Skoda Octavia Combi test drive since 2008 -

Bomb of the utility

The great Roman commander and emperor Octavian Augustus won brilliant military victories and conquered new territories. The merits of a solid Czech universal Octavia Scout is incomparably more modestly more modest in terms of practicality and conquering light off -road. But so he is more valuable than the august, but long deceased in Bose and completely useless in the household of an ancient Roman.
 
However, if the first part of the name of this Skoda car causes associations with ancient Roman history, then the second Scout is already from our times. Moreover, it is funny that until recently a car with this name could not be sold in our country simply by definition. The definition that I found in research heat in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia: scoutism (from the English scout scout) is one of the most common systems of bourgeois extracurricular education. The purpose of scoutism is the education of the young generation in the spirit of fidelity to the ideals of bourgeois society. Scout organizations have a pronounced political, militaristic and religious orientation; They seek to remove the young generation from participating in the struggle for revolutionary and democratic transformations, isolate it from the influence of materialism and communism.
 
Agree that some couple of decades ago it sounded not at all as comical as now, but as a real sentence. The newspapers would certainly burst out overheads, denouncing the enemies that threw us a real ideological bomb under the guise of an ordinary car! Fortunately, over these couple of decades, the previous dogmas have gone into oblivion, and not particularly intricate means of transportation of the Skoda brand for an even shorter period have turned into extremely solid, very attractive and close -up -minded ties with purely back and Audi modern cars.
Accordingly, today the article quoted above is more relevant in the following editorial office: scoutism is one of the most practical, useful and attractive design concepts of the Skoda brand in a good sense. The purpose of scoutism is to relieve and improve the quality of life of people of any generation. SCOUT cars have neither political, nor militaristic or religious orientation; Naturally, they areolated their owners from the influence of all kinds of, in return, in return, developing in them the desire for an active lifestyle, a full rest after fruitful work and family and universal values.
 
That is, if it is a bomb, then completely peaceful and utilitarian use.
And all this is not an empty play of words. I was convinced of this when, without ado, I decided to abuse the service position and use the test car purely for personal, almost selfish purposes. Just as the popularly beloved heroes of the cult film comedy every year on December 31 go to the bathhouse, I have a long time to habit annually in early March, even before the start of the summer season, to take the necessary trash the necessary trash accumulated in the city apartment from the mountains and unnecessary sofas and TVs Before the property bought in the off -season specifically for the cottage.
 
Why I usually use my spacious, but still not rubber sedan. And here, as purpose, the trash in his dimensions turned out to be especially cumbersome and threatened to turn me into a Chinese-tan, in the manner of traffic jams in a train compartment, clogged with bales with goods from above (once I saw such a stunning picture). This is not to mention other family members. Plus, on the very approaches to the summer cottage, the traditional March mess of melted snow and dirt is an eternal problem for a incomplete car with a low clearance. Now, if I had an SUV, then I could just use it the only time to it for its intended purpose. But the rest of the time he would only act on my nerves with his meaninglessness, besides, having spoiled the view of city streets and cluttering them.
 
