Hi all,

I'm a 4 time Octavia owner, on my second vRS (diesel) and 4th Octavia in total, all bought one after the other with no 'affairs' with other marques

Every time I come to change, I scout around at the competition and always come back to Skoda in general and the Octavia in particular, I find it's a great blend of price, performance and practicality (plus my dealer is a star)

However, to me it looks like the Octavia vRS has stagnated, there's nothing new. No new engines, no power increases, no possibility of 4wd in the vRS model etc. Is there anything new coming along? In the past there's always been something interesting to keep me, back in 2007 it was the introduction of the diesel vRS, in 2010 it was the availability of the DSG box (current car). I was fairly confident when taking delivery of my 2010 CR vRS with DSG that come 3 years later I'd be moving to more power, auto parking systems, new options, possibly even 4wd etc etc

But I was wrong, I think.

Anyone else in the same boat?

I don't see the point of putting 4WD on a vRS, the vRS is a sports saloon.

I mean you have to go to Golf R which is over £8k more than a fully specced vRS to get a 4WD sports saloon.

If you want 4WD go for a Yeti, anyway an Octavia has more than enough power to break the NSL by a considerable margin & with the penalities of losing your licence & possibly your job for doing silly speeds I don't see the point unless you're doing trackdays.

OK, it's nice to have a little extra power, but power is nothing without control.

I don't want to get caught up in the 4wd debate too much, I was generalising really and it was an easy target. Suffice to say that I personally would like 4wd in a slightly more powerful Octavia.

But leaving aside 4wd, nobody else think that the Octavia hasn't advanced in 3 years? That's possibly normal for a car's lifetime, but there doesn't even seem to be anything on the horizon to keep me interested.

Isn't 2013 the rumoured year for the new MQB based Octavia implementing the Vision design language, etc, etc?

Will that be radical enough for you?

Niall

I agree - its been quiet on the development front for a while - Skoda's attention seems to be focused on new models.

I'm thinking about future replacements for the Octavia Scout and quite excited about the Passat Alltrack, on the grounds it has the CR170 engine combined with AWD.

However, I'm waiting until the MQB based Octavia arrives - the combination of a brand new platform and updated style could be excellent. The Passat platform is quite dated by comparison.

I think the Audi A3 is the first car to be released on the new platform so that will give an idea of the dynamics of the new chassis.

Possibly some time in 2013, possibly the vRS will follow 12 to 18 months later. I'll be due a new car before then I reckon, this might be my first defection from Skoda in 11 years!

I'm also in the same boat - I'll be ordering a new car later this year but I don't know whether to get my order in quick (in case the vRS goes out of production and a new one is not in the first model line up for the new chassis) or wait and get an early MQB based vRS when its available...

I agree we won't see anything else on the current platform cars as all the resources will be focused on the new car.

I don't see the point of putting 4WD on a vRS, the vRS is a sports saloon.

I mean you have to go to Golf R which is over £8k more than a fully specced vRS to get a 4WD sports saloon.

A sports saloon is really where you need 4wd or rear wheel drive. Front wheel drive is a compromise, it's cheaper but ultimately for the keen driver the handling is less focussed. 4wd is not just for off/soft roading.

A sports saloon is really where you need 4wd or rear wheel drive. Front wheel drive is a compromise, it's cheaper but ultimately for the keen driver the handling is less focussed. 4wd is not just for off/soft roading.

Agreed; A 4WD vRS would be great... like an affordable Audi RS4 quattro brining in 40+ MPG

The Vision-D is the next major event for Skoda I think so we'll have to see what that brings. I'm sure it will be a similar saloon/hatch idea with S-Elegance trim levels and eventually a vRS. I won't be changing my current car for a while and the salesman recently joked that the new vRS will be ready when I do....so it's at least 3 years off.

I don't see the point of putting 4WD on a vRS, the vRS is a sports saloon.

I mean you have to go to Golf R which is over £8k more than a fully specced vRS to get a 4WD sports saloon.

If you want 4WD go for a Yeti, anyway an Octavia has more than enough power to break the NSL by a considerable margin & with the penalities of losing your licence & possibly your job for doing silly speeds I don't see the point unless you're doing trackdays.

OK, it's nice to have a little extra power, but power is nothing without control.

I had a A4 S-line 2.0T quattro (220bhp) and yes there was enough power to lose my licence, I however drove sensibly and loved the extra traction and acceleration it provided, no spinning of front wheels in wet conditions, no understeer or oversteer when the roads were a little slippy due to weather or bad road surfaces.....

The whole arguement of there being no point in AWD or big bhp is IMO hugelly flawed, I haven't had any points in 16 years of driving and have always had fairly high powered and fast cars....If it was down to just observing the speed limits and getting from A to B we'd all have Daewoo Matizs' or similar specced cars.

More power has to be backed by worthy handling...The quattro system would be an awesome addition to the Octy Vrs, very pricey option but still much less expensive than buying an R32 or A4 quattro.

Anyway, I digress, I can't afford a new one so I should butt out

I agree with the op, I would love to see an Octy VRS with about 300 bhp and AWD. I reckon Skoda could market this at around the 25K to 30K mark and sell loads, I'd have considered one instead of the S4 that I'm moving to.

If vauxhall can sell the insignia VXR for 30K then Skoda would have no problems.

Personally I would have liked to have seen the 211PS and 265PS engines that are available in the Seat Leon...

Personally I would have liked to have seen the 211PS and 265PS engines that are available in the Seat Leon...

Never thought on that, The Vrs cupra' R'd up version would be a fantastic option, I know skoda have been quite brave in their latest line up wiht the new fabia, Yeti and Roomster, I think their VAG stablemates might get their knickers in a twist if Skoda were undercutting their hottest models and having the same tech & performance.

Personally I would have liked to have seen the 211PS and 265PS engines that are available in the Seat Leon...

you know the 211PS Leon engine is the same CCZA engine thats in the FL VRS right?