Rather than end up with twenty different threads following the launch weekend, it might be worth keeping them all in one place, so here goes...

I've just got back from a test drive in a 1.6 CR105 in SE Trim - had a good 25 minutes on a variety of different road types so I think I've got a decent feel for the car.

First impressions from the outside were OK - it was in bog standard silver which I don't think is the best colour to show it off as it didn't stop me in my tracks. It all looked very solid with tight shutlines and a few nice details but they will blend into a car park very easily.

Moving to the interior and it does feel bigger than the Octy II. There's a good comfortable driving position though I'd like a bit more lateral support from the seats. The dash and doors feel solid and look good - definitely an evolution rather than complete revolution. All the controls were very familiar with a good feel to them but again there was no huge wow factor. Part of that I guess is that I'm making comparisons to my previous Elegances and although some spec items like dual zone climate have moved down to the SE, there are obvious economies.

Other than the PDI road test I was the first person to drive it which was nice, and I liked the 1.6 engine more than I thought I would have done. It was very smooth and quiet with little noise even when taken to 3500rpm which isn't always the case with diesel. It still felt tight with just 10 miles on the clock but pulled ok. With only 5 gears instead of the six I'm used to it was easy to change up too early and bog down but your driving style would adapt and I'm sure with a few thousand on the clock it would loosen up. It absolutely is not a performance car but for every day motoring it felt capable enough and was happy to cruise at 75. I still think VAG are missing a trick here though. When it was first introduced, a 1.6 engine with 105bhp was decent enough but things have moved on - this really should have another 10bhp and an extra gear to compete, though I suspect they are worried about harming sales of the 2.0.

Now to the handling and road manners. It was ****ing it down so I didn't test limits of the grip but on roundabouts and tight turns it felt very well planted. It certainly had lots of grip on a good road surface but on a country lane with a tight left hand turn and iffy surface it was very easy to unsettle the rear and feel it kick out. Not the end of the world but again you can see where corners are cut on suspension to save money - it didn't handle that bend as well as my last Octavia did.

Overall, based on the car I drove I'd give it a 7 out of 10. A solid practical family car but nothing to really excite me. I plan to go back for a second drive in a 2.0 CR150 Elegance which I'm hoping will be more to my liking. At the moment I'm not ready to buy one though that may change after a spin in a higher spec car.

Tellingly, when I got back in my Bravo to drive home I didn't feel like I would be too hard done by if I carried on with that for another year.

Talking of the Bravo, I did enquire what they would offer on a part-ex. I've done a few online valuations which came out between 4 and 4.5k, and had similar quotes from car buying services, so the offer of "A couple of grand" was a complete joke for a four year old car.

Nice report Dr.

Just back from a test drive in a manual 2.0 Tdi Elegance and all i can say is i cant wait for mine to arrive (1.4TSI)!!! I arrived at Hortons and had a good look around the one one in the showroom and it looks far better in the flesh than it does in pictures, i especially like the relatively high bonnet line. Interior appears to be better quality than my vRS seats are more comfortable I'm 14.5 stone and 6ft 2in but have always found the vRS seats to be a bit of a squeeze with the seat cushion bolsters, the new Octavias seats have a bit more a**e room. More knee in the back, with the front seat comfortably set for me I have knee room to spare in the back.

As to the test drive i found the 2.0 diesel very quiet, much quieter than the vRS acceleration appeared rapid enough and it handled much better than i imagined after all the scare stories about the torsion beam rear suspension but then again my 205GTI also had torsion rear suspension and i remember that handled quiet well ( except if you took the foot off the accelerator mid bend when you were liable to die!! but i never found a corner that i needed to take my foot off the accelerator ) The gears were very smooth and the brakes very sharp. Very very pleased i think Skoda are going to sell these by the bucketload!

Then it was back for the business manager to improve my already excellent deal by a further £500 and give me the free servicing as the finance deals weren't available when i ordered

This is the second car I've bought of Hortons, previously purchasing eleven Skoda's from two very good dealers in Stoke but Hortons have really gone the extra mile for me so if anyone interested in the new Octy give them a bell.