The insight has descended in the form of a Skoda representative office to try out the recent novelty of Octavia Scout a car with a city, in general, appearance and good asphalt handling, but at the same time a very spacious, lifting and capable of overcoming an excellent alternative to a classic sedan for a regional summer resident, a lot of wheeled and a lot In the city and appreciates the drivership of the car. We will be objective: Skoda Octavia is laid, pleasant in appearance and, as already noted, solid, but not at all of those cars that make themselves look back on the streets. So at the Paris Mondial, I only glanced in the autumn in the fall, a satisfied look according to the new version of the SCOUT station wagon, evaluating its more catchy outfit, and directed his feet to much more remarkable and exciting exhibits. But one thing is a glamor of the European car dealership, and a completely different prose of our real life. Here you look at cars in many ways differently, evaluating it already from the point of view of their urgent needs. And they, these needs, all the need to dictate the need for a fairly decent car, but so that he is also a useful thing in the household.
Almost a year later, after the Paris premiere, Octavia Scout very effectively demonstrated its capabilities and reliability, when several such cars overcame 10 thousand km of run along the longest in the world and asphalt only half the road from Moscow to Vladivostok and almost without breakdowns. A little later, this car was named the best 2008 crossover as part of the 4x4 of the Year of the annual British Prize. Good charity letters, you should note! Modern Octavia was generally prettier in all respects in comparison with the former, debut (in the latest history of the brand) version of a decade ago, became much more organic, holistic, sainless. And according to the Exclusive SCOUT dashboard with the rectangular window of the information display between the large round -the -round speedometer and the tachometer, kinship with German older brothers is unmistakably determined, and rather not even with VW, but with more expensive Audi.
The same similarity also appears in the design of the four -spoke leather steering wheel, and the buttons on its hub, hermetically sealed under a continuous rubber coating (as in extreme models of mobile phones) seem to emphasize expeditionary ambitions and the capabilities of the scout version, which also clearly indicate red numbers 4x4 on A frauding skin handle of a 6-speed manual gearbox and shiny pads with a scout logo on the front thresholds. A strong handle with an integrated in it from below is hinting at the same button to open the duffel box in front of the front passenger so that there is something to stay on the bumps.
 
Other differences of the differences that give out a scout in this station wagon outside. These are bumpers and thresholds of special design, protective overlays made of matte black plastic on them (foglights cut into such a bumper under the main headlights look especially look effective), along the wheeled arches and along the sides of the moldings, 17-inch wheels on Proteus alloy disks and a double chrome tip of the exhaust pipe. Black longitudinal luggage arcs complement the picture, which are included in the standard package and making a beautifully defined and dynamic, far from the kurguziness of other universals, the appearance of Octavia Scout is even more expressive and attractive especially compared to the previous all -wheel drive version of Combi.
 
Well, it's time for the time. The fact that in my sedan I would have to carry in two doses, in Octavia Scout, thanks to its very capacious (580 l), the trunk was placed without problems immediately, including very large -sized (cabinet) and long (flooring) objects. And for this it was not even necessary to fold the entire back row of seats (as a result of which the volume the cargo department increases to 1620 l), it was limited to only one of it, so there was more than enough space for two family members. However, any (even with a smaller trunk of the trunk) universal in comparison with the sedan gives such advantages, and I recall, I also relied on some off -road capabilities of the car.
 
However, at first there was about a 100-kilometer trip along a good high-speed highway. Having traveled Octavia Scout around the city the day before, I was already pleasantly surprised how its very frisky dynamics feels (thanks, of course, to the beautiful donor motor 2.0 FSI!), And very commendable controllability, worthy of well -balanced and imprisoned by the driver of the sedan. The clear operation of the accelerator and the verified shift of the checkpoint, a fairly transparent steering wheel and, although a very soft, but quite informative brake pedal, all this makes the movement of this car in the city very, very comfortable. The same is also promoted by the ability of suspension and wheels to easily digest the irregularities of the coating, including even lying policemen. The course, of course, as expected, is harsh, but in the very measure, this is not annoying. Ergonomics, as in Audi, at a height. The seat at first seemed uncomfortable, but the lumbar adjustment instantly solved this problem, and the back of the seat no longer reminded of during all days of the test, as it should be a good back.
 
On the highway, the car is also pleasantly obedient: thanks to a successful chassis, a faithfully configured suspension and, of course, it does not throw it to extremes if necessary, if necessary, if necessary. In general, in its driver characteristics (including the tendency to insufficient rotation with excessively optimistic turns of the turns), it resembles, again, Audi. This is understandable, taking into account the fact that the basis of the quite worthy, but still conditional all -wheel drive of Skoda lies a multi -disc sleigh Haldex, which throws part of the thrust on the rear wheels mainly only when they begin to slip the front ones, therefore, respectively, when driving by ordinary dry dry The road of the car habits is mostly front -wheel drive. And with such a serious load that he was subjected to the test and which was mainly on the rear axle, the tendency to insufficient rotation when attacking the turns intensified. However, when driving without extremism, in normal mode, which, most likely, adhere to most of the owners of cars of this class and type, Octavia Scout demonstrates confident neutral handling.
 
