Geneva debut for new, pokier Skoda performance saloon.
Skoda often gets overlooked when it comes to performance, but the German-owned Czech manufacturer has Volkswagen DNA underneath its understated styling, and that means quality.
The latest Skoda to arrive and get us excited is the new Octavia vRS 230, which is a limited edition of the pokey mid-sized saloon, offering quality to rival Audi and Volkswagen, but at a much more reasonable price. As the name suggests, it comes with 230 horsepower (227bhp) from a 2-litre turbocharged four-cylinder, and a 0-100kph time of 6.7 seconds. That’s 10bhp more grunt than the standard vRS, giving it a top speed of 250kph and making it the fastest Octavia to date.
Those figures might not blow people’s socks off, but look at it – the Octavia is a smart-looking machine, with sporty touches inside and out, German build quality and an electronically controlled front axle differential lock (as seen on the Golf GTI) to help it whip around corners. The price hasn’t been revealed yet, but you can bet it’ll be extremely competitive.
The vRS gets its world premiere at the Geneva Motor Show next month, and it’ll go on sale from June.
