Skoda Octavia RS 230 review, test drive

For every Octavia, there has been an RS version, but this time, its future in India is uncertain. Though we are convinced we need it in our lives.

Published on Nov 16, 2015 07:00:00 AM

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As ever, there isn’t too much to set this apart from a regular Octavia on the inside, and some might find that a little disappointing. Sure, there are sporty seats, an all-black theme, a chunkier steering wheel and contrast stitching on the leather, but nothing more to shout out that you’re in an instrument of serious performance. I did find a lap timer hidden in the trip computer that I clicked on just as we exited the pit lane.

Flat-bottom wheel? Check. Red stitching? Check. Sporty black theme? Check. Otherwise, standard Octavia fare.

Foot flat down and, apart from a distant bassy rumble from the exhaust, acceleration is quite free of drama. But the speed is definitely there, evidenced in the needle that races around the speedo dial. The six-speed DSG gearbox is drama-free too, its shifts quick and smooth, and we’ll have to wait and see whether Skoda brings the more involving six-speed manual version to India (or the car itself, for that matter). Things start to liven up at C1 itself though, when I notice it feels really light on its feet and super keen to change direction. It doesn’t mind a bit of manhandling either. It feels very predictable and that’s great when you consider all that power is going through just the front wheels. In tighter corners, you can really feel the trick front diff. The torque vectoring system adds power to the outside wheel rather than braking the inside one in a bend, and that makes all the difference. It really feels like it’s pushing you to go faster.

The last take-away as we pulled into the pits after over an hour of hard driving on a day as hot as any Mumbai summer, was that none of the cars broke a sweat. We really did punish them a lot, and performance stayed consistent, lap after lap. With the company’s focus locked onto its existing models and the upcoming new Superb, a niche performance product like this clearly has to take a back seat in a market like ours. And you do really have to wonder if it makes sense for Skoda, as even if the RS is assembled alongside the regular Octavia, importing and homologating that engine will drive the price close to Rs 30 lakh! Still, a small subset of die-hard fans of the brand might just be happy to fork that out, and I, with them, have my fingers crossed for this one – with that differential and a manual please.