People of the Internet: think the new VW Golf is a bit too out there? Not tempted by an outrageous Ford Focus, or wild Kia Ceed? Well then step right this way, for Skoda has just unveiled the new Octavia and my, isn’t it just the most… sensible thing you’ve ever seen?
Of course it shares much with the new Golf. The engines, for example. You can have 1.0-litre with three cylinders, with four-cylinder options comprising 1.5 and 2.0-litre petrols or a 2.0-litre diesel. The latter gets a ‘twin-dosing’ system to slash NOx emissions by up to 80 per cent. Go for the DSG auto and the 1.0-litre and 1.5-litre petrols get 48-volt mild-hybrid tech, reducing CO2 emissions and improving fuel economy. There will be a plug-in hybrid, too, with 201bhp and a 34 miles (55km) of e-range.
The interior is very Golf-y. But it looks as though Skoda has, sensibly, chosen to keep some physical shortcut buttons (even the Golf’s sunroof is controlled with a touch-sensitive slider). The screen measures between 8.25 and 10 inches depending on spec – the flashier ones can be controlled through gesture or voice (Skoda’s voice assistant is called Laura - seriously) and get a built-in eSim so you’re always online. Beneath the screen is a touch-slider for controlling volume or map zoom.
A second screen acts as the instrument cluster, and for the first time in a Skoda you can get a head-up display. The air vents live under the screen now, while in DSG cars you get a Porsche 911-esque push/pull gear lever to free up space for sensible things.
And of course it’s more spacious in there: the hatch and estate are 19 and 22mm longer and 15mm wider than the cars they replace. The estate’s boot is 30 litres bigger than before, and the hatch’s 10 litres. They weren’t small to begin with.
What else is new? Much active safety and driver assistance tech, including full LED ‘Matrix’ headlights, and a whole host of what Skoda calls “Simply Clever” features that, in practice, ought to make the new Octavia a fantastically easy thing to live with. Think dedicated storage pockets for smartphones, the ability to top up the AdBlue with one of those pumps you see lorries using, and so on.
We quite like the look of this thing. Nowadays the Skoda is sometimes more recommendable than its equivalent VW. Reckon this will be too?
