Styling
Skoda has brought the vRS into line with the rest of the
facelifted Mk4 Octavia family when it comes to looks, which principally means those distinctive new jagged daytime running lamp (DRL) signatures which are sharply angled downwards to echo the shape of the radiator grille. As the vRS comes with these LED Matrix units as standard, you therefore don't have to worry that you're going to get a 'lesser' DRL appearance if you don't tick a certain option box, so it's probably the chief giveaway (aside from the year of the registration plate) that you're looking at the 265hp Octavia and not the old 245hp model. Aside from that, it's the usual excellent Skoda vRS touches, like large 19-inch 'Elias' alloys, subtle and bespoke badging, a heap of black detailing on the body, big twin rhomboid exit finishers at the back, and then an enhanced lower body for a racier shape - plus a 15mm suspension drop on a sports set-up for good measure. Overall, it's a superb-looking thing (if we're not mixing our Skoda models up, there) in both fastback and estate forms, especially as you can finish it in some epic colours like Hyper Green (solid, £0), Race Blue (metallic, also free), or any of Velvet Red, Phoenix Orange or Royal Green (exclusive metallics at £410 apiece). Basically, it's a much more successful transition from Mk4 to Mk4.5 Octavia than what happened to the poor old Mk3 when it became the
Mk3.5 with its grotesque split headlights, that's for sure.
Interior
In terms of what has actually changed in the car from the pre-facelift version to this updated model, not much at all. This is very good news, in many ways, because the fourth-gen Octavia has a sumptuous, huge (more on this in the next section) cabin made with some lovely material finishing, save in a few places where costs have to be carefully capped. So topping all that off with the sportier trims, fascias, front bucket seats and contrast red stitching of the vRS is a most welcome cherry on top of this particular passenger compartment cake.
Therefore, the main headline is that the car now has the 12.9-inch infotainment screen, a big improvement over the older, smaller unit, and a feature that is teamed to some useful physical shortcut buttons in the updated Octavia. But, alas, this Skoda doesn't get the brilliant Smart Dials as you'll see in the grander
Kodiaq and
Superb models so there is still a large degree of prodding and poking at the display required to adjust various functions, including temperature controls. Still, the main layout of the menus on the screen is better, the infotainment comes with wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto as standard, and the graphics are sharper now, as they also are in the 10.25-inch Virtual Cockpit instrument cluster.
Practicality
There are no more practical performance cars of this ilk than a Skoda Octavia vRS, pure and simple - and that counts for fastback or wagon equally. Both have the vast rear-passenger space, brought about by the fact the Czech machine has a 45mm-longer wheelbase than an equivalent Golf. That results in a whopping amount of legroom in the back, while headroom is fine in both body styles, and then you have one of Skoda's long-held fortes: a gigantic load area. In the hatch, it's 600 litres all seats up (more than half as big again as the Golf hatchback's 381-litre cargo bay) and 1,555 litres with them folded down, and while the Estate as tested here can't quite eclipse all its comparable rivals so easily, there's nothing of a similar ilk with anything like the same-sized boot - save for the mechanically similar Golf R Estate and Sportstourer version of the
Cupra Leon, but both of those are 333hp four-wheel-drive cars costing a good chunk more than the Skoda. Therefore, the alluring combination of a 640- rising to 1,700-litre boot and a 0-62mph time of comfortably sub-seven seconds is nowhere more affordable nor accessible than this.
Performance
So, no plug-in hybrid iV model any longer. No diesel, and by extension no 4x4 either. And no three-pedal manual. What's left is solely the 2.0-litre TSI 'EA888', which if you were being churlish is something you could describe as having been in service since some bearded old bloke put to sea with a boat full of all the animals in a two-by-two formation. But, at the same time, the old EA888 remains a strong turbocharged lump, and that's the case here. For the updated Octavia vRS Mk4, the peak torque remains 370Nm as before, but the power is up 20hp to 265hp overall. That's enough to take two-tenths of a second off either version's 0-62mph time, with this Estate managing a 6.5-second sprint that's just marginally behind its fastback sibling.
All the power and torque is channelled to the front wheels via a seven-speed DSG twin-clutch auto and an electronically controlled VAQ limited-slip differential. And, if we're honest, our only qualm about the vRS Mk4.5 is that the additional grunt bestowed on the Octavia does lead to one or two traction issues. On one bumpy uphill when we were in third and doing about 40mph, flattening the throttle had the DSG kick down a cog and then the traction light in the dash flashing what looked like desperate morse code as the leading axle tramped a tad, while later experiments pulling out of T-junctions or exiting tight roundabouts in a deliberately lead-footed fashion again had the torque overwhelming the electronic nannies and spinning the front Bridgestones fruitlessly.
But these instances were few and far between, and easily avoidable with some considered driving manners. Which then meant for the rest of the time, we simply delighted in how rapid and assured the vRS felt. There's no doubt those few extra horses have just given the Octavia longer legs, the ability to haul deeper into three figures before feeling like it is running out of puff. And better still, Skoda seems to have given it a fruitier exhaust note as well, so the car sounds good while it's being extended.
