New Skoda Octavia vRS review

You could describe the Skoda Octavia vRS as a hot hatchback that takes things to extremes – but not in the way you might expect.

What the Octavia vRS excels at is not so much the "hot" part, but the ability of a hot hatch to offer strong performance combined with a practical body shape. Not only can you get this Skoda Octavia variant with a powerful petrol engine, but there are also two different bodystyles – hatchback and estate car – both with loads of boot space.

The vRS's 261bhp 2.0-litre turbocharged TSI petrol engine is more in the jalfrezi range of the hot-hatch class. It has a bit more zing than any other Octavia but it’s not in the same performance league as a vindaloo-hot Audi RS3 or Mercedes-AMG A45 S.

That's your only engine option now, by the way: Skoda has given the Octavia vRS a mid-life update, removing the diesel and the petrol plug-in hybrid, while also making minor styling tweaks to the lights and bumpers. The exhaust system (with its black painted mufflers) has been tweaked too, and now provides a slightly more fruity soundtrack.

So can the latest Skoda Octavia vRS compete with the best hot hatches and hot estates – ranging from the Cupra Leon and Ford Focus ST to the VW Golf R? Read on to find out...

The latest Skoda Octavia vRS is the quickest yet, with a respectable 0-62mph time of 6.4 seconds for the hatchback and 6.5 for the estate.

That's helped by the seven-speed dual-clutch DSG automatic gearbox, which shifts near seamlessly between ratios. It changes down a gear quickly enough when you want to build up speed, and paddles on the back of the steering wheel allow you to do so manually (the vRS is no longer available with a manual gearbox).

There’s plenty of pace to swiftly get up to motorway speeds and for easy overtakes. Nevertheless, it's at the slower end of the hot-hatch class, with, for example, the Toyota GR Yaris and Honda Civic Type R proving faster outright. Compared with the class’s steroid-junkies – the Mercedes-AMG A45 S and Audi RS3 – it's positively pedestrian.

You can at least make full use of the petrol engine’s power with ease. While the Octavia vRS has front-wheel drive, with no four-wheel-drive option, it has an electronically controlled limited-slip front differential, which helps maintain traction when exiting sharper bends. Its real benefit is that it all but eliminates torque steer (when the steering wheel writhes in your hands as you accelerate).

The vRS sits on lower (by 15mm) and stiffer sports suspension as standard, meaning the ride is a fair bit firmer than in a regular Skoda Octavia. Optional DCC adaptive suspension allows you to choose between two levels of firmness in the drive mode settings. Its firmest setting tightens body control but you’ll still experience more body lean and have less agility than in a Ford Focus ST.

That’s not to say you can’t hustle the Octavia vRS along your favourite B-road briskly – it’s just that most hot hatchbacks will put a bigger smile on your face, especially the scalpel-like Mercedes-AMG A45 S. 

With a whole family on board, you’ll find that any Octavia vRS ranks among the comfier hot hatches out there. It will sometimes thud over sharp ridges and potholes, especially when accelerating hard, but it's a smooth cruiser overall.

The standard suspension does a good job of soaking up most bumps, rather than attacking them, while providing far better body control over undulating roads than the standard Octavia.

The DCC suspension provides a calmer, more supple ride when set to its Comfort setting. There’s a bit of wind and road roar, though, which can have you clicking the stereo’s volume up a few notches on the motorway.

The vRS's upgraded sports exhaust (fitted as part of a mid-life update) has a bassy, throaty exhaust note that also provides a few subtle crackles. It’s not particularly loud, so you can still enjoy it without attracting too much attention.

“I love that the updated sports exhaust gives the Octavia vRS a much more realistic sound. The augmented engine sound that used to be piped through the stereo’s speakers was something you’d rather switch off’." – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

There’s plenty of reach and rake adjustment for the Skoda Octavia vRS's steering wheel, and a good range of movement for the seat, so finding your ideal driving position is easy.

The standard sports seats are comfortable, thanks to lumbar adjustment and big side bolsters that keep you in place in bends. Naturally, the seats have "vRS" embroidered on them – and there's also carbonfibre-like trim, an Alcantara dashboard panel and sports displays to remind you you're in a hot hatch rather than an ordinary Skoda Octavia.

The sports displays are shown on a sharp 10.3in digital driver’s display. It's easy to flick between information sets using controls on the steering wheel.

There are no annoying touch-sensitive switches – as you get in the VW Golf GTI – but there is a touch-sensitive volume slider beneath the main 10.1in infotainment touchscreen. It's not as easy to use as a regular dial, and neither are the heater controls on the touchscreen.

Helpfully, Skoda has positioned the screen high up on the dashboard so you don’t have to take your eyes far from the road to see it. It has high-resolution graphics that are easy to read and most icons are big enough to hit easily on the move.

That said, we do wish the shortcut buttons – which are in the top left corner of the touchscreen – were less of a stretch from the driving seat. The BMW M135 still rules the roost for the best infotainment system in this class.

Visibility is helped by the Octavia vRS's standard adaptive LED headlights, which do a fine job of illuminating the road without dazzling other drivers. Plus you get front and rear parking sensors.

Seeing out of the front and sides is easy thanks to big windows and slim pillars, although the hatchback has large pillars to contend with. The Octavia vRS Estate's glassier rear makes reversing more straightforward. A rear-view camera is available with both bodystyles.

As for quality, the Octavia vRS is better than a Ford Focus ST and runs the VW Golf GTI close, with plenty of soft-touch plastics, appealing trims and ambient LED lighting. Harder plastics are well hidden, although the BMW M135 looks and feels classier still.

“Some hot hatches have figure-hugging seats that hold you tightly but also trim down on the level of padding. Thankfully that’s not the case in the Octavia vRS – I found that the front seats provide plenty of support for longer journeys." – Dan Jones, Senior Reviewer

Even if you're very tall you'll have no trouble up front in the Skoda Octavia vRS – and that’s still the case if you’ve ticked the box for the optional panoramic sunroof.

There’s plenty of storage, with door pockets big enough to take a 1.5-litre bottle, plus two big cupholders, a capacious cubby under the central armrest and a useful shelf in front of the gear selector that’s perfect for emptying your pockets into.

Rear seat space has long been a Skoda Octavia speciality, although rivals have started to encroach upon its territory: the Cupra Leon and Ford Focus ST are better for rear head and leg room. The Octavia vRS does have a rather wide rear bench though, helping three adults to sit side by side easily. A central rear armrest is fitted as standard.

That rear seat bench has a 60/40 split, with the armrest hiding a ski hatch for long, thin items to poke through. We do wish a variable-height boot floor was available on the hatchback, though, because when the back seats are folded down the extended load bay is far from flat.

The hatchback Octavia vRS has 600 litres of boot space – more than most hot hatchbacks. The Octavia vRS Estate has even more, at 640 litres.

The boot has a 12V socket, two flip-down bag hooks, a couple of fenced-off areas so your boot clutter doesn't slide around and an electrically operated tailgate. Options include a space-saver spare wheel that sits under the boot floor and gesture-controlled tailgate operation for hands-free access.

“This vRS's biggest strength is its practicality, and it makes a huge amount of sense for fitting in my family and our dog with ease.” – Neil Winn, Deputy Reviews Editor

Compared with its closest rivals, the Skoda Octavia vRS is competitively priced, undercutting the Ford Focus ST and VW Golf GTI. It's in the highest BIK tax bracket so it's relatively pricey to run as a company car – but then that's true of rival hot hatches.

All Octavia vRS models get sporty styling inside and out, bespoke sports seats and keyless entry, so you shouldn’t need to add much from the options list. We’d suggest considering the DCC adaptive suspension though.

The Skoda Octavia was awarded a top five-star rating for safety by Euro NCAP and was found to be better at protecting adult occupants than a Ford Focus in the event of a crash. Automatic emergency braking (AEB), lane-keeping assistance and an e-call system are standard. Blind-spot monitoring and a driver fatigue sensor are on the options list.

In terms of reliability, the Octavia finished poor 24th place out of 26 family car models in our 2024 What Car? Reliability Survey, mainly because of problems with the infotainment system. As a brand, Skoda did better, finishing in 13th place out of 31 car makers in the survey.

The Octavia vRS comes with a three-year, 60,000-mile warranty. You can extend that to five years and 100,000 miles for a fee.

“I love that the Octavia vRS is available in some bright and vibrant colours - it comes with a high-vis Hyper Green paint as standard, although you can also have Race Blue, Velvet Red or a classy Royal Green instead.” – Lawrence Cheung, New Cars Editor

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