In the world of SUVs, there is one manufacturer which is not ready to give up on the premium sedan space and that’s Skoda and I absolutely love Skoda for that. Even after seeing cars like the Hyundai Elantra and the Honda Civic get crushed by the SUVs, Skoda just launched the all new Octavia and I can’t be more excited.
Octavia is the car that laid the bricks for Skoda in the Indian market. After all the Octavia has always been an extremely desirable product. I can still remember me as a kid in the 4th grade turning my neck every time a yellow Octavia stopped at the signal. The looks, the interior, the power, the comfort and much more has made the Octavia a very loved product.
In the Indian market today, the Octavia doesn’t really compete with any of its rivals in its class since there aren’t any but that isn’t a good news. This makes the Octavia compete directly against the much more popular SUV segment. Some of its rivals are the Jeep Compass, Hyundai Tucson and the Citron C5.
Though looks are subjective, but if you tell me that you don’t like how the new gen Octavia looks, I’ll have no option but to judge your taste. The design of the Octavia is the typical Skoda styling. It looks so cunning with those sharp headlamps but also sophisticated at the same time, thanks to those elegant creases running over its body. The Sportback design just puts so much more character in the Octavia. The overall styling of the Octavia is really eye catchy and helps it easily distinguish itself among other cars. What I am not a fan of is the alloy wheels which I feel just look too overdone, I somewhat hate them to be honest. I hope Skoda gets rid of them as soon as possible.
Another area where the Octavia really impresses is its drivability. It does not compromise on power in any way. Powered by a big 2.0 litre TSI engine which produces 190 ps and 320 nm of torque, the Octavia is more than enough to provoke you to reach illegal speeds. Also the figures are the most impressive when compared to the SUVs. And this has always been the essence of the Octavia, its a car that urges you to play with it. Although this time there is no Diesel engine for the Octavia which might make some buyers unhappy but you won’t miss it when drive the 2.0 TSI. The Octavia is based on the same platform as the Audi A3 which makes it very agile yet stable. The Octavia comes with a 7 speed DSG automatic transmission which works well enough. Upshifts and downshift are precise and smooth. Also what you get for the enthusiast inside you are paddle shifters so that you can take out the best from the engine. The claimed figures by Skoda state that the Octavia can do 0-60 km/h in 3.22 seconds and 0-100 km/h in less than 8 seconds which is very impressive. Octavia has a lot to offer when it comes to driving it. It is happy to be pulled around corners and gives you the confidence you want when doing risky turns. This is where sedans like the Octavia are superior than the SUVs. You don’t have to care about the body roll or stress about driving a machine that’s so massive. Nothing matches the feel of positioning your seat as low as possible with those paddle shifters in your hands and just going for a ride in the hills.
When I first took a glance at the interiors of the Octavia I was genuinely impressed. I have always been a fan of how simple and elegant Skoda interiors are but this time it Skoda just aced it. I absolutely love how the interior is laid out and the 2 spoke steering just compliments it in a very beautiful way. Everything you touch and feel is of great quality. You do realise that your money was spent at the right place. Sadly, now is where things start going downhill for the Skoda Octavia.
There are two variants of the Octavia on sale, Style and the L&K variant priced at close to 26 lakhs and 29 lakhs. Although the Octavia offers a lot, it just doesn’t offer enough to justify its price. Things get even worse when you start to compare it with its competitors. It lacks out on features which some of the much cheaper alternatives are offering and which Indians have developed a taste for. A major missing for the Indians is a sunroof which according to me is a very hyped up feature but I just can’t overlook its popularity. Some of the other features which I feel should’ve been given at this price point are 360° parking camera, ventilated seats, driving modes, headlight washers, buttons for climate control, automatic wipers. But if you don’t care about the features, Octavia should hold its position in your list. Apart from these features, Skoda Octavia offers you enough to be more than happy.
MY VERDICT
Skoda has done a great job with the new generation Octavia. It is absolutely fun to drive, offers great space, is a delight to look at and feels premium from inside. Yes, the feature list might not be as interesting like most of us would’ve like but if you don’t care a lot about features and just want the thrill of driving, you are good to go. Coming to comparing it with the SUVs, the fact is you just can’t compare a sedan to the SUVs, its like comparing apples and oranges. There is a lot both the segments offer individually. So, if you’re out in the market looking for a full size sedan, you should definitely check out the new Skoda Octavia.
The CarGuy 