Skoda Octavia Review
Skoda’s a bit like that brooding low key actor, but you know, but can’t always recall like Jacqueline Mackenzie or Ben Mendelson.
Respected and considered but far from a preening red carpet showboat and the Octavia is the quintessential skoda for those seeking quality engineering and tech without feeling the need to make a boastful badge statement.
The fourth-gen Octavia has been in market here for three years and on the back of a recent safety upgrade, this new sport line model offered in five door lift back and traditional wagon form adds extra design and specification spice for the same money as the existing entry level style.
It lines up against traditional sedans and wagons like Toyota’s all conquering Camry, established players like the Mazda six and in demand newcomers like the BYD Seal ev, not to mention the usual medium SUV suspects.
So stay with us to see if this sport line has what it takes to steer you towards the Skoda Octavia.
Skoda Octavia Pricing
With the aim of giving the Octavia a value focused midlife upgrade, the sport line adds some racy features outside, inside and underneath the car and we’ll get to those in the design and driving sections.
For now, it’s important to note the car is priced at the same level as the already well equipped entry level style that is a little under $41,000 for the lift back and close to 42K for the wagon.
And to support this new variances arrival national drive away pricing has been set for both at an extra $1,900 and $2,100 respectively.
Skoda Octavia Features
Aside from that, the sport line boasts a handy standard features list.
The highlights being dual zone climate control, adaptive cruise control, 18 inch alloy rims auto LED matrix headlights, a power tailgate, large digital screens for media and instrumentation, wireless Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, auto rain sensing wipers, a reversing camera built in nav and eight speaker audio.
There’s more including bundled option packs. Pretty good value for the category even before you start factoring in the sport line extras.
Exterior Design
The Octavia is a crisp contemporary design combining hard character lines with carefully sculpted broader surfaces.
With just a hint of Skoda’s VW group ownership peeking through here and there.
The broad black grill is uniquely skoda, although the rear treatment is closer to generic premium Euro, swap out the Skoda badging for four rings or a blue, black and white round de and no one would bat an eyelid but the sport line stands apart thanks to a gloss black finish on the grill and exterior mirror covers as well as the boot lidd spoiler on the lift back or roof rails on the wagon.
On top of that, a rear diffuser and front spoiler have been added. The window surrounds are matte black and dual exhaust tips finish off the rear end.
Skoda Octavia Interior Design
The interior is dominated by this handsome multi-layered dash design with a 10 inch multimedia touchscreen in the center and 10.25 inch virtual cockpit instrument display facing the driver.
This leather appointed flat bottom steering wheel has manual shift paddles lurking behind its rim.
There is sporty alloy covers on the pedals and the headliner is black. The cloth sports comfort seats look and feel great.
The materials used are high quality and the Octavia shares its umbrella in the door Trick with Rolls Royce, although it must be said that ladder provides too.
Engine & Performance
A 1.4 liter all alloy direct injected turbo petrol four cylinder engine sits under the Octavia Sport Lines bonnet with drive going to the front wheels courtesy but eight speed auto transmission with manual control available via those paddles on the steering wheel.
At a fraction under 4.7 meters long, just over 1.8 meters wide and close to 1.5 meters tall with a close to 2.7 meter wheel base.
The Octavia Sport line lift back and wagon are at the upper end of the mid-size category at 183 centimeters.
The low level design helps deliver a spacious feel.
Storage In Skoda Octavia
For storage There’s a generous storage area under an extendable height, adjustable armrest between the seats, twin cup holders in the center console, bins in the doors with enough room for large bottles and a decent size cooled glove box.
There’s also skoda’s signature lined rubbish bin in the driver’s door.
Second Row
In Second Row there is plenty of room for feet, legs and head.
There’s enough shoulder room for two grownups to sit comfortably. Three on a pretty cozy shorter journey up to teenage kids.
Three of those will be fine. In terms of child seats, I think you’re better off with two. It would be just, a bit of a squeeze to try for three.
Then in terms of storage, you’ve got this fold out, two cup holders and a tablet holder in the dropdown center Armrest.
