New Skoda Octavia RS review, test drive

At first, it feels familiar from behind the wheel. Similar in many ways to the Octavia 1.8 TSI sold in India, this sportier RS has a similar chassis and suspension and a slightly larger version of the same engine. It’s taking to this traffic-free Czech country road in much the same way, power delivery is similar and that wonderfully innate sense of balance is there in spades too. Still, this car feels a bit more hyperactive, a bit more fidgety and a bit more alive, and it should, because its state of tune and set-up are decidedly sportier.

So, what does it get that’s different? For starters, there’s much more power under the hood, courtesy of an engine that has a larger turbo and around 200cc more of displacement. The horsepower figure stands at 217bhp — not a whole lot, but enough to deliver a healthy dose of acceleration. And as Skoda tells us, this third-gen RS is also the fastest ever, with a claimed top speed of 248kph. 0-100kph is stronger too — it does it in as little as 6.8 seconds, according to Skoda. Then there’s the suspension on the RS, lowered by a further 15mm over the standard car in Europe (the Octavia in India is raised by 15mm), and it gets an electronic XDS differential lock on the driven front wheels. This reduces the risk of understeering in fast corners.