Also i noticed throughout the show room there were up to date notice boards with all the available Citygo, Fabias, old shape Octavias, Yetis and Superbs, with their colour and spec, that are available for immediate delivery which i thought was a nice touch

Stokey

Didn't test drive (as didn't want to speak with anyone) but had a look around.

They had a silver SE agree that in this colour it looks a bit bland, also sat in it and for me the jury is out on the dash (prefer my Mk2) - seems to be too much black plastic around the stereo and just an expanse of black material in general - may again be down to the fact that this is the basic spec. However the steering wheel which I hated in the pictures is actually ok in the flesh.

The seats do seem not that supportive (although I am used to my tight VRS ones). It is a very solidly built car though and definitely evolution than revolution, one thing I did note was this is the basic spec and it looks a lot better than the basic spec Mk2.

They also has a black TDi Elegance with Golus wheels and leather seats, externally this looked very smart and definitely gave a taste of what the VRS may look like - can't wait.

All in all I'll definitely consider one when I come to replace mine - I may even consider an Elegance (something I wouldn't do with the Mk2).

Can't believe they're offering Race Blue as a "standard" colour....and why oh why have the dumped the SD card etc in the glove box. Very accessible...well done Skoda.

Test Driven 2.0 TDI Elegance Manual hatchback in Bradford:

Not fancy the new badge on bonnet (just me).

But does look nice on steering wheel:

Felt it was quieter, smoother delivery of power.

SD cards in glove compartment

Aux socket under stereo

Bonnet release still on passenger side

Prod-screen more sensitive than my Superb.

Bonnet/boot closes quieter / solider.

Skoda badge (wording) has the "v" accent above it now :-)

I should have had a drive today, but the dealer left me a very apologetic message at 8:30 this am, saying that they hadn't got the 2 cars they were expecting so my demo was off- they were citing trouble with ships out of the Czech Republic). I went along anyway and sat in the Elegance DSG that they had in the showroom.

I was pretty impressed with it - certainly felt spacious with masses of room behind the drivers seat when set for my 6'2". Had a play with the media setup since I had taken along a USB stick and it recognised the playlist file that I had on there. This was the smaller Amundsen screen.

My current car has a 12v supply in the ashtray recess (my phone charger), in the under-armrest storage (TomTom), one in the rear passenger space by the air vents (daughter's phone charger) and one in the boot. Octavia had just the one in the cabin (near the handbrake and a bit of a pain if a bulky charger was plugged in) plus the one in the boot. Annoying.

In another thread, I had said that the cruise control is exactly the same as the one in my Audi, but I was wrong. The Audi stalk is separate and sticks out below the larger indicator stalk. The Octavia controls are actually ON the indicator stalk - a switch on top for On, Cancel and Off, and a rocker on the end for Up / Resume and Down / Set.

I haven't been a fan of the big lump of plastic in the middle of Skoda steering wheels, but this seemed smaller and OK.

Quality certainly felt better than my father-in-law's Mk2FL.

I had been thinking of upgrading to full leather, but Alcantara / leather seems quite nice.

I had been thinking of upgrading to Colombus satnav for the bigger screen, but if I hadn't known there was an 8" option, I don't think I would have had a problem with the 5.8".

Edited 16 March, 201313 yr by Juniperz

Juniperz my test drive should have been yesterday but had to be changed to today as my dealer had to drive to Grimsby yesterday afternoon to pick up their demonstrator that was supposed to arrive earlier in the week.

I did notice that neither of the Elegances had the reversible boot floor promised in the Skoda press releases and in the brochure.

Juniperz my test drive should have been yesterday but had to be changed to today as my dealer had to drive to Grimsby yesterday afternoon to pick up their demonstrator that was supposed to arrive earlier in the week.

Yes, my dealer too. They told me that they are a dealer group with 3 local sites, but the trailer they share could only take 2 cars, so one of the other sites didn't even have a car for launch weekend! With so few cars, they decided to keep them in the showrooms rather than out on demos.

.

Well, I got down to DM Keith's early doors thinking I would beat the mad rush to see and test drive the new Octavia. The place was empty so I was the first to view and drive.