There's also little negative to report in terms of turbo lag or dim-witted hesitance from the DSG, even if both can be elicited if you start deliberately mistreating the Octavia vRS, but generally this is a magnificent drivetrain in a magnificent car. No, it's not the fastest hot hatch you'll ever drive - it'll feel positively anodyne compared to something more brutally hardcore and focused like a
Civic Type R - but for civilised, day-to-day, easily enjoyable performance, you could not wish for more than the 265hp vRS serves up time and again.
It should also be reasonably frugal to run, given Skoda claims around 40mpg for it; not as far-fetched an assertion as it might seem, given we drove a hatch for a brief period on the second morning of the launch and got nearly 32mpg out of it without trying, while pottering about on urban and semi-urban roads, but a word of warning - should you ever find yourself on the quiet roads of the Isle of Man in good weather, or you fancy a trip to Germany to test out the derestricted sections of the Autobahn, or (rather more likely) you end up on a track day in your vRS, budget on sub-20mpg readouts in the trip computer. We got it down to about 16.7mpg during a very spirited blast on some of the best roads we've driven, but that of course was an unusual set of circumstances...
Ride & Handling
The standard set-up controlling those 19-inch Eliases is a sports tune of damper and spring, set 15mm lower than a regular Octavia. For another £1,185, you can fit Dynamic Chassis Control (DCC) variable dampers, the typical Volkswagen Group system that has a seemingly frivolous 15 different levels of float/intransigence to choose from. Opt for DCC and you get an additional 'fixed' drive mode called Comfort, which isn't in the standard vRS, but otherwise Eco, Normal, Sport and Individual all are, the latter letting you play at mixing various different configurations for chassis and drivetrain functions as you prefer, with the obvious change that the DCC-equipped cars will have a suspension tab in this personalisation sub-menu whereas the regular models won't.
Truthfully, having tried both back-to-back, the DCC is fine but it isn't strictly necessary. About the only reason you'd ever use it is to whack the dampers either right down to 1/15 for ultra-wafty comfort or ramp them right up to the full fifteen in some vain attempt to tie down the Skoda's long, elegant body better than Sport mode (12/15) does, but really the car blends off supreme ride quality to exceptional control so sweetly on its standard springs and shocks that DCC might soon become a gimmick you'll regret splashing out twelve-hundred quid on.
Nevertheless, with or without DCC, a Skoda Octavia vRS is a supremely good performance car that's more than accommodating enough to drive on a daily basis; the epitome of a highly desirable, cultured hot hatch. Or, put another way, it now remarkably out-Golf-GTI's a Golf GTI. It's just wonderful. On the right roads, you will obviously be able to find more thrilling hatchbacks to drive than this, but to suggest the Skoda is boring would be a monumental lie. It has a fantastic tune for its progressive steering, for a start, and while we lamented the traction earlier on, as long as you hook up the available grip sensibly then the VAQ electrodiff will apportion torque out neatly to the front wheel which can handle it best, firing you out of corners in a beautiful, tightening line if you're brave enough get on the power at the earliest opportunity. Both wheel and body control are splendid too, so the Octavia vRS breathes with a lumpen road, rather than trying to hammer it into oblivion. It's thoroughly edifying.
And then, when you throttle it back and drive it more sensibly, you get a vehicle that never once crashes nor thumps about the place, smoothing off even the worst edges and compressions in the tarmac in the aftermath with languid yet well-marshalled movements of its shell. Neither tyre nor wind noise are non-existent in the Octavia vRS, but they seem well-enough isolated that we're happy to say the car is one of the most refined, cosseting hot hatches of the lot. Or fast wagons, if that's what you prefer. Which we do.
Value
Both Octavia vRS variants start at less than £40,000 and if you can avoid things like the DCC or the three fanciest paintjobs or a panoramic glass roof, you'll still end up with a marvellous day-to-day performance car that comes crammed with kit for the cash. Aside from the aforementioned 12.9-inch infotainment, the 10.25-inch Virtual Cockpit, the Matrix LED headlights and all the sporty addenda that befits a vRS, the flagship Octavia also enjoys dual-zone climate control, heated front seats, front and rear parking sensors with manoeuvre assist, an electric sliding parcel shelf, keyless entry and go, predictive cruise control with traffic jam assist, rear privacy glass, a three-spoke leather sports multifunction steering wheel with paddle shifts, and the Virtual Pedal hands-free boot-opening system as standard, among much more. For what you're getting here, it seems like a bargain - especially as a Golf GTI with the same engine, smaller 18-inch wheels and the far less practical hatchback body is only £375 less than the capacious vRS Estate.
Verdict
There are a few minor areas of concern to note about the updated Skoda Octavia vRS, which we'll list as quickly as we can: there's no manual model any longer; it can be a bit traction-limited; there are one or two plastics in less obvious areas of the cabin which are questionable; you still have to interact with the central touchscreen slightly more often than you'd genuinely like to; and if you are after the utmost in driver thrills, then there are better options available elsewhere in this class. However, none of these factors feel like anything much more than minuscule irks, which leaves us with the most rounded, the most likeable and the most all-round talented of the current hot hatch/estate crop. The new vRS is just a fabulous car in every regard, and easily - in our opinion - the class leader.
