good handling. good acceleration. good and stylish design. overall a very good family car

Exorbitant prices of spare parts for Skoda Octavia, Service quality very poor, Road clearance very low Not suitable for Indian Roads

The petrol Octavia vrs is by far the best car I have ever had. The acceleration especially in 2nd and 3rd gear is terrific. My last car was 2.0 litre Honda Accord sport which I thought was quite good until this new vrs. There really is no comparison. I was unsure of owning a Skoda having grown up right in the middle of all the Skoda/Lada jokes but one test drive soon wiped that away. My son is in his early 20's and he loves driving it just as much as me. Take a test drive with a salesman who tells you to" floor it through the gears". If then you don't want one, you either own a Porsche or you are a trainspotter.

The car is good in pick up wise, body built and fitness. The car is bad for indian roads since the ground clearance is not at all good and the cabin space should also be improved. Where as in the compitative world the maintenance of the vechile should be less.

The Skoda Octavia RS is a good all rounder, power, room (3 adults in the back is tight but ok), good looking, best colours are black and silver, you will pay extra for 2nd hand cars with all the extras but cruise control well worth hunting for. I have had one for nearly 6 months and been more than happy with it. I have a problem with the central locking at the moment which can be a pain when filling up with fuel due to the petrol cap being linked to it. Can get to the cap release in the boot with ease though.
Dont be put off by the Skoda badge, i have had a look through the car and all the parts on it have the Audi logo!
This car is a wolf in sheeps clothing and for the size is still one of the better hot hatches on the market.
If you drove a car like this you would be pleased and when you put your foot down you cant help but smile!

I like the Skoda in general and the RS looks good, it just needs something more to make it stand out from the rest of the Skoda family. The spoiler looks a bit normal and perhaps a bit too large. In general the car could do with a bit of a body revamp, just to make it look cooler.

A fantastic performance hatch in all respects. Race blue is spot on. Very nice interior trim, loads of room, please go and buy one. Very quick, comfort, economy on grown up journeys!, stereo, space, equipment, price, just about everything else. front wiper arms do not lift from screen when lovingly washing it. I keep hurting my fingers when scrubbing the brake calipers! Nothing else.

I have owned my Skoda Octavia RS for just under a week, having previously owned a 2.0 WRX Impreza Wagon PPP, which cost the earth to run, hence why I now own a Octavia. I wanted the performance without the cost and boy have I found it.

The Octavia is a fine car, excellent quality build, super performance (OK not as fast as the Subaru, but it could be with a few tweaks here and there and some little mods and a bit of a re-map) anyway back to the point, I recently went on a journey only 200 or so odd miles through the winding roads of West Wales, lovely roads, quiet, lots of bends to test the handling and I was very pleased with the performance of the car, indeed the best part was the fuel, just used under half a tank (220 odd miles done) up and down the gears as I stated tested the briskness of performance. I was well happy, now having done that same run in the Subaru, I would have used my full tank of Super unleaded petrol, but this car under half a tank used ordinary unleaded. I am already feeling the benefits of changing car, truly is a great car and people shouldn't take the badge as a joke, as these cars are very nice indeed. Don't knock it until you've tried it. I do miss the flat four burble of the Subaru but that is it, and I don't miss the running costs of the Subaru at all.

My regular 2.0L TFSI vRS is having some back ordered bits fitted, so I asked if I could 'borrow' a 2.0L TDI vRS whilst the work was being done, just for comparison sake. I've only had the car a day so this is by no means an in-depth review, just my initial observations. Whilst not quite chalk and cheese there are some differences between the TFSI & the TDI vRS's. The TDI feels quite front heavy and not as sharp on the initial turn in as the petrol model and the acceleration in the first two gears just makes the car shudder and the ESP can't sort it quick enough, and on a wet road you just don't move for a few seconds, you do have to alter the way you accelerate out of tight corners, too much gas too soon and you'll be going nowhere, just sitting still whist the car struggles to find grip.

Once into third onwards it is very quick, even in comparison to the petrol, but as I said earlier it's not quite as confidence inspiring in the twisty stuff, and you have to put more effort in due to the added weight over the front.

The rest of the car is identical to the petrol, so just as practical. All in all it's more of a fast B road/motorway cruiser, and doesn't have quite have the all round ability of the petrol (though this is just my preference), but it's not at all bad fun, just a tad more lairy than the petrol.

If I still did the miles it would have been the perfect tool for me, but as I don't anymore the TFSI wins on overall fun factor and the handling is just that bit sweeter.

Wanted one of these for a couple of years. First time I drove it was blown away, what performance for such small outlay. As for the badge don't worry most discerning motorists have wised up and realise what a cracking motor they are. Mine is black, have read the comments about keeping it clean, but when you fall in love with a motor like this cleaning it is a joy. Haven't stopped grinning since I got it!

I work as a driving instructor for the fire service. We tested BMW, Vauxhall, Ford and Skoda.... The Skoda out performed all the others, especially in the handling and ergonomics side of things. It has great build quality and I didn't feel that I needed to blush either just because it was a Skoda. I want one...bring on those hot hatches!

just love it..................

