First Drive: Skoda Octavia

The new Skoda Octavia will arrive in Irish dealerships on Tuesday

The all new Skoda Octavia arrives in dealerships around the country on Tuesday and we had an opportunity to take two of the new models for a spin at the Irish launch in Kildare earlier this week.

The all-new third generation Skoda Octavia ia a car of firsts. The new Octavia is wider, longer and lighter than the outgoing model and Skoda says it has class leading leg and luggage room.

Our first car of the day was the Skoda Octavia 2.0 TDI 150bhp diesel model kitted out with the top of the range Elegance trim.

It is certainly a very spacious car, with a very comfortable driving seat and position. As you’d expect from a 2.0-litre 150bhp engine, acceleration is great. I also found that it handled well on the winding Kildare backroads. I am looking forward to really putting it through its paces in a full test drive.

Simply clever is Skoda’s tag line and I was very impressed with both the level of technology and the thoughtful storage options in this car.

The Elegance model I was driving was fitted with the Columbus infotainment option. This touch screen unit features 3D voice control SatNav, DVD player and Bluetooth.

The boot in the Skoda Octavia is absolutely massive, but there are lots of clever solutions to stop items being rolled about

I also liked the flick radio station selection – for glanceable ease this system features the station logos as well as the name. The system also recognises when your hand is close and automatically changes screen.

Have you ever sat into your car with a drink and found that your bottle or cup is either too big or too small for its designated slot? Obviously Skoda’s designers have and they’ve come up with a clever solution – cup holders that can be adjusted to suit the size of the container.

The boot in this car is absolutely massive, and such large boots can give rise to the problem of items sliding around. Skoda designers, however, have come up with a solution to this too – moveable corner ends that stick into the boot’s floor.

I also took the 2.0 TDI 150bhp DSG (automatic) Elegance for a quick drive and found that this automatic felt good and handled well. It also has sports mode.

The all new Skoda Octavia will be available from Tuesday, with prices starting from €18,995. The manual Elegance model I was driving costs from €27,995, with prices for the DSG starting from €29,995.

Visit the Skoda Ireland website or its Facebook page for further details.

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