Used Skoda Octavia vRS long-term test review: report 4

The car 2019 Skoda Octavia vRS 2.0 TSI 245 DSG Run by Mark Pearson, used cars editor

Why it’s here To find out if the high-performance version of the outgoing, immensely practical Octavia makes sense as a used purchase

Needs to Show its performance credentials against some mighty fine rivals, and cope with the daily grind of work and family life

Mileage 3850 List price new (2019) £28,765 Price new with options £32,775 Value now £21,400 Test economy 34.1mpg Official economy 37.7mpg

21 September 2020 – In the mode

My Octavia has four driving modes – Eco, Normal, Sport and Individual – which can be accessed via a vRS button on the centre console. This then lists the options on the touchscreen, Normal being the default position. 

My previous car, a diesel Alfa Romeo Giulia, felt half-asleep in its Normal mode, but stick it in Sport and it took off like a scalded cat. In the Octavia, though, there’s not quite such a step between the different modes. The Eco mode retards responses to the accelerator pedal and air conditioning just enough to be annoying, while Sport adds unnecessary extra weight to the steering, sharpens the accelerator response and introduces a sportier tone to proceedings via an artificial sound generator. I'm not sure, but I think this enhanced sound actually makes it sound more like a large diesel SUV than anything else, or a car in which the exhaust manifold has worked loose, but at least the change in accelerator response is welcome.

If I’m honest, though, I leave my Octavia in Normal most of the time, in the hope of keeping my fuel consumption at a reasonable level.

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