Picked up my first ever Skoda yesterday and promptly took it for a drive where I normally ride my motorcycles.  Very impressed so far but obviously early days.  Only negative is the widely reported excess road noise on some roads.  I even tried the emotive start up procedure figuring it wouldn't work because I hadn't heard of it on a Skoda but even that works too.

 

DCC is great for bumpy roads letting you tune in to the road conditions where sport mode would be too firm.  The engine sound and character is pretty good considering the EA888 isn't the most sonorous power plant but ditching the sound actuator for an actual sports exhaust was a good move.  Compared to the Mark 4 RS I drove the car feels much snappier probably more due to the DSG re-turning in this face lift.  The revised, larger screen and software is snappy and responsive and you can configure it quite well with the shortcuts etc.. that you need to have.

 

The Suede / leather electric seats with the thigh support look fantastic (very Audi-esque) and are very comfy. So far the Canton system is good rather than great to my ear (not as good as the Harmon Kardon systems I've had in BMWs before) but I haven't had much time to fiddle with the settings yet.

 

My wife and I were considering many more expensive vehicles in our search, ironically all VAQ from an RSQ3 Sportback to RS3 / S3.  Didn't really gel with the Golf R so gave that a miss but were very keen on a facelifted Formentor VZ but something about the Skoda even though far less impressive on paper just felt right.  It was a car I wanted to just drive.  It reminds be very much of my old Audi A4 Turbo Quattro Avant from back in the day albeit more powerful, front wheel drive only and DSG instead of manual. It is also available in colours rather than the different shades of depressed that so many modern cars come in.  

Very nice, congratulations on your new steed. I like those revised RS wheels, definitely more appealing than the Pre FL ones, which to my eye looked like they're hewn from stone with a blunt chisel. I know, it's all in the eye of the beholder, but wheels are important and the new styling 'accents' are a great improvement. Happy motoring!