You’ve got bins in the doors which are big enough to hold decent sized bottles, which is always a plus.
And speaking of a plus, you’ve got individual ventilation, some extra storage there in the back of the front center console, mat pockets.
USB
Connectivity and power runs to 2 USB-C outlets, a 12 volt socket and a wireless charging pad up front with a second 12 volt in the boot, No USB for backseaters, which is a miss.
Boot Space In Skoda Octavia
Speaking of the boot with all seats up,The lift back offers a competitive 600 liters of storage space expanding to 1,555 liters.
With the 40/20/40 split rear seat folded, those numbers grow to 640 and 1700 liters in the wagon.
Plus there’s a rear seat ski port style door in both a space saver spare sits under the floor.
Road Experience
The tailgate is power operated and for those keen on towing, the Octavia is rated up to a 1.5 ton brake trailer with trailer stability control Standard.
Skoda’s official combined cycle fuel economy number for the Octavia Sport line is 5.7 liters per hundred kilometers for the liftback and 5.9 liters per hundred for the wagon on the launch drive program covering urban B Road and freeway running along the coast south of Sydney in New South Wales, we recorded an average of 6.4 liters per hundred kilometers in the lift back.
Not too shabby for a non-hybrid in this class.
Worth noting, the minimum fuel requirement is the Pricer 95 Ron Premium Unlettered though.
You’ll need 45 liters of it to fill the tank, which translates to a theoretical range of around 790 kilometers, roughly 700.
So the turbo petrol 1.4 liter for solar engine produces 110 kilowatts at 6,000 RPM, but that’s quite high that the bigger number or the better number is 250 Newton meters of torque between 1500 and 4,000 RPM.
So you have this really strong punch in the mid range, which makes the car easy to drive.
It weighs in the lift back at about 1300 kilos, a little bit more for the wagon and Skoda says you can cover zero to a hundred kilometers an hour in nine seconds, which isn’t ferociously fast, but it’s not hanging around either.
And that’s that mid-range punch that helps you get there.
The eight speed transmission is a shift by wire set up and it’s got two settings, normal and sport slip it into sport and it’s slightly more aggressive on, the down change as will change earlier and hold onto ratios longer when you’re going up the transmission and uh, the manual paddles on the steering wheel if you really want to take control, just add to the front along the way.
Suspension is by struts at the front and compound link crank axle at the back, which is SCO to speak for a torsion beam.
it’s also been lowered 15 millimeters in this sport line, a version with different tune on the shop absorbers and springs, but you don’t pay any penalty.
Skoda Octavia Safety Feature
Safety is one of skoda’s strongest suits, so no surprise. The Octavia scored a maximum five NCAP stars from assessment in 2019.
Tech highlights are a EB with pedestrian cyclist detection, a surround view and reversing camera, park assist, lane departure warning, lane keeping assist recross traffic alert, tire pressure monitoring and fatigue detection if an impact is unavoidable.
There are eight airbags on board, including a front center and driver’s knee bag, which holds up well in 2024 and shows how far ahead of the passive safety game the Octavia was when it launched Here in 2021, there are three top tethers for child seats across the second row with Isofix anchors on the outer positions.
Ownership Warranty
The Octavia is covered by Skoda’s seven year unlimited kilometer warranty, which is two years up on the majority of the mainstream market.
Roadside assist is complimentary for the first year. renewed annually If you have your Octavia serviced at an authorized Skoda dealer, the main service interval is 12 months, 15,000 kilometers, which is in line with most of the competition and Skoda offers five and seven year service packs, the latter equating to $393 per workshop visit, which isn’t out of line for the segment and through Skoda Choice, you can opt for a guaranteed future value offer ranging up to five years and currently at a 6.99% rate.
Final Word
So is the Octavia Sport line, your kind of automotive quiet achiever. It’s keenly priced, well equipped with sleek, yet understated design, top notch safety, and a compelling ownership package.
It’s also fuel efficient for its size and a refined, enjoyable drive before you go down that well trodden mid-size SUV path.
I recommend adding this Skoda, be it lift back or wagon to your new car shopping Shortlist.