A long, long time ago we put an Octavia VRS hatchback up against a Volkswagen Bora Sport and an MG ZS180. It beat them both and its victory was an apt symbol for the regeneration of the Bohemian marque under parent company VW. Not only were people not laughing any more, they were using the words 'Skoda' and 'great perfomance' in the same sentence, all traces of irony having long since left the building.

The Estate version is more of the same; the 'more' being loadspace and the 'same' being everything else. That means it keeps its turbocharged 1781cc engine, producing 180bhp at 5,500rpm, it keeps a torque figure of 173lb ft from 1,950 to 5,000rpm, it keeps its 0-62mph time of eight seconds and it actually goes four better with a top speed of 143mph.

Appropriately enough for a car with a sporting badge, the interior trim gives you the vague impression you're sitting inside a huge training shoe thanks to the generous quantities of leather stitched up with what resembles that semi-ballistic nylon used to let your feet breathe. This sporting theme receives further polish with a chrome-topped gearlever, stainless steel pedal pads and silver-rimmed instrument binnacles, while the supportive, height-adjustable seats get you low enough to start making pretentious overtures regarding 'driver feedback' and the like.

So if it looks like a running shoe from behind the wheel, has it got the legs when you put your foot down? Yes, it has. And to further bludgeon the metaphor, I'd go so far as to say that with its fantastic grip, precise and communicative steering, grunty engine, masses of space and

The only downer I've heard about the estate was that it has more roll in the corners because it doesn't have the strut braces on the rear suspension like the hatch.

What's more, when some people mistook it for a BMW Touring in profile, I almost felt offended.

Sounds like one of us!

Originally posted by Daveclar in this post

The only downer I've heard about the estate was that it has more roll in the corners because it doesn't have the strut braces on the rear suspension like the hatch.

Dave

The fact that the vRS estate roll's more in the corner's is more likely due to the fact that there is a greater mass of bodyweight for the car to shift -- there may also be a difference in the suspension to allow greater load carrying capacity.

The braces in the back of the hatch contribute towards stiffness of the body shell -- which does help handling -- but not roll.

Originally posted by skodaw in this post

Dave

The fact that the vRS estate roll's more in the corner's is more likely due to the fact that there is a greater mass of bodyweight for the car to shift -- there may also be a difference in the suspension to allow greater load carrying capacity.

The braces in the back of the hatch contribute towards stiffness of the body shell -- which does help handling -- but not roll.

Also the fact that it only has 16" wheels to run on may contribute to the body roll???

Yeah but does anyone know if the braces will bolt into the estate???

and are the 17" wheels a straight swap???

Only had it 10 weeks and already I feel the urge to tinker (most probably comes from owning a long succession of mechano kits - see below)