But finally, the finish curve of the dirt road from the highway to the cottage. In summer, it is almost perfectly flat, but now early spring is a relatively cleared area, but with a bumpy track and covered with a proprietary Russian mixture of muddy snow with dirt, and in some places that SCOUT has already been overcome to pure liquid dirt, which usually happens to be with any problems that usually happen to simple car. But then follows the direct entrance to the gate and further to the house, which was not cleaned all winter. Knowing the result obviously, I still risk (having agreed in advance by the tractor driver from the neighboring village on technical support), and Octavia capitally sits on the belly even earlier than I expected, desperately, but in vain rotating all four wheels that half drowned in the snow. The road clearance did not save and markedly increased compared to the previous version of the all -wheel drive universal Skoda.
 
Rushing the reason only aggravated the situation, but only a few minutes of work with two shovels (even without a tractor) in the area behind the front wheels, which rested on a dense layer of wet snow and the car easily drove in reverse on a relatively hard surface. Moreover, the stones hidden under the snow did not damage the bumpers and thresholds, reliably protected by unpainted plastic. In the case of my own car, I would not get away so easily. I had to, reassuring myself with this conclusion, turn for a while into a pack animal and the remaining couple of hundred meters to the house, falling down the knee, or even to the waist in the snow, carry the whole load on myself. But, I repeat, honestly, I did not expect anything else, and an attempt to break through such snow to the cherished goal was nothing more than a scam. Well, no one promised anything else. And in fairness, I still note that even the most purebred SUV, if not in the same place, then after a few meters, where the depth of the snow cover increased to a meter, all the same, the objective limits of the possible would still sit on any technique on the belly.
 
But then, in practice, having checked the limits of the patency of Octavia Scout, I can almost certainly assume that as soon as the snow becomes to a height of at least 1520 cm, and in some places the road will carry into full dirt, this car will be able to deliver me directly to the coveted porch of the house, While my own sedan successfully copes with this only on dried soil, much later.
 
This is, in fact, the advantage of this model: a beautiful, even a stylish car with a completely urban appearance and decent handling, quite compact, but at the same time amazingly spacious inside and, moreover, is still capable of high -costs for something more than a monotive fellow with a smaller road clearance . Direct sense to think about the acquisition of just such a car. That's just its price
 
The price of Octavia Scout is its largest drawback. Nevertheless, more than 35 thousand dollars per car of the Skoda budget brand is a little expensive. And such pleasant luxury additions in the standard, such as the Jumbo Box container under the central front armrest, the lamps built into the mirrors when planting in the dark and the automatic switching sensor of the headlights, insufficient base to lift the price in this way. Needless to say, kinship with VW and Audi and direct donor borrowings from the models of these brands affects. But why not sell this car for a million? After all, the VW concern also produces Bentley, and Lamborghini, and Bugatti
 
Meanwhile, the day after the test was completed, the message came that Skoda Auto had already produced a two millionth Octavia, and it was the anniversary car that became the all -wheel drive Octavia Scout.
 
The Law of the Scouts (as the same BSE informs) proclaims each member of the organization to a friend with all, friend and brother to any scout, regardless of his belonging to the class or social group of bourgeois society. As for the Octavia Scout, since the division into classes and social groups in ours now like a bourgeois society still takes place, its status is undoubtedly more modest than the more prestigious relatives of VW and Audi. Therefore, the price of it should be less. But the advantages of this car are still not becoming smaller, and the ability to be a friend and brother to the owner is exactly about him.
 
Boris Muradov
 

Source: Motor magazine [April 2008]