Having thought about what new company car to get and being offered a Skoda L&K, I drove a Octavia VRs and placed the order. Picked the car up Monday 12th June with a 190 mile journey ahead of me.
First impressions - Looked great, drove well - Very easy to control, great road presence, unbelievably comfortable considering I'm 6ft 2", just felt glad that all the mickey taking over ordering a Skoda would be in vain. A fantastic vehicle with bags of space.
Heres the advice bit - I looked at loads of cars and drove plenty before settling for the VRs - It has even more room and is easier to handle than my pimped up BMW520iES - previous company car - So, take the plunge and order one. I have only really owned and bought VW cars, and was going for a VW Golf GTi but the Skoda makes more sense! On a run, which my car will be on most days, the car is returning 40+ mpg - Thank God. The car is very at home in 6th doing 30-40 mph as well, Open the throttle and you'll be nudging 70 in a blink, (and more on a track of course!)
Summary - Great car - some little niggles with certain design points but on the whole - 1 week down and 1000 miles gone, I'm more than happy. Apart from the first 2 stone chips! Oh well!

I've had the Skoda Octavia RS since new and its done 32500 miles.
I've just had a new water pump and thermostate fitted to the tune of £400.
I can't fault the preformance and handling of the car it's A1
The parts however are a bit unreliable.

I have owned my Skoda Octavia RS now for 3 months, it is my 3rd Octavia having already owned the 20 valve SLX and 2.0 Elegance. I doubt whether there is another car that will go this fast for the money in it's category. It is also very economical when driven sensibly 35-40mpg. Having tried all the premium brands of fuel, Shell Optimax delivers the best performance. If your looking for economy, practicality and blistering performance for not a lot of money, this is the car to buy.

Only had the Skoda Octavia RS a couple of weeks, so I apologise that the review is not really in depth!
Now it's run in, I have to say the performace is superb. I get it in the right gear (like any turbo) and it flys!!
It's comfortable, handles well with a golf club friendly boot, and seems to be fairly easy on fuel if you are easy with the throttle (been getting an average of about 36-37mpg)
No problems with reliability so far, but it has only been a fortnight!

I feel I should point out that I chose this over a Focus ST, as it was better value for money and more spacious.
However, the ST is great to drive (weird clutch though, and it the one I drove tramlined quite badly on single track roads) and if you are really hammering it, I think it would be more composed than the vRS.
But in the real world (traffic jams, rubbish roads, high fuel costs etc) the new Octavia RS is the better car.

If you can see past the badge, I'm sure you will be impressed!

I already own a 2001 Octavia vRS and have had it since new. Having already covered over 91,000 miles, I still think it's amazing. However, this is a review for the new 2.0T FSi engined Octavia vRS, which I have been interested in buying as a replacement. After three in depth test drives, I have decided no, and here is why...
It looks decent, as predicted. It has a pleasing shape, the usual subtle body mods. However, I can't help feeling that some of the older model's macho look has gone. The newer one seems to be visually softer and less purposeful. Now I know few will buy a sporty Octavia for glamour, but I do think this time around, Skoda could have been a little more adventurous with the looks, especially when you consider how the market has evolved and become harder.
On the road the new vRS is pleasing to drive. The chassis is great- throw it into corners and it really grips well and offers feedback, although the steering could be slightly more forceful. At low speeds it is quiet and composed, but when the revs mount, you do feel the 200bhp really thumping you forward. Needless to say the vRS is devilishly quick, and I reckon once the engine has a good few thousand miles under it's belt it will be a real killer. In a straight it doesn't feel much quicker then my 1.8T model, but this 2.0T engine sounds a lot better (the older 1.8T was awesome but too quiet). 0-60mph is supposed to take 7.3 seconds, although once the engine racks up miles and is fed super on a rugular basis, I think it could be possibly a little quicker, although thats my opinion only, and top end it's good for around 150mph.
Fuel economy is good as expected, and like the older one, it is well equipped and feels like it's built to last.
Overall it is plusher and more powerful than the older 1.8T vRS, but little else. And that is the problem. It costs £2.5k more then what I payed for my vRS back in 2001. And at the time I brought mine, the market wasn't particularly fierce: Golf GTi (150bhp, overpriced) Renaultsport Clio (172bhp, crampt and patchy quality), Focus ST (170bhp, good chassis but not enough torque to compete) and Leon Cupra (180bhp, only real comparison, but not as purposeful as the vRS), MG ZS180 (good chassis, grunty engine and tacky quality) and the vRS seemed to be the best for the pound. It was an easy choice for me. Top Gear seemed to agree as it went up against the MG and VW Bora in a grouptest and trounced them both.
For the newer vRS, you have the Golf GTi, same engine, better quality and more money, the Focus ST (same price but noticably quicker) and Astra VXR (suspect quality but fierce looks and extremily powerful). The new vRS suddenly seems overwhelmed by the competition.
In conclusion, the old vRS was the champion of it's day, a real £15k killer. The newer model, while acting as an modest evolution of the older one, is now more expensive. Skoda have thrown away the bargain price which made their last model such a hands down choice. The new one is no longer a jaw-dropping bargain the last one was, and that's a shame even if it is still very well priced. If it cost about £15k, it would be just like the older one- untouchable at the money. But for some reason, while Ford have axed the price of their premium Focus from around £21k (RS Focus 212bhp) to just £17.5k (ST Focus with 220+bhp) Skoda have done the opposite.
The new one strays into newer territory, and sadly, while I think it's still a superb car, I also feel that it no longer shines above the competition in the way the older, cheaper one did. It will still do well, and it should do because it's still one amazing machine, but it's no longer king.
So for the time being, I'm sticking to my trusty 2001 model; 91000 on the clock and it feels as fit and as fast as ever.
In it's own context, it's still the boss.