off causing much merryment to the likes of me.

Its also cramped, despite being a reasonably sized car with a very big boot.

On a more postive note, it is generally very well built. The dash and doors are highly effective and all the controls and mechanisms well weighted. What it lacks it makes up for by doing what matters incredibly effeicantly. Even the lighting, a boring green is remarkebly good.

+ Effective, big boot, good driving position

- Cramped, trim falls off

To drive the steering is artifically heavy, increasing the sense of understeer and forcing the driver to commit more at lower speeds/tighter corners. There is also a distinct lack of feel until you load the dampers and roll bars up. Once you get it into its stride however it stays composed and actually livens up a bit. You can adjust the rear easily on the throttle once the rear has some load and once over the heavy steering the front has amble bite. On a good cross country run it becomes a pretty good place to be. Its very well damped to, being hard to unsettle and yet keeps a good level of comfert.

But a spirited drive shows failures in other other areas. The drive and handling is the best by far of any VAG ive driven and top class but those big discs didnt resist fade for long and the long gearing really kills the engine. Talking of which, the engine lacks any real character and is crying out for more power. Torque drops off to soon and there is a real reluctance to rev to the limiter.

With that small turbo it does come on boost fast tho and makes town driving effortless. Keep the throttle off the bulkhead and its incrediably economic to.

+ Good chassis, capable, safe and nice to drive

- poor gearing, heavy/lacking feel steering, engine doesnt quite deliver

Oh, and being a Rover guy, something that always gets me with Vags is the body work. God its good.

Overall?

Im sad to see it go. As a car for my partner and our main family machine now my Vitty has been sent to china it passed with flying colors. It doesnt give the driving experiance, space or value of the Vit, but its better assembled and 30% more economic, plus ultimatly more capable.

Would I get one? If one came up cheap enough for me to modify maybe. But id always be put off by the difficulty of home maintenance with them.

+ Value, quality, practical, moddable

- Needs livening up a bit. Cramped interior that looks cheap in places

J