Driven: Skoda Octavia vRS 230 Review

Driven: Skoda Octavia vRS 230 Review

Here is my first drive review of the Skoda Octavia vRS 230. This is the most exciting Skoda we have seen for many years.

What is the Skoda Octavia vRS 230 Nav all about?

The Skoda Octavia vRS 230 is the hottest version of the Octavia that we have ever seen. Taking my first look at the car I was very impressed. The first thing I noticed was the black elements to this vRS 230 special edition. Take a closer look and you will see some very nice 19 inch black wheels, completely black grille and black mirrors. All of these are nice touches, different from the standard Octavia model and give the car a bit more of an aggressive look. The most obvious styling update of all is the red 230 on the rear passenger doors to make sure people know you are in the fastest model.

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As good as the car looks, don’t forget it still has four doors, comfortable passenger seating areas and lots of boot space. The car certainly looks like it ticks a lot of boxes for customers in its new vRS 230 variant.

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The Skoda Octavia vRS 230 uses a 2.0-litre TSI engine that creates 227bhp and 350Nm of torque, matched with a six-speed manual gearbox. This means the car can get from 0-60mph in 6.7 seconds and will give a top speed that is now limited to 155mph. The car can also achieve a combined fuel efficiency figure of 45mpg.

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How does it drive?

The Octavia is really good fun to drive. Getting into the driver’s seat and out on the road the car feels instantly energetic. The 2.0-litre engine cannot wait to be unleashed and really encourages you to push the engine to the redline. The vRS 230 has a 1 mph increase over the standard vRS model, pushing the car to a limited 155 mph, which you are unlikely to ever experience.

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Pushing to see just how good the Octavia vRS 230 was; I opened up the car a little to explore what was possible. The car has a great feeling and it feels well planted to the road through its 19 inch alloy wheels. With the car in vRS mode the steering sensitivity feels exceptionally good and you can tell that the active differential is working well to eradicate any understeer that you would feel when committing the car to a corner at speed. When you challenge the car a little the Octavia is just an absolute delight to drive.

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One thing I have to mention is the exhaust sound that you get from this car, I’m unsure exactly what Skoda have done to it, but it sounds very playful and was certainly one of the elements that made my test drive very enjoyable.

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The bigger brakes that you get with the vRS 230 play a big part in why the car feels so sporty. The pedal feel is great and really lets you know where the limit of grip is on the tyres under heavy braking, but because the brakes are so good this gives you a lot of confidence with driving the car at speed.

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Testing the Octavia I think it’s clear I had quite a bit of fun. One of the elements that made it a lot more driveable was the seat. The new seats are highly supportive,  which should work really well to keep you centred in the driving seat when you are throwing the car around a little bit. It’s simple things like these that make a lot of difference in the real world.

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What is it like inside?

Inside the Octavia is a fantastic place to be. The base Octavia was brilliant to start with but take a look at some of the pictures of this interior below. It now looks very impressive, some of the feature pieces are the flat-bottomed steering wheel, alloy pedals, supportive black leather seats, and throughout the car you’ll see elements of red stitching which gives the car a sporty feel.

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The headrests of all the seats have touches of red leather and vRS stitches in which further hammers home the fact that you’re not in your average Octavia.

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The technology that you get on the car is bang up to date, you get your typical radio and CD functionality, but you also get an easy to use satnav, Bluetooth phone integration and a nice wide screen to operate it all on. There is really lots to like about this interior.

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The Experience

The creation of the Octavia vRS 230 has really pushed the Octavia to its limits. This translates to a brilliant driver’s car but at a very affordable price. The Octavia is now able to thrill the socks off you whilst still being an everyday respectable car. For me, I liked just having the slightly premium performance and styling of the car over the already brilliant Octavia vRS.

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Verdict

We all have requirements that cars need to meet, be it a certain number of seats for our passengers, luggage space, performance thrills or fuel efficiency. In most cases these requirements can sap all the fun elements out of cars. Well the Skoda Octavia vRS 230 ticks all of the above-mentioned requirements and has put all of that fun back into the driving seat. Without a doubt the vRS 230 is an absolute thrill, that will entertain you every time you are in the car, I would be very happy to drive this car on a daily basis.

Check out the latest Skoda Octavia vRS 245 hatch review.

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Video Highlights

Specification

Skoda Octavia vRS 230

  • Price: £ 26,810
  • Engine: 2.0-Litre turbocharged
  • Power: 227bhp
  • Torque: 350Nm
  • Transmission: 6 Speed Manual
  • 0-62mph: 6.7 Seconds
  • Top speed: 155mph
  • Weight: 1,345kg
  • Economy combined: 45 mpg
  • CO2: 143 g/km

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Author: Paul Hadley