A day of driving Skoda's new generation Octavia in Portugal left me with very positive impressions of a car that will not just hold existing owners to the nameplate, but is also likely to attract buyers from other brands, writes Brian Byrne.
The fleet sector is quite likely to score well with the new car, which offers many of the advantages of a mid-sized vehicle while nominally staying in the compact family segment.
The new styling won't hurt prospects either, as the model's designers have succeeded in shifting the look from quite ordinary towards a premium-level elegance. In my view, it's rare that almost every element in a sheetmetal redesign comes so well together first time around.
A longer wheelbase and some extra overall length provide part of the new visual quality, with straight horizontal lines throughout being used effectively to give an overall sharpness that doesn't depend on excessive sculpting to attract attention.
Equally, the inside design is taut and clean, and there's no attempt to use visual gimmickry to set the car apart from its competition. That same clarity of design thought is extended also to the instruments and minor controls, developed from familiar VW themes.
As always on international previews, the cars driven are top-level grades, so the impression of high-quality trim and seating material does affect first perceptions. But I don't think even the lower grades will disappoint when I get into them.
The preview cars were also loaded with all the high tech options in comfort, entertainment, and safety which will be available in the new Octavia range. Essentially these are renamed versions of those things we've seen in the recently launched Audi and Volkswagen equivalent cars.
Some of them interest me, others I can very well do without. In particular, the so-called Lane Assistant which is designed to keep a driver from wandering between lanes. As I found recently in a Golf under review, it has an irritating tendency to fiddle about even when on non-motorway duty, and I'd leave it switched off.
The new turbocharged petrol engines from the parent group are really good, and the 1.2 TSI with 105hp is perfectly adequate to run this car comfortably and with a frugality that was only diesel available not so long ago.
Still, the diesels have been improving too, and the 105hp 1.6 TDI that's going to be the main version in Ireland is even more fuel-efficient than it used to be. Part of the improvement is in the engine, but the fact that the new larger car is more than 100kg lighter than the one it is replacing also helps it keep on passing the pumps.
The extra wheelbase length definitely improves the ride, and the car handled very sweetly in the sweeping hills behind Faro, an area thankfully traffic-free at this time of the year. I was also impressed by the tangible solidity of the build, even when running the car over rough cobbles.
Octavia has made Skoda the force it is today, globally and in the Irish context. This new one is going to push that envelope out even further.