In the showroom was a race blue SE model. All seemed a bit basic inside and far from inspiring, not to mention the damaged alloy wheel and the lack of attention to detail of the internal prep.

So onto the test drive of the silver 150 diesel outside. This was an Elegance spec and gave more of a positive impression for a £20k + motor. The 102 Kg of weight saved on the previous model was apparent - the doors had very little weight for example and made opening and closing far less cumbersome.

On start up it was quiet and remained so during the drive. The drive was smooth and progressive, despite the tight new engine, and comfortable with good seat design and excellent ride over the potholes of the Yorkshire back roads.

I used two of the different drive settings, i.e standard and sport, and the car felt a little more composed when in sport mode with little body roll and good weighting to the steering.

The sales chap said Skoda were aiming to sell 65% of the Octavia to business users and they were happy with that.

Overall I think it was a little disappointing to look at in the flesh, more so from the outside, and Skoda had tried too hard. The detailed bling chrome surrounds on everything was OK but, for example, gave a scratchy feel on the multi-function wheel controls.

This is a larger car with immense practicality and decent levels of kit but I feel Skoda have followed on from the Rapid with a car that is just that, nothing to say "buy me" or "I can't live without one of these!"

The price is too rich for me. If I had £22k I'd be shopping elsewhere but more realistically I'd prefer the MkII.

Just returned from DM Keith's at Wakefield, similar story regarding cars stuck on boats but they had one elegance trim model that was in the showroom, but also using for test drives (albeit very short ones). I like the car, nothing to rave about but nothing to be disappointed about either. Good solid quality, as far as handling goes like I said short test drive but i expect on a decent drive it will be quite similar to my Superb and to be honest who needs it to handle like a ferrari. This appears to me to be a comfortable spacious reps car/family car. Comparing it to my Superb Estate though, it is no better (it does look better than a superb twin door) quality is now on par and I'm not sure how the pricing will work to make it better value than a superb. Looking forward to see what the vrs estate looks like and when the time comes to change it may well be on the short list (along with a V6 Superb :-)).

they were citing trouble with ships out of the Czech Republic).

You should go back and explain it's no wonder the ships are having trouble, the Czech Republic is land locked,

I used two of the different drive settings, i.e standard and sport, and the car felt a little more composed when in sport mode with little body roll

My understanding was that the drive settings had nothing at all to do with the dampers or handling adjustments, just that it simply alters throttle and steering response. Did it definitely decrease body roll and make the ride more composed?

My understanding was that the drive settings had nothing at all to do with the dampers or handling adjustments, just that it simply alters throttle and steering response. Did it definitely decrease body roll and make the ride more composed?

You are correct the modes do not alter the suspension at all. Steering, air con( more efficient in Econ mode) and throttle response ( some reports also say maximum torque available) are the variables.

You should go back and explain it's no wonder the ships are having trouble, the Czech Republic is land locked,

Brilliant! Thanks for pointing that out - my Geography knowledge isn't what it should be

Just back from a test drive in a manual 2.0 Tdi Elegance and all i can say is i cant wait for mine to arrive (1.4TSI)!!! I arrived at Hortons and had a good look around the one one in the showroom and it looks far better in the flesh than it does in pictures, i especially like the relatively high bonnet line. Interior appears to be better quality than my vRS seats are more comfortable I'm 14.5 stone and 6ft 2in but have always found the vRS seats to be a bit of a squeeze with the seat cushion bolsters, the new Octavias seats have a bit more a**e room. More knee in the back, with the front seat comfortably set for me I have knee room to spare in the back.

As to the test drive i found the 2.0 diesel very quiet, much quieter than the vRS acceleration appeared rapid enough and it handled much better than i imagined after all the scare stories about the torsion beam rear suspension but then again my 205GTI also had torsion rear suspension and i remember that handled quiet well ( except if you took the foot off the accelerator mid bend when you were liable to die!! but i never found a corner that i needed to take my foot off the accelerator ) The gears were very smooth and the brakes very sharp. Very very pleased i think Skoda are going to sell these by the bucketload!

Then it was back for the business manager to improve my already excellent deal by a further £500 and give me the free servicing as the finance deals weren't available when i ordered

This is the second car I've bought of Hortons, previously purchasing eleven Skoda's from two very good dealers in Stoke but Hortons have really gone the extra mile for me so if anyone interested in the new Octy give them a bell.

Also i noticed throughout the show room there were up to date notice boards with all the available Citygo, Fabias, old shape Octavias, Yetis and Superbs, with their colour and spec, that are available for immediate delivery which i thought was a nice touch

Stokey

Do you mean Hortons Skoda of Lincoln?

Mandip yes it was Hortons in Lincoln.

Went to have a look, Dealer said they should have had 2 cars, 1 for showroom, 1 for test drive, only got 1 due to the adverse weather earlier in the week, & they were told that the 1 they had should remain in the showroom so that prospective customers could actually see the car rather than miss it out on a test drive.

Car they had was Elegence 16. diesel, Even thou I could only look around, It looks fresh & a smidgen more modern inside, Love the colour MFD, doors sounded more solid & heavier than my FL, boot was lighter & did look larger.

I did ask if the small dividers just inside the boot were the ones that lifted out & would fold 90deg and velcro to the boot floor to hold a crate/ box, & guess what - he didnt know, so i slid them out & lo & behold ------ no they werent folding ones :( but i am sure he will go away & find out about these now

Just as we were leaving someone came in and asked about the estate, & was told in a couple of months, there are quite a few estates in south kent.

vRS will be Aug / Sept & New Fabia is late next year according to the man, as he asked at the dealer launch about them both.

I will see if i can have a loan of it when i put my car in for it service, & see if as expected it wont go in my garage.

Saw one on the road today, looked pleasant enough but in standard form I just keep thinking to myself that it just looks like a Skoda-ized VW Jetta; certainly didnt make me think...wow gotta have one of those.

Now I think the new vRS and vRS combi will be really rather nice indeed; certainly give one of those consideration in a couple of years time when there are some sensible finance offers on the table, particularly given that the petrol will have a valvelift engine with the same torque output as the current CR TDi vRS. I certainly wouldnt consider purchasing a new Mk3 1.4 TSi 140/2.0 TDi 150 Elegance over a decent spec/Blackline TSi/TDi MK2 vRS, think the Mk2 vRs still has the edge until the new one arrives.

Yes the Czech Republic is land locked but fortunately we are an Island Nation. That saved us from German Invasion but alas it made us short of New Octavia this weekend.

Saw one on the road today, looked pleasant enough but in standard form I just keep thinking to myself that it just looks like a Skoda-ized VW Jetta; certainly didnt make me think...wow gotta have one of those.

Now I think the new vRS and vRS combi will be really rather nice indeed; certainly give one of those consideration in a couple of years time when there are some sensible finance offers on the table, particularly given that the petrol will have a valvelift engine with the same torque output as the current CR TDi vRS. I certainly wouldnt consider purchasing a new Mk3 1.4 TSi 140/2.0 TDi 150 Elegance over a decent spec/Blackline TSi/TDi MK2 vRS, think the Mk2 vRs still has the edge until the new one arrives.

Surprised you wouldn't have MK 3 Elegance over a blackline vRS ! I'm going from a CR vRS ( which I've loved and kept longer than any other car!) to a 1.4 TSI with full leather and heated seats in race blue metallic. Very similar on paper performance with better on paper economy and much better interior build quality and I've got the mk 3 Octy cheaper than I could get a blackline !

Also dealer principle said that the new Octy vRS looks very understated after viewing it at Seville.

My local dealer told me the vRS was chalk and cheese compared to the standard MKIII!

I can't wait to see one. Hopefully I can make it to Goodwood this summer. I just don't know if I will fall inlove with it as quickly as I have when I first seen the fl MKII, I just think they did such a good job in making look fun and exciting in the vRS spec, I didn't really care about the standard specs as it was very under wheeled, and normall I guess?

Edited 16 March, 201313 yr by Leon